Good news for parents with a subscription to Prime Video. Amazon announced on Friday that it is now exclusively the streaming home for most of the children's series offered by PBS Kids.
As part of the new multi-year agreement between Amazon and PBS Distribution, the platform will be the only place kids can stream series like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Caillou.
The deal will help Amazon continue to be "the best destination for kids and family programing that will both educate and entertain," Vice President of Worldwide Television Acquisition for Amazon Brad Beale said in a press release.
PBS Kids is known for producing content aimed at childhood learning and development, especially when it comes to social-emotional and literary skills as well as academic areas to help kids cultivate skills in STEM.
"We are very pleased to be continuing our relationship with Amazon, increasing Prime Video members' access to our trusted, educational programming," Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Children's Media & Education, PBS, said. "PBS KIDS shows have been developed with the needs of today's children in mind and focus on fundamental academic areas such as literacy, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), in addition to collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity."
As part of the deal, Amazon is now exclusively the home to shows like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Arthur, Dinosaur Train, Wild Kratts, Nature Car, Ready Jet Go!, Odd Squad, Peg + Cat, Martha Speaks and WordGirl.
New episodes of these series will air first on PBS and then be offered on demand and via its website, followed by its premiere on Prime Video.
Prime Video members were previously able to stream some titles provided by PBS Kids; however, some series are available on competitors' platforms as well. With this exclusive deal, some series that are currently available on Netflix and Hulu will be removed starting on July 1. Netflix will lose 12 series, including Reading Rainbow, whereas Hulu will lose six shows, including Arthur.
On the bright side, the show Thomas and Friends will still be available on other platforms since it is not part of the deal. Hulu will continue to have the exclusive streaming rights to Curious George, whereas Netflix will remain the home of Super Why! HBO will continue to have the rights to Sesame Street, which means the beloved kids' show will continue to be available to stream on HBO Go and HBO Now.
Prime Video comes free for Prime members who pay the annual $99 subscription, which includes perks like free two-day shipping and access to Prime Music, as well as a standalone streaming service for $8.99 per month.
Source: PBS
