Sesame Street is looking for a new home after Max elected not to renew it for season 56. Season 55 will air on their service, and they will continue hosting prior seasons up to 2027. However, no new Sesame Street content will air on Max or HBO once the current season ends. Sesame landed on HBO in late 2015 after 4 decades as a PBS exclusive program. The change allowed Sesame Workshop to produce 35 episodes a season instead of just 18 of them.
Before HBO, the show had been a PBS program since 1970. Even today, episodes still air there only several months after their original showing on HBO’s Max. Warner’s pact with Sesame Workshop in 2015 was vital to keeping Sesame Street on air. A shift was necessary in light of shifting viewing habits and declining home video sales. Moving the program behind a paywall via HBO helped them make up for the decrease in revenue.
Sesame Street Background and Cancelation
Sesame Street was originally a PBS program and has been running since 1970. Later on, the program moved to HBO from 2016 to 2020. Recently, Max announced that season 55 of Sesame Street will be its last on HBO’s streaming platform. The main reason for this decision appears to be a shift away from children’s programming by HBO. A Max spokesperson stated that they were prioritizing stories for adults and families due to consumer feedback. Sesame Workshop says they are searching for a new distribution partner to continue the program alongside.
While speculation on the “death” of Sesame Street has come up before, those were debunked speculations. This cancellation comes with the very real risk of the series ending permanently. Longtime fans are aghast at the idea of the show ending its 40+ year run. Ideas regarding where it would go are still being speculated about. However, Sesame Workshop does not seem to be especially worried about the threat of their show ending. Given that, it seems like they have some candidates in mind to replace their defunct HBO partnership.
Potential Future Plans
While plans for the future of the series have not been announced, there are some strong possibilities. With the end of their HBO partnership, the program is functionally canceled for now. Sesame Workshop will be looking for a new partner, as it’s leaving Max with no other prospects. If it can’t find one, the show may be over for good. Some possibilities are being floated, including the Disney+ streaming platform. Given their kid-friendly status, Disney picking up Sesame Street seems more than plausible. However, such a move would come with the concern of Disney placing the program behind a paywall.
In Hopes of Finding New Partnership
After 40 years on PBS and nine on HBO, Sesame Street is once again without a home. With the network’s shifting focus, the show’s 55th season will be the last to air on Max. With their shifting content priorities, the decision was made to cut the program from their network. While plans for the show are still unknown, some strong possibilities exist. One suggestion being floated for the series’ future is Disney. The idea of Disney+ as Sesame Street’s new home doesn’t seem far-fetched at all. However nothing is for sure, but hopefully, the series finds a new home and can continue.
While existing seasons will continue to air on Max through 2027, no new seasons will be produced. While Sesame Workshop insists they will announce new distribution plans soon, nothing is known yet. Fortunately, even if no distributor is found soon, Sesame Workshop has plenty of time to find one. No network or streaming service owns the rights to the show, and are unable to drop it.
