Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?
Although the answer to that question once involved tuning into PBS, Sesame Street now has a new home, on premium cable channel HBO.
For the next five television seasons, Sesame Street, a staple of free TV channel PBS, will air on HBO, a channel that requires a monthly subscription. That isn't to say, though, that Sesame Street will stop airing on PBS, but all new episodes will air first on HBO: PBS gets those episodes nine months later.
Now, HBO has released a trailer previewing the upcoming season of the series on its channel, and the good news is that Sesame Street seems to look the same as before with the same cast of characters, including Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and the Count.
HBO is no stranger to children's television and is the network behind one very much-loved series, Fraggle Rock. However, that still doesn't mean that the company didn't take some heat for taking Sesame Street's rights from PBS. One of the main arguments against HBO owning the rights to first-run Sesame Street episodes is that this move leaves lower-income families, those without the funds to subscribe to HBO, in the dark. Many believe this is unfortunate because Sesame Street was originally intended to reach those kids.
However, the move is a good one for the company behind Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop, which was struggling before HBO came in and made a lucrative deal. The company assures those with concerns that Sesame Street remains a program for all kids.
"No other media company believes that disadvantaged kids deserve the same shot as middle-class kids, and that remains important to us," said Jeffrey D. Dunn, chief executive of Sesame Workshop, to The New York Times. "We will have a couple of homes now. HBO will allow us to really capture the consumer shift, but we are not leaving linear TV."
The move also allows Sesame Street to run more episodes in a season, increasing from 18 to 35. Older seasons will continue to air on PBS, as well as stream on the PBS website, PBSKids.org and on the PBS Kids' Video App.
The new season of Sesame Street premieres Jan. 16 on HBO.
