Sesame Workshop announces co-distribution deal with Netflix, PBS Kids

Sesame Workshop, producer of Sesame Street and other educational media for children, announced that new episodes of the children’s series’ 56th season will be available on both Netflix and PBS Kids.

Sesame Workshop CEO Sherrie Westin said in a statement that episodes from the upcoming season will release on the same day on Netflix, PBS stations and PBS Kids digital platforms, including YouTube. Netflix will also license episodes from the Sesame library for worldwide distribution.

“This unique public-private partnership will enable Sesame Workshop to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix’s global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the U.S. continue to have free access on public television to the Sesame Street they love,” Westin wrote.

In its news release, Netflix said it will carry the 56th season of Sesame Street and 90 hours of previous episodes. The upcoming season will show the Cookie Monster opening his own Cookie Cart, a new animated segment from Tales from 123 and the return of segments like Elmo’s World and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck. The season, which will be released in three batches starting later this year, will also center on 11-minute character-driven storylines told with “humor and heart.”

Under the deal, Netflix will also develop video games for both Sesame Street and the animated series Mecha Builders, a Sesame Street spin-off that premiered in 2022 on Cartoon Network. Netflix kids and family viewing represents 15% of its total viewing, led by programs like Ms. Rachel, Gabby’s Dollhouse, CoComelon Lane and Hot Wheels Let’s Race, according to the news release. Netflix has also invested heavily in games in recent years.

A financial life raft for Sesame Workshop

The deal with Netflix follows a decision by Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of HBO and the streaming service HBO Max, to let its five-year contract with Sesame Workshop expire in 2027. Under that deal, new episodes of Sesame Street have premiered on HBO and its sister streaming services since 2016.

Monday’s announcement came just hours ahead of the PBS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, where PBS will present its fall programming lineup to staff of its member stations, independent filmmakers and other stakeholders.

CPB and PBS are contributing to Sesame Street’s production costs, according to CPB spokesperson Tracey Briggs. “Through this support, Sesame Street will continue to be accessible to all,” she said in an email. Briggs declined to specify the dollar amount of CPB’s investment.

As Sesame Workshop sought a new distributor for Sesame Street and its back catalog of 4,700 episodes, it has struggled financially. In March, the workshop reduced its workforce and attributed the job cuts to the loss of the HBO partnership and uncertainty over federal funding. A new group of employees formed the Sesame Workers Union, which seeks its first bargaining contract with management.

In a statement responding to the Netflix distribution deal, PBS President Paula Kerger said educational programming is one of the most important aspects of public television’s service to audiences. Sesame Street “has been an integral part of that critical work for more than half a century,” she added.

Ed Ulman, CEO of Alaska Public Media and a PBS board member who testified alongside Kerger in a congressional subcommittee hearing in March, called the distribution deal “another fine example of the public-private partnerships that ensure children and parents will have uninterrupted, free access to new episodes of this landmark program to help them build a love for learning and new skills.”

This story has been updated to report on financial support that CPB and PBS are providing to production of Sesame Street.