How Sesame Workshop Is Making a Difference in Kids' Lives Today

Home , Alam Simsim, Jalan Sesama, Kami (Takalani Sesame), Sesame Workshop, Sisimpur, Takalani Sesame

Sesame Workshop Annual Report 2009

Ma’a El Salama Namaste How Sesame Workshop Shalom is making a difference Sesame Workshop Annual Report 2009 Report Annual Workshop Sesame Salani Kahle in kids’ lives today.

One Lincoln Plaza, NY, NY 10023 212.595.3456 sesameworkshop.org

JOB INFORMATION Cyan Magenta Client Sesame Workshop Yellow Project Title Sesame Street Annual Report Cover Black Size Approx. 13” X 8.75” Substrate Process 4 color process, UV process CD Jason Schulte Prod. Artist Dominique Mao Prod. Date 02/12/2010 Version 1 SUBSTRATE COLOR (white)

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PLEASE NOTE ALL ARTWORK IS KISS-FITTING AND NO TRAP/CHOKE HAS BEEN APPLIED. OFFICE: JASON SCHULTE DESIGN, INC., WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR AMMENDMENTS MADE TO THIS ARTWORK AFTER DISPATCH. THIS PROOF IS NOT TO BE UTILIZED FOR COLOR MATCH AND IS FOR PRODUCTION LAYOUT PURPOSES ONLY For 40 years, kids have been asking “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”

It all started with the simple yet revolutionary idea to use television to help disadvantaged kids learn. Four decades later, Sesame Street is reaching millions of kids in 140 countries around the globe, with lessons not only about letters and numbers, but also important life skills. With Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, and friends, we believe we can continue to change the world by engaging kids who need us most. We’re helping families talk about tough issues, such as going to war and losing a job. We’re confronting the stigma of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in doing so, slowing its spread. We’re pulling American third-graders out of the widening literacy gap. And we’re reaching furry hands across dividing lines in such places as Israel and Northern Ireland in hopes that human hands will follow. By expanding our reach through new media and partnerships, led by our Muppets — who will always be the multicolored heart of Sesame — we’re helping millions of kids grow up smarter, stronger, safer, and kinder.

Let us tell you how.

You start small, and think big...

6 7 8 9

Roll a vegetable cart loaded with a TV and DVDs down the narrow streets where they live.

More than 137 million children from birth to age 6 live in India. Despite the country’s rapidly growing middle class, only 40 percent of children attend preschool. Since 2006, the Indian Sesame Street co-production, Galli Galli Sim Sim, has been working to bring early-childhood education to every child in the country.

The show, which features a diverse cast, vibrant set, and music and stories that reflect the many cultures and traditions of India, has already captured the attention of 40 million kids. Now in its fourth season, the show includes a curriculum focused on literacy, the environment, health, and nutrition. “The Galli Galli Sim And in the densely packed slums of cities such as Delhi, Sim educational outreach materials Mumbai, and Kolkata, Galli Galli Sim Sim makes are like a rising sun house calls. The mobile viewing program has reached to our children.” half a million kids and caregivers in just two years, — Gopa Banerjee, and research shows that the effort is paying off, caregiver at a balwadi increasing awareness and viewership of the show and (child-care center) shifting attitudes about early-childhood education. in Kolkata, India

12 13 Nigar Begum, Kolkata, India

One of the show’s most popular To further expand its reach, Galli Muppets, Chamki, wears the Galli Sim Sim partners with non- blue-and-white national school profit child-care centers, called uniform, loves languages, plays balwadis, where 95 percent of the guitar, knows karate, and children are from low-income has her own detective service. families. Galli Galli Sim Sim provides She’s a role model for girls in books, toys, games, and ideas for a country that has long seen girls’ caregivers, all of which help attract school attendance and literacy and engage kids. In the coming rates lag behind boys’. year, the program will nearly double in size, reaching hundreds Girls such as Nigar Begum, who of thousands of kids in 6,500 lives with her grandmother and balwadis across the country. seven siblings in the slums of Kolkata, says she tries hard to be India Funding Partners: Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Michael & Susan Dell like Chamki — cheerful, helpful, and Foundation, HSBC, and Sir Ratan Tata Trust independent. Nigar never misses the cart — even if she must run to another galli (street) to meet it.

Chamki, India 14 Telly with friends in Indonesia

And in Indonesia, an archipelago Wherever Kids made up of 17,508 islands, the Need Us Most national motto “Bhinneka tunggal ika” translates loosely to “unity Sesame Street looks different in diversity.” Here, most children’s in regions around the world, but television is imported and its heart stays the same: the dubbed, so Jalan Sesama — or show engages kids through furry, Togetherness Street — not only funny Muppets, and it aims to teaches letters and numbers, encourage positive social change but also helps define the country’s by addressing the specific needs national voice. A segment as of each region. India Funding Partners: simple as children holding hands Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, Michael & Susan Dell and sharing where they’re from In Bangladesh, for example, Foundation, HSBC, and Sir Ratan Tata Trust in five different Indonesian where much of the population has dialects shapes culture and fosters no access to a television and unity by reflecting images of the unreliable access to electricity, country and its young citizens. rickshaws bring the co-production Sisimpur to remote villages. Kids Bangladesh Funding Partners: who watch just one episode U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Unilever of Sisimpur a week test at literacy Bangladesh Ltd. levels one year higher than kids Indonesia Funding Partners: who don’t watch. USAID and JPMorgan Chase Foundation

Chamki, India 15

Create an irresistible Muppet named Kami who is HIV positive, and make it OK to talk about it.

Kami, the 5-year-old yellow, furry Muppet created for South Africa’s Takalani Sesame, loves to be part of the action — such as when playing the “train game,” where everyone joins together and chugs along. To play this game, of course, her friends have to touch her, and the sight of an HIV-positive Muppet linked together with other kids, playing and laughing, is the secret of her success.

While normalizing the face of HIV/AIDS, Kami provides a life-affirming antidote to the stigma that accompanies the disease. She also helps kids learn basic facts about how it is — and isn’t — transmitted, and models healthy ways to deal with grief and loss, such as creating a “memory box” filled with photos and mementos of her mom, who died of AIDS.

But one of the most remarkable things about Kami is that she’s not just beloved by children; in South Africa, people of all ages know her and what she represents. Kami provides kids and adults a way to talk about HIV and AIDS. And that’s powerful medicine against a disease spread by silence, ignorance, and fear.

18 19 Measuring Kami’s Impact

Takalani Sesame is making a difference:

South African parents and caregivers who watched Sesame Workshop’s TV special on HIV/AIDS were twice as likely to talk with their kids about the illness than those who hadn’t.

Educators who watched were four times as likely to talk to their classes about HIV/AIDS as those who didn’t watch.

Children exposed to Kami in South Africa, Tanzania, and Nigeria all showed substantial gains in knowledge about how HIV is and isn’t spread, and had substantially more positive attitudes toward interacting with those affected by HIV/AIDS.

In Nigeria, one study showed that after meeting Kami, 93 percent of children thought it was OK to play with a person who has HIV/AIDS, compared with only 38 percent before meeting her.

These and other positive outcomes helped Sesame Workshop secure a new grant from USAID to introduce Kami and friends to even more children in other countries in Africa, including Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zambia.

20 Addressing Other Health Risks Sesame Street will continue to (GMAP), which aims to reduce focus on saving lives in Africa by malaria deaths to nearly zero by also addressing malaria, which 2015, and a March 2009 study kills 3,000 African children every shows that the program is already day. According to UNICEF, only making headway: Children with 31 percent of Tanzanian children high exposure to Kilimani Sesame under the age of 5 sleep under showed greater knowledge about a mosquito net. So Tanzania’s malaria than did children with Sesame Street co-production, low exposure. Kilimani Sesame, is teaching kids South Africa Funding Partners: and adults how to help prevent SANLAM Life Insurance Limited, USAID, The Mai Family Foundation, Elma Foundation, the spread of the disease, and Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation recognize its symptoms, and Nigeria and Southern Africa Expansion Funding Partner: seek appropriate care. USAID Tanzania Funding Partners: USAID, Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation, Kilimani Sesame is part of the and Mattel, Inc. Roll Back Malaria Partnership’s Global Malaria Action Plan

To help prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, the U.S. government funded a series of public service ads (PSAs) starring Elmo, who tells kids to “Sneeze like this,” tucking his little orange nose into the bend of his furry arm. “We know that kids are espe- cially vulnerable to H1N1, and we hope that hearing flu-prevention tips from Elmo will help them stay healthy and flu-free,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

When the flu outbreak began in Mexico earlier this year, Sesame Workshop responded within 48 hours with four television PSAs starring Muppets from Plaza Sésamo and Mexican celebrities, who donated their time. In recognition of the Workshop’s efforts to keep kids healthy throughout the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization gave Sesame Workshop the 2009 Champion of Health Award.

Funding Partner: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Give our military families love, laughs, and tools for coping with deployments, homecomings, and changes.

Almost 800,000 preschool children Street’s award-winning Talk, in the United States are separated Listen, Connect initiative to from a parent serving in the military. support military families, foster And for far too many families, the what experts call “emotional challenges continue after Mom resilience” among military kids, or Dad comes home. Consider and raise awareness of the Evan and “Little Sam” Cila, whose selfless service of parents and father, Sgt. Sam Cila, returned children alike. from Iraq with injuries that led to the amputation of his left hand, According to Little Sam, Sesame and faced emotional struggles Street not only helped his family, getting back to being the dad he but it also helped his friends better wanted to be. understand what he and his family have been through: “Now kids at The Cila family was featured in school know what it’s like to have “Coming Home,” the second someone in your family serve in television special in Sesame the military and come back injured.”

Sgt. Sam Cila and his sons, Evan and Little Sam, on Sesame Street with Queen Latifah, Elmo, and Ricardo

24 A scene from Sesame Street’s Talk, Listen, Connect outreach video:

ROSA: Hey, chica, you can talk to us about anything.

ROSITA: Well... sometimes I feel a little sad because things are so different now. I wish your legs were OK, Papi. And I wish you didn’t have to go to the doctor so much... and I just wish things could go back to the way they were.

ROSA: I know. All this change is going to take a lot of getting used to.

RICARDO: It sure is. But listen. I may be a little different, but I am still your Dad. I will always be your Papi. And even though some things have changed, my love for you has not.

(Scene ends)

25 — Monica Andrews, a Virginia mother of three preschoolers and wife of a soldier who recently returned from his second tour in Iraq

Talk, Listen, Connect has reached meet and exchange messages hundreds of thousands of U.S. across the miles. Thirty-five Sesame military families — and the prime- Rooms on military bases in 20 time specials are only part of the states bring the furry, familiar joy story. To date, Sesame Workshop of the Sesame Street Muppets has produced and distributed to nearly 4,000 military children almost 2 million outreach kits, each week. Through a partnership which include a DVD, a parent and with the U.S.O., Sesame Street caregiver guide, and activity books is bringing live performances to to help kids cope when parents military bases around the globe are deployed and when they return to give children a much-needed home with combat-related injuries. break from the everyday challenges of deployment. The Talk, Listen, Connect Web site, which won a 2009 “Best in Class” Funding Partners (for “Coming Home”): U.S. Department of Defense, Military OneSource, Walmart Interactive Media Award, creates Foundation, American Greetings, Corporation for Public a sunny, private, child-centric Broadcasting, New York State Office of Mental Health, U.S.O., Military Child Education Coalition, Joseph Drown place where military families can Foundation, PBS, VEE Corporation, and VMe

26 Tough Times, Warm Hearts

How do you help families with young economic downturn. The initiative’s children adjust to changes at home prime-time TV special features several because of a tough economy? Show families who are facing tough times, how Elmo’s family copes when his modeling positive behavior for parents mom loses her job. As his family cuts and offering strategies to help support back on spending, Elmo learns the the entire family during insecure times. difference between what he wants, Families Stand Together also includes and what he truly needs. a resource-rich Web site as well as outreach kits for families affected by Elmo’s story is just one component the recession, with wide distribution of Families Stand Together, Sesame in the 34 hardest-hit cities nationwide. Workshop’s effort to help Americans with young children cope with the Funding Partner: Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Reach furry hands across dividing lines in hopes that human hands will follow.

Research indicates that even very young children are aware of the political and cultural context in which they live and are deeply affected by it. Fortunately, research also indicates that an understanding of fair- ness and justice is hardwired — which is why Sesame Street co-productions such as Israel’s Rechov Sumsum Mahboub have an enormous opportunity to make a difference.

Take the Muppet named Mahboub, a talented, curious 5-year-old with a backpack, glasses, and his own news broadcast. Mahboub plays a Middle Eastern drum called a darbuka, and speaks both Arabic and Roy, age 5, dressed Hebrew. Mahboub is an Arab-Israeli. as Mahboub for Purim

Israel Funding Partners: A year after Mahboub’s debut, just after Purim, a Jewish The Gruss Lipper Family Foundation, Gruss Life holiday during which children dress in costume, the Monument Fund, Jim show’s producers received a photo and this note from Joseph Foundation, American Greetings, a Jewish-Israeli boy: “Shalom. My name is Roy, I am Ted Arison Family 5 years old. This Purim, I dressed up as Mahboub. Foundation, Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff I thought you’d like to see me.” Family Charitable Funds, Covenant Foundation, Righteous Persons Studies show that Mahboub has quickly become the Foundation, Bernard van favorite character for Israeli children of all faiths. And Leer Foundation, Fohs Foundation, Rosenzweig- the fact that a Jewish-Israeli child chose to dress up Coopersmith Foundation, as an Arab-Israeli character on this day when he could Alan B. Slifka Foundation, and Joyce and Irving be whatever he wanted speaks volumes. Goldman Family Foundation

30 Portrait of Mahboub by Noya Cohen, age 4

31 A More Hopeful Middle East

Three different Sesame Street co- who grow up believing in justice productions broadcast the same and equal opportunity, and those hope: a brighter future for every kid who don’t. who tunes in. In Egypt, Alam Simsim emphasizes In the Palestinian territories, Shara’a empowering and educating girls Simsim aims to inspire its young and has made headway in changing viewers, particularly boys, to think children’s opinions about girls’ roles more positively about themselves. in society.

In Jordan, Hikayat Simsim works Palestine Funding Partners: to help close what Queen Rania USAID, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Righteous Persons Foundation calls the “hope gap” between kids Jordan Funding Partners: USAID, Bank of Jordan, and ArtAction

Egypt Funding Partners: USAID and Mobinil

32 We Call It Muppet When the two characters Diplomacy become frustrated sharing their In regions with histories of conflict, space, they divide it in half with tape. Sesame Street co-productions promote Soon, however, there’s stuff on the other respect and understanding among side that each of them wants, so both children of all backgrounds. have to cross over the line to get it.

In Kosovo, kids who watch Rruga Sesam (in On one trip across the room, Hilda tells Potto Albanian) and Ulica Sezam (in Serbian) are some news that she’s heard, and they both more likely to express acceptance of a child realize how good it feels to share. And that’s who does not speak their language or comes the end of the divided room — a powerful from a different ethnic background. metaphor in a region moving toward a shared future. And in Northern Ireland, a region emerging

from conflict, studies show that kids Kosovo Funding Partners: who watch Sesame Tree as preschoolers USAID, Swedish International Development are more willing to be inclusive of others. Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UNICEF, Canadian The show provides kids with a solid International Development Agency (CIDA), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and The German Institute foundation of open-mindedness, for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa)

empathy, and appreciation of Northern Ireland Funding Partners: diversity, thanks in large part to The American Ireland Fund, International Muppet role models such as Fund for Ireland, BBC, Northern Ireland Fund for Reconciliation, and Northern Hilda the Irish Hare and Potto, Ireland Screen a furry, purple monster, who live together in a tree.

The name “Sesame Tree” was inspired by an actual centuries- old “fairy tree,” a gigantic, spreading tree which, in Northern Ireland folklore, is inhabited Hilda and Potto, Northern Ireland by magical forces.

Get fruits and vegetables talking (with the First Lady).

“I never thought I’d be on Sesame Street with Elmo and Big Bird. I think it’s probably the best thing I’ve done so far in the White House.” — First Lady Michelle Obama, at a United Nations event on the afternoon of her visit to the Sesame Street set, May 2009

36 37 In 2004, Sesame Workshop launched the Healthy Habits for Life initiative in response to findings that there are twice as many obese children today than there were a generation ago.

Research shows that a child’s eating habits are largely shaped during the preschool years. So the initiative puts fun, furry faces on healthy eating and exercise, and lets fruits and vegetables speak (and sing!) for themselves, on TV and online.

In 2009, Healthy Habits entered its second phase, zeroing in on families most at risk for poor nutrition and obesity. Healthy Habits bilingual multimedia kits are now available to the more than 9.2 million mothers and young children who participate each month in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) through 12,200 service provider agencies across the country.

“Me know cookies A study of WIC participants showed that parents are a sometime food, and apples are an have eagerly embraced the characters, songs, anytime food.” and messages — such as “sometime foods” (cookies) — Cookie Monster versus “anytime foods” (apples), and the concept of “eating your colors” — and use them to motivate their children to make healthier choices.

Sesame Street continues to promote healthy eating and exercise for all children, both through a recent set of Public Service Announcements and on the show, where The First Lady, Elmo, and friends aren’t just planting a garden — they’re sowing the seeds of a movement.

Funding Partners: KidsHealth and Nemours Health and Prevention Services, National WIC Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

38 Healthy Neighbors

According to the World Health Organization, Mexico has one of the highest childhood obesity rates worldwide. So in 11 Mexican states, schoolchildren have been drinking their milk out of cartons printed with pictures of furry and feathered Plaza Sésamo pals, including the multi-hued Abelardo, cousin of Big Bird, who offers some friendly avian advice: “¡Que divertido es comer cosas diferentes!” (“How fun it is to eat different things!”)

Since 2006, Sesame Street’s wildly popular Mexican co-production has featured programming about exercise, healthy eating habits, and hygiene. It’s part of Plaza Sésamo: Habitos Saludables para Toda la Vida, the Latin American version of Healthy Habits for Life.

The milk cartons are one component of the effort, and parents and teachers are already reporting that seeing the Muppets and their message at mealtimes is having a positive impact on kids’ behavior: They’re washing their hands and brushing their teeth more often, and eating more fruits and vegetables. In fact, 68 percent of parents in one survey perceived changes in their kids’ nutrition and hygiene habits from the moment they first saw the milk cartons — and 100 percent of teachers in the survey would like to make the program a permanent part of school lunch.

Mexico Outreach Funding Partner: Tetra Pak

Reinvent “The Electric Company” and give a new generation of kids the power to read and succeed.

Here’s a shock to the system: If kids don’t learn to read by third grade, their education comes to a virtual standstill. Why? In fourth grade a switch flips, from “learning to read” to “reading to learn,” and if students aren’t fluent readers and writers by that time, they may never catch up to their peers.

Almost 25 percent of Caucasian and Asian-American fourth-graders and more than 50 percent of African-American, Latino, and Native American fourth- graders read below basic levels. And as in 1971, when the original version of The Electric Company premiered, low-income children are most at risk — 68 percent of fourth-graders from low-income families can’t read proficiently.

So in January 2009, a brand new, high-energy version of The Electric Company stepped in to bridge the literacy gap, helping 6- to 9-year-olds expand their vocabularies, master phonics, and learn to love reading.

42 “The show was The Electric Company initiative also includes a rich, conceived of as interactive Web site, winner of the 2009 “Best in more than a show. Class” Interactive Media Award. More than 2 million It was conceived as a revolution. We children have visited the site to watch videos want to make it (more than 21 million times!), play phonics games, cool to be smart and even create their own rhymes and raps. There’s in the playgrounds also a companion parents-and-educators’ site of America.” that includes vibrant, engaging classroom materials, — Karen Fowler, which, in a recent survey, got rave reviews from executive producer of 90 percent of teachers. The Electric Company And during the past year, the cast of The Electric Company has toured 16 states, connecting with kids in those cities that the U.S. Department of Education has identified as having the lowest literacy rates in the nation.

Funding Partners: U.S. Department of Education (Ready-to-Learn), Corporation for Public Broadcasting, American Greetings, and Beaches Resorts

In the same way that Sesame Street revolutionized children’s television in 1969 — use media to reach and educate kids in innovative ways.

In 1966, co-founder and creator Joan Ganz

Cooney debated whether television could be used to teach children.

years later, Sesame Street launched as a revolutionary “experiment” to test that hypothesis. Joan and her colleagues wanted to reach kids who wouldn’t otherwise have access to quality early-childhood education — to not only teach life lessons but also inspire social change.

In the past four decades, Sesame Street has become the world’s largest preschool, reaching millions of kids in 140 countries around the

. We’ve won more Emmys than any other show in history; this year we were proud to accept an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award and a new media Emmy for sesamestreet.org. We continue to try new approaches to address kids’ evolving needs and lifestyles, be ahead

46 of emerging technologies, and make each season fresher, funnier, and more engaging and effective than ever.

So in Season , we’ve introduced an exciting new

3D-animated segment and packaged the show with a fresh new look and lineup. We are thrilled with the response: Within the first two months of Season 40, we saw a 21 percent in viewership over the same period the year before. This means that today, 40 years after the debut of this very first educational preschool show, Sesame Street ranks among the most popular of the more than 125 regularly scheduled children’s programs in the United States.

So What’s Next?

We’ll continue to engage the kids who need us most — and to reach them in new ways. In many regions, this generation of preschoolers will never know a world without “anywhere, anytime” access to information and entertainment. One mom told me that when she’s on her laptop, her daughter climbs onto her lap and asks, “Can we watch

for 10 minutes?” This was the first year we’ve seen more people access Sesame Street content off broadcast television than on, with kids tuning in through iTunes podcasts, the Web, and video on demand.

47 But what’s most exciting about digital technology is that it gives us an opportunity to give kids a richer, more vibrant, more interactive experience than ever before.

This Fall, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop partnered with to host a “Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age” leadership forum. We brought together the nation’s top minds in technology, education, entertainment, research, philanthropy, and policy to explore digital learning solutions for the next century.

And much like Joan Ganz Cooney’s question years ago, we asked how we could unleash the power of digital media to teach kids. After the event, the Center announced a prize competition in partnership with the Entertainment Software Association to encourage entrepreneurs to develop digital ideas to promote Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning.

That’s just of the ways we’re answering President

Obama’s Educate to Innovate call to action, making STEM education a national priority. We believe in inspiring the next generation to lead the discoveries and innovations that will fuel our country’s progress and success. So we’re proud to partner with The PNC Financial Services Group

48 on initiatives to spark kids’ interest and excitement in science and math.

Upcoming seasons of Sesame Street will be encouraging preschoolers

to think scientifically by asking questions, experimenting, observing, and

reporting — on everything from and bugs to rocks and

thunderstorms. And in 2010 we’ll be launching a Math Is Everywhere

educational outreach program that includes the distribution of caregiver

and educator guides to help kids build math skills.

Sesame Street has endured for 40 years because it has stayed

relevant. Because we keep asking, “What’s going on in the world right now

that’s affecting kids, and how can we help?”, I am more energized than

ever about Sesame Street’s potential and about the opportunities ahead.

We’ll keep experimenting. Because we know that by helping a kid learn

to reading, or encouraging a future scientist, or making a child feel

differently about her neighbor, or just opening up a conversation at the

kitchen table, can help change the world.

Gary E. Knell President and CEO

49 Major Supporters

Sesame Workshop gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our partners and donors around the world. Their commitment enables us to harness the educational power of media to bring learning and life skills to millions of children in more than 140 countries every day. We thank them.

$1,000,000+ New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Charitable Funds American Greetings The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Netherlands Ministry The American Ireland Fund of Foreign Affairs Turner Entertainment BAE Systems Networks Asia Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation Joan Ganz Cooney and Defense Centers of Excellence PNC Foundation Peter G. Peterson for Psychological Health and Righteous Persons Foundation Traumatic Brain Injury Corporation for Toys “R” Us, Inc. Public Broadcasting Unique Vacations, Inc. worldwide representatives Walmart Foundation Michael & Susan Dell for Beaches Resorts Foundation United States Agency for Gruss Life Monument Fund $100,000 — $249,999 International Development Bank of Jordan The Gruss Lipper (USAID) Family Foundation Bernard van Leer Foundation The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. $500,000 — $999,999 Covenant Foundation International Fund for Ireland Fohs Foundation Ted Arison Family Foundation Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment McCormick Foundation Impact Fund of the California Lockheed Martin Corporation NAMM, The International Community Foundation The Mai Family Foundation Music Products Association Jim Joseph Foundation Mobinil (Egypt) New York State Office Mattel Inc. The Mosaic Foundation of Mental Health McDonald’s Corporation Ogden Cap Properties, LLC Merrill Lynch $250,000 — $499,999 OptumHealth National Science Foundation Ad Council Public Broadcasting Service National WIC Association Robert Wood Johnson Tetra Pak (Mexico) Foundation U.S.O.

50 Joyce and Irving Goldman $50,000 — $99,999 $15,000 — $24,999 Family Foundation Joshua and Shoshanna Gruss ArtAction Bank of New York Mellon Cheryl Henson and Ed Finn Bloomberg Joanna Barsh and The Jane Henson Foundation JPMorgan Chase Foundation David Garbasz Gary E. Knell and Kim Larson Memoria y Tolerancia A.C. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation Sanford M. Litvack and Military Child Education Coalition The Steven A. and Alexandra M. Joanna R. Swomley Ministry of Education Cohen Foundation, Inc. Connie and Bob Lurie of Trinidad and Tobago Comcast Programming Group MetLife Foundation UNESCO Draft FCB Lloyd and Mary Morrisett VEE Corporation Valerie Feigen and QUALCOMM Inc. Steven Eisman Universal Studios $25,000 — $49,999 Grant Thornton LLP AEA Investors LLC Judy and Steven Gluckstern $2,500 — $7,499 Fabiola Arredondo Craig Hatkoff and and Andrew Rolfe Jane Rosenthal Judy and John Angelo The Assisi Foundation Hearst Corporation Elena Arredondo of Memphis, Inc. Rachel Hines and Patricia Barry Bristol-Myers Squibb Michael Cembalest Francesca Beale Company (Brazil) Macy’s Parade and Steffi and Robert Berne Joseph Drown Foundation Entertainment Group Lisa Blau The Marc Haas Foundation McKinsey & Company The Bloomingdale’s Fund Jane Hartley and Nickelodeon Networks of the Federated Department Ralph Schlosstein Amanda and Ned S. Offit Stores Foundation Headline Public Relations Keith and Rose-Lee Reinhard Christopher Cerf Michael Huber and Paige Peterson Alan B. Slifka Foundation Orfalea Family Foundation/Fund Susanna Choy Josh and Geula Solomon Hal G. Rosenbluth The Cole Family Foundation Richard Steadman Rosenzweig-Coopersmith Combined Federal Campaign Foundation Sherrie and David Westin Tom Conley, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Alice A. Ruth Toy Industry Association Sesame Place/Busch Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Entertainment Corporation $7,500 — $14,999 Deloitte & Touche LLP Susan and Peter Solomon Anonymous Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. The Starr Foundation Booz Allen Hamilton DIRECTV, Inc Tiger Baron Foundation Citibank Daniel Doctoroff Merryl and James S. Tisch East End Advisor Jodie and John Eastman The Walt Disney Company Evelyn M. English Living Trust Abigail and Richard Elbaum Young & Rubicam, Inc. EMI Music Publishing

51 Concepcion S. and Caralynn Sandorf and Nina Rennert Davidson Irwin Federman Michael Perskin Peggy and Millard Drexler Fillpoint SVG Sony Corporation of America Norman Eaker Terry Fitzpatrick SWIFT Pan Americas Vanessa Eastman Robert Goldberg and Transworld Television Louise Eastman Betsy MacIsaac Corporation Susie and Tony Ellis Martín Gómez Martha Van Gelder Amy and Rob Feinblatt Gund Inc. John and Barbara Vogelstein Holly Fogle HBO Anastasia Vournas and J. William Uhrig John and Mary Franklin Heidrick & Struggles Foundation, Inc. Ellen Wartella Peter Hero Sheril Freedman Jeffrey and Lynn Watanabe Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin Freeman Public Relations, Inc. Diane M. Whitty HLW Architects Peter and Barbara Georgescu Howard L. Wolfson Mellody Hobson, The Glickenhaus Foundation Ariel Investments, LLC Deborah Wright Josh and Cathy Goldsmith Lynette and Richard Jaffe Scott Zelnick Myrna and Steve Greenberg Kauff McCain & McGuire, LLP Eric and Bonnie Helpenstell The Lauder Foundation, $1,000 — $2,499 Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Jamie Markovitz Hoffman Abramson Family Foundation Steven Leuthold Dr. Walt Hopkins Christine H. Alfaro Family Foundation Linda and Morton Janklow Anonymous LIFERAY Philip A. Kaiser AON Risk Insurance Services Margaret A. Loesch, Jill and Harry Kargman The Hatchery, LLC West, Inc. Susan and Frederick Kolar Joella and John Lykouretzos Arent Fox LLP Karyn and Kevin Lamb Rebecca Mai and David Mitnick The Avey Family Joni-Sue and Michael Levine Gally and David Mayer Drs. Lewis J. Bernstein and Gaya Aranoff Bill and Susanne Losch Patrick McBrien Scott Budde LRF/RM (Leonard R. Friedman Rebekah and Colin McCabe Risk Management, Inc.) Build-A-Bear Allison and Roberto Mignone Workshop Foundation The MacNaughton Group H. Melvin and Diana Ming Lisa Caputo and Rick Morris Vicky Makker Tom and Janet Montag Marcia M. Carlucci Don and Cindy Malin Newmark Knight Frank Leslie Cecil and Krista Marks Novell, Inc. Creighton Michael Gina Maya and Kerry Novick Meryl and Michael Chae Richard Capelouto The Winifred and Amee Chande Bethany and Robert B. Millard William O’Reilly Foundation Timothy and Andrea Collins Jennifer Millstone Felix and Elizabeth Frank Cooney George B. Munroe and Rohatyn Foundation Elinor Bunin John F. Corcoran Razorfish Babette and Hal Negbaur

52 Norman Foundation The Joan Ganz Cooney Center Sandie and Frank O’Connor Diane Parker The following donors have supported The Joan Ganz Cooney Susan and Alan Patricof Center. Established in 2007 to honor Sesame Workshop’s founder, the Center champions research, innovation, and investment in Debra and Harlan Peltz digital media technologies to advance children’s learning. Judith Polzer and Julian Flear

Eva and Bill Price Apple Professional Development Radical Media Joan Ganz Cooney and Peter G. Peterson Rita and Robert Riggs The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Zibby and Andrew Right Cisco Jill and Eric Rosen Comcast Samantha and Aby Rosen Corporation for Public Broadcasting Professor Ruth M. Sasso Genius Products, LLC Richard, Ann, John and James Google Solomon Families Foundation William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Kimberly Kravis Schulhof Intel Corporation The Seaver Institute Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Carole and Gordon Segal Joyce Foundation Select Equity Group, Inc. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Nancy Shaner Mattel Inc. Beth and David Shaw National Science Foundation Janice Therrien Norman Foundation Billie Tisch Pearson Foundation Joan and David Traitel Spencer Foundation Anna Treston University of Michigan Robert Tucker Group, Inc. Allen B. Uyeda Taunya Van der Steen-Mizel and Adam Mizel Jennifer Small Wolfensohn and Adam Wolfensohn Wolfensohn Family Foundation Jayna and Jeffrey Zelman

This listing includes those individuals and organizations that made a gift or pledge or funded a project that was ongoing between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009.

53 Management Discussion and Analysis

The following pages SOURCES provide an overview OF FUNDING of Sesame Workshop’s Sesame Workshop’s long-term success has been financial performance predicated on forming strategic partnerships with for the fiscal year corporations, foundations, government agencies, and private donors to address critical educational ending June 30, 2009. needs around the world. For example, initial The financial statements funding partners for Sesame Street, the Workshop’s flagship preschool series, included the U.S. on pages 59 to 61 are Department of Education, the Corporation for an extract of Sesame Public Broadcasting, the Carnegie Corporation Workshop’s audited of New York, and the Ford Foundation. This combination of public and private financing financial statements, is categorized as “Program Support” in the which are available Consolidated Statement of Activities on page 59. upon request. In fiscal year 2009, Sesame Workshop partnered with the National WIC Association to distribute 3.6 million Healthy Habits for Life multimedia kits to low income women, infants, and children who are found to be at nutritional risk. With lead funding support from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Iraq-Afghanistan Development Impact Fund of the California Community Foundation, and American Greetings, Sesame Workshop distributed 800,000

54 REVENUE

14% Institutional and individual giving 20% Government and other agencies 33% Distribution fees and royalties 33% Product licensing

outreach kits to military families to help children of Education’s Ready to Learn grant, PBS, American whose parents come back injured from military Greetings, and Beaches Resorts, Sesame Workshop service. Sesame Workshop continued its partnership relaunched The Electric Company as a 360 with The PNC Financial Services Group to distribute degree experience, aiming to help millions of kids materials to help children enter school strong, ages 6 to 9 who are not able to read at their grade healthy, and ready to learn. level. Sesame Workshop’s future financial strength depends on continued success in working with A number of domestic and international foundations corporations, foundations, private donors, and have committed funding support for co-productions various government agencies. in Israel and Northern Ireland, and the United States Agency for International Development Sesame Workshop’s second revenue source is continues to provide funding support for international from the distribution of educational content co-productions in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Jordan, across all media channels. The organization has Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Nigeria, and Southern successfully undertaken a range of activities that Africa. These are recent examples of how Sesame generate revenue while delivering educational Workshop partners with corporations, foundations, content through multiple forms of distribution. and governments to create and distribute content These activities include the domestic and foreign to meet educational needs in the United States and distribution of local language television programs, around the world. overseas syndication of our domestic television series, production and distribution of DVDs and Sesame Street in the United States, now in its home videos, publication of books and magazines, 40th season on PBS, receives significant financial and distribution of videos and online games across support from its corporate sponsors, including The digital platforms. Sesame Workshop works with PNC Financial Services Group, Beaches Resorts, distribution partners such as Comcast, Turner Enter- McDonald’s, Hain Celestial, and the American Egg tainment, Verizon Wireless, SeaWorld Parks and Board. In addition, with funding support from the Entertainment, VEE Corporation, Google/You Tube, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Department PBS Kids GO! and Apple iTunes.

55 EXPENSES

4% Fundraising 13% General and Administrative 83% Program Expenses

Sesame Workshop also relies on income Fiscal Year 2009 from the sale of licensed products to Operations and fund its educational programs. We Financial Position partner with best-in-class licensees that believe in our brands and share our The downturn in the global economy impacted vision, some including: Sesame Workshop’s financial results in a number of ways in fiscal year 2009, including reduced · American Greetings consumer spending, decreased foundation and · Children’s Apparel Network corporate giving, and plunging financial markets, · Hain Celestial which led to declines in the value of Sesame · Hasbro Workshop’s investments. Sesame Workshop · Mattel Inc. implemented a number of cost cutting measures · Procter & Gamble in fiscal year 2009, which allowed it to partially · Random House mitigate declines in unrestricted operating · SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment revenues and end the year with a net loss from · VEE Corporation operations of $9.7 million compared with a net · Warner Brothers operating income of $3.8 million in fiscal year 2008.

In addition to the revenue earned to support the Operating revenues remained essentially flat creation and distribution of educational content, in fiscal year 2009. Program support increased Sesame Workshop, similar to other nonprofit by 23 percent, primarily due to the launch of educational institutions, maintains an investment The Electric Company on PBS and PBSKids.org portfolio to ensure long-term financial viability, in January and the expansion of the Healthy Habits allow for investments in research and development, for Life initiative, partially offset by grants and and provide financing for new and innovative contributions received in support of The Joan Ganz educational activities. Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop in fiscal year

56 PROGRAM EXPENSES

4% Public Awareness 4% Global Project Management 5% Muppet Copyright Amortization 5% Global Product Licensing 13% Education, Research and Outreach 34% Content Distribution 35% Production and Development

2008. Distribution fees and royalties and licensing leading to a decrease in net assets of revenues decreased by 18 percent in fiscal year $36.5 million in fiscal year 2009. 2009, reflecting lower retail sales of Sesame Workshop’s content and licensed products including Total assets decreased by $51.6 million in fiscal DVD’s, toys, and apparel. year 2009. The decrease in assets is primarily the result of the decline in the value of Sesame Total operating expenses increased by 9.4 percent Workshop’s investment portfolio, the amortization in fiscal year 2009 to $154.7 million. Program of the Muppet copyright costs, and the cash expenses, which account for 83.5 percent of total required to fund operations. The decrease in operating expenses, increased by 10.6 percent accounts receivable reflects collections from Genius in fiscal year 2009. This increase is primarily due Products and lower product licensing revenues, to the launch of The Electric Company, including and the decrease in programs in process includes production, outreach, research, online and public the delivery of the Planetarium Project. awareness. Program expenses in fiscal year 2009 also included costs associated with the expansion Total liabilities decreased by $15.2 million in fiscal of the Healthy Habits for Life Initiative and the year 2009. Deferred revenues decreased by second phase of the Talk, Listen, Connect initiative, $10.8 million, primarily due to the delivery of the targeted to military families. first season of The Electric Company.

Fundraising and general and administrative The debt payable balance of $0.8 million at expenses accounted for 16.5 percent of total June 30, 2009 reflects the amount outstanding on operating expenses, down from 17.7 percent a line of credit established for Sesame Workshop’s in fiscal year 2008. subsidiary in India.

The value of Sesame Workshop’s investments depreciated by $26.1 million in fiscal year 2009, reflecting the volatility in the financial markets,

57 Significant Strategic Transactions

In December 2000, the Workshop acquired In September 2004, the Workshop entered into the Sesame Street Muppet characters from the a partnership with Comcast, PBS, and HIT Entertain- Jim Henson Company, a subsidiary of EM.TV & ment to establish and operate a digital cable Merchandising AG. Full ownership of the Sesame and video-on-demand service to distribute Street Muppets allows for greater creative freedom, educational programming to preschool-age control of content, and enhanced revenue children and their families. opportunities. In fiscal year 2006, Sesame Workshop used the proceeds from the sale of a portion The channel, named PBS Kids Sprout, premiered of its marketable securities to pay down all in April 2005. As of August 2009, the channel but $1.0 million of the outstanding debt incurred reached more than 47 million unique TV house- in fiscal year 2001 to acquire the characters. holds (linear and VOD combined).

The remaining $1.0 million was retired in fiscal The following statements are an extract of Sesame year 2009. In September 2002, the Workshop Workshop’s audited financial statements for fiscal sold its 50 percent ownership interest in the years 2009 and 2008. Noggin joint venture to its partner, MTV Networks/ Viacom. This sale provided capital to expand our mission internationally, remain strong in a highly competitive domestic marketplace, and retire a portion of existing debt.

58 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES As of June 30, 2009 (000’s omitted)

‘09 ‘08 REVENUES Program support $49,650 $40,474 Distribution fees and royalties 47,006 52,716 Product licensing 48,303 52,036 TOTAL OPERATING REVENUES 144,959 145,226

EXPENSES Program expenses Education, research and outreach 16,930 10,544 Content distribution 43,656 40,126 Production and development 45,379 42,543 Global product licensing 7,010 6,694 Global project management 4,675 5,356 Public awareness 4,560 4,525 Muppet copyright amortization 6,945 6,945 Total Program Expenses 129,155 116,733

Support expenses Fundraising 5,964 6,187 General and administrative 19,553 18,463 Total support expenses 25,517 24,650 TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 154,672 141,383

OPERATING INCOME (LOSS) (9,713) 3,843

NET INVESTMENT INCOME (26,125) (9,270) INTEREST EXPENSE (194) (269) PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES (448) (365) INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS $(36,480) $(6,061)

59 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION As of June 30, 2009 (000’s omitted)

‘09 ‘08 ASSETS Cash and short-term investments $27,319 $13,738 Receivables Program and product licenses and contracts in support 32,353 34,974 Of programs, net of allowance for doubtful accounts Grants 8,968 9,846 Total receivables 41,321 44,820

Inventory 1,384 1,374 Programs in process 11,215 15,102 Investments 92,855 141,491 Intangible assets 78,862 85,807 Fixed assets 8,724 10,914 Other assets 3,966 4,045 TOTAL ASSETS $265,646 $317,291

LIABILITIES Accounts payable and accrued expenses $26,623 $29,913 Deferred revenues 17,033 27,892 Deferred rent payable 2,355 3,139 Debt payable 768 1,000 TOTAL LIABILITIES 46,779 61,944

NET ASSETS Unrestricted 206,686 243,535 Temporarily restricted 12,181 11,812 TOTAL NET ASSETS 218,867 255,347 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS $265,646 $317,291

60 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS As of June 30, 2009 (000’s omitted)

‘09 ‘08 CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Increase in net assets $(36,480) $(6,061) Adjustments to reconcile increase in net assets to net cash provided by operating activities Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment 3,117 2,088 Amortization of intangible assets 6,945 6,945 Amortization of debt issuance costs 157 171 Amortization of other assets 389 370 Amortization of programs in process 37,875 25,177 Decrease in deferred rent payable (785) (785) Change in provision for uncollectible receivables 2,979 1,010 (Increase) decrease in net unrealized appreciation on investments 26,981 12,919 (Gain) on sale of investments (205) (2,314) Provision for inventory obsolescence 118 283 Decrease (increase) in receivables 520 (14,584) (Increase) in inventories (128) (329) (Increase) in programs in process (33,988) (27,741) (Increase) in other assets (466) (730) (Decrease) increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses (3,290) 6,587 (Decrease) increase in program and product license revenues (10,859) 3,919 NET CASH (USED IN) PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES (7,120) 6,925

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Additions to property and equipment (927) (4,720) Purchases of marketable securities (64,836) (26,692) Proceeds from the sale of investments 86,696 19,831 NET CASH PROVIDED BY (USED IN) INVESTING ACTIVITIES 20,933 (11,581)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Proceeds from note payable 768 0 Payments on note payable (1,000) 0 NET CASH USED IN FINANCING ACTIVITIES (232) 0 Net increase (decrease) in cash and short-term investments 13,581 (4,656) CASH AND SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS, beginning of period 13,738 18,394 CASH AND SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS, end of period $27,319 $13,738

61 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mr. Vincent A. Mai Ms. Daniella Lipper Coules Dr. Kyle Pruett Chairman of the Board Managing Director Clinical Professor, Sesame Workshop Post Rock Advisors, LLC Child Psychiatry and Nursing Chairman Yale University AEA Investors, Inc. Mr. Martín Gómez School of Medicine City Librarian Mrs. Joan Ganz Cooney Los Angeles Public Library Mr. Keith Reinhard Co-founder and Chairman Chairman Emeritus, of the Executive Committee Ms. Jane Hartley DDB Worldwide, Inc. Sesame Workshop Chief Executive Officer and President, Business Observatory Group, LLC for Diplomatic Action Mr. Lloyd N. Morrisett Co-founder and Chairman Mr. Craig M. Hatkoff Dr. Linda G. Roberts Emeritus of the Board Co-founder, Tribeca Film Festival National Consultant Sesame Workshop Chairman, Turtle Pond Publications Former Director, Office of Educational Technology Jeffrey N. Watanabe, Esq. Mr. Peter Hero U.S. Department of Education Former Chairman of the Board Vice President for Development Sesame Workshop and Alumni Relations Ms. Susan Solomon Of Counsel California Institute of Technology Former Partner, Watanabe Ing LLP Mercer Consulting Ms. Rachel Hines* Chairman Emeritus, Ms. Fabiola R. Arredondo Former Managing Director, Safe Horizon Managing Partner J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. Siempre Holdings Member, Council on Mr. Richard Steadman* Foreign Relations Ms. Joanna Barsh Dr. Merryl Tisch Director Mr. Gary E. Knell Chancellor McKinsey & Company, Inc. President and New York State Board of Regents Chief Executive Officer Ms. Lisa Caputo Sesame Workshop Dr. Ellen Wartella Chief Marketing Officer, Citi Distinguished Professor and Chairman and Sanford M. Litvack, Esq. of Psychology Chief Executive Officer, Partner Hogan & Hartson LLP University of California – Riverside Women and Company Ms. Margaret Loesch* Ms. Deborah C. Wright Mr. David C. Cole* Former Chief Executive Officer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Director The Hatchery LLC Carver Federal Savings Bank Maui Land and Pineapple Company, Inc. *trustee through October 2009 CORPORATE OFFICERS

Gary E. Knell Terry Fitzpatrick Daryl Mintz President and Chief Executive Officer Executive Vice President, Vice President, Finance Distribution and Corporate Controller H. Melvin Ming Chief Operating Officer Myung Kang-Huneke Caralynn Sandorf Executive Vice President, Executive Vice President and Miranda Barry General Counsel, and Chief Development Officer Executive Vice President, Content Secretary of the Board Sherrie Rollins Westin Dr. Lewis Bernstein Susan Kolar Executive Vice President and Executive Vice President, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Education, Research, and Outreach Chief Administrative Officer

THE JOAN GANZ COONEY CENTER

Dr. Michael H. Levine Sesame Workshop®, Sesame Street® and international Sesame Street co-productions, and all of their Executive Director associated characters, trademarks, servicemarks, and design elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Workshop. © 2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.

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PRODUCTION NOTES Adjust spine’s width according to the book’s thickness.