Viewers will soon see Cookie Monster as an afternoon treat as Sesame Street introduces 30-minute episodes. (Photo: Richard Termine/Sesame Workshop)
After 45 years in the neighborhood, Sesame Street is acquiring more real estate in the PBS Kids lineup.
PBS will air a new 30-minute version of the hourlong show weekday afternoons beginning Sept. 1, in addition to the full morning episodes. The afternoon Sesame Street will comprise clips from the morning’s episode and will require no new production.
Each episode will include “Street Story,” “Word on the Street” and celebrity-assisted vocabulary segments, in addition to songs, spoofs and character-based segments featuring the likes of Super Grover and Cookie Monster.
PBS will also make the 30-minute version of the program available for streaming on digital devices via the PBS Kids website, mobile app and Roku channel. Previously the network was streaming only individual clips of Sesame Street, not full episodes.
The expanded Sesame Street is part of a larger push by PBS to boost ratings for its children’s shows and to increase the audience for PBS Kids’ digital streaming, which has been growing at a steady clip. Streaming on the PBS Kids mobile app has increased 34 percent over the previous year, according to PBS.
The new format will make the PBS Kids flagship program more accessible on mobile devices, according to PBS’s press release. Mobile users are more likely to watch shorter videos due to battery limitations and the portability of mobile devices.