Sesame Street Moves Down the Block to HBO

But PBS, which has aired the show since 1969, isn't left out in the cold
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 13, 2015 1:20 PM CDT
Sesame Street Moves Down the Block to HBO
This June 22, 2010, file photo released by Sesame Workshop shows "Sesame Street" characters Elmo, second from right, and Super Grover, right, with four new muppets representing healthy food groups.   (AP Photo/Sesame Workshop, Richard Termine, File)

In addition to their ABCs and 123s, kids watching Sesame Street will now also become familiar with H-B-O. The cable network has announced a new partnership with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the TV show, that means the next five seasons will air exclusively on HBO and via its streaming services for the first nine months of each season's run, then will be available for free on PBS (where Sesame Street has run since 1969) and its member stations, USA Today reports.

The agreement gives Sesame Workshop the ability to produce 35 new episodes per year (it currently churns out 18), as well as creating a Muppets spinoff series and a new children's educational series, per the New York Times. What this move also does for HBO: gets it back into the children's programming game, which it ditched years ago, without having to jump entirely into the original-content realm. (The actress who played Maria on the show for 44 years just missed the HBO move.)

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