Elmo and his crew are kicked to the curb. sesame street Warner Bros. Discovery is looking for a new home for the next season after opting out of renewing its programming agreement with HBO and Max for new original episodes.
hollywood reporter WBD notes that it has decided not to renew its five-year production contract with Sesame Workshop as HBO and Max shift their focus to more adult and family-oriented programming.
However, Max will continue to license older episodes. sesame street The latest season of the long-running show will also premiere on Max in January.
“Working with everyone at the company has been a wonderful and creative experience.” sesame street “We are excited to keep part of our iconic children's series, Library Series, on Max in the U.S.,” a Max spokesperson said. THR.
“However, with the launch of Max and based on consumer usage and feedback, we needed to prioritize focusing on stories for adults and families, and to that end, new episodes sesame streetis not core to our strategy at this time,” they said.
A Sesame Workshop spokesperson also said: sesame street's iconic library will be available on Max until 2027. We continue to invest in best-in-class programming and look forward to announcing new distribution plans in the coming months. sesame street We aim to reach as many children as possible for future generations. ”
sesame street began airing on PBS in 1969 and then moved to HBO from 2016 to 2020. It was moved to the network's streamer in 2021 and later became known as Max.
This means other streamers and networks have a chance to bid on new seasons of the show and the already vast trove of episodes that have aired on TV for nearly 60 years.
no matter who catches it sesame street Next up will be completely new formats. The show will be “reimagined” for season 56, abandoning its iconic magazine-style format and focusing more on narrative.
Kay Wilson Stallings, Sesame Workshop's executive vice president and chief creative development and production officer, said: THR In 2023, the new format will add longer segments that explore more “dynamic” and “sophisticated” stories.
This is just the latest step in Max's new strategy for children's programming after it absorbed Cartoon Network and Boomerang to consolidate its library of animated programming.
