The cat’s out of the bag and the Muppet’s out of the trash as streaming service Max announced it was shedding its stake in “Sesame Street.”
The premium cable network’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, confirmed Friday that it will end its deal to distribute new episodes of the long-running children’s series.
Max will continue to license episodes from the “Sesame Street” library through 2027, but the upcoming 55th season, premiering in January, will be the last to debut on the platform.
“It has been a wonderful and creative experience working with everyone at ‘Sesame Street’ on the iconic children’s series and we are thrilled to be able to keep some library series on Max in the United States,” said a spokesperson. streamer’s word. Hollywood journalist.
The rep confirmed that the decision to end the deal is part of a strategy to prioritize “adult and family stories” and shift focus away from children’s programming.
“Sesame Street” is now on the market looking for a new home.
“We will continue to invest in our best-in-class programming and look forward to announcing our new distribution plans in the coming months, to ensure ‘Sesame Street’ reaches as many children as possible for generations to come.” , the show’s producer, Sesame Workshop, said in a statement.
“Sesame Street” has had a bumpy ride in the streaming landscape since HBO struck its deal in 2015. The deal gave HBO exclusive rights to air new episodes months before they appeared on PBS, where the series has been running since 1969.
In 2020, HBO Max abruptly removed about 200 episodes of “Sesame Street” from the streamer, days before announcing the removal of 36 shows, including a “Sesame Street” spinoff.
At the time, Variety reported that the sudden move was likely a move for Warner Bros. Discovery to reduce streaming content costs.
In 2023, “Sesame Street” announced that its 56th season, scheduled for 2025, would be “reimagined” with a new format in an effort to keep it fresh. Sesame Workshop intends to stick with the new format, whatever deal the organization is able to reach.
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