HBO is ‘Sesame Street’’s New Home

08.13.2015

HBO is the home of Tyrion Lannister, Hannah Horvath, Erlich Bachmann and now Bert and Ernie.

The premium cable network, which is more known for top-flight series filled with sex, nudity and plenty of swearing, also will be home to kids' staple Sesame Street. HBO has signed a deal that will give it new episodes of the show for the next five years, while older, half-hour episodes will continue on PBS. Due to the cash infusion the deal gives Sesame Workshop, the number of episodes will nearly double from 18 to 35 per year.

In addition, Sesame Workshop will produce a Sesame Street spinoff as well as another educational series for HBO and its online platforms HBO Now and HBO Go. Those series could end up on PBS as well.Â

Older episodes of Sesame Street will move over to HBO once deals with Amazon and Netflix expire late this year. HBO also is licensing two other kids' favorites: The Electric Company, the show on which Morgan Freeman got his start, and cartoon Pinky Dinky Doo.

HBO's goal, reported the Wall Street Journal, is to become a destination for children's programming, although it's behind both Amazon and Netflix in this segment.

Sesame Street turns 40 this November.Â

Read more: WSJ, Current

Brief Take: While the middle-aged may be mourning the end of an era, this deal is good for everyone: HBO gets pre-branded original content to help build both its SVOD and kids' busineses, while PBS gets more new episodes of Sesame Street, plus new shows to boot, without having to finance them.