'Sesame Street' is on the market as Max terminates contract for brand new episodes – The Mercury News

The cat is out of the bag and the Muppet is out of the trash can Streaming service max has announced that it would divest its stake “Sesame Street.”

The parent company of the premium cable network, Warner Bros. Discoveryconfirmed Friday that it would end its deal to distribute recent episodes of the long-running children's series.

Max will proceed to license episodes from the “Sesame Street” library through 2027, however the upcoming fifty fifth season, premiering in January, shall be the last to debut on the platform.

“It's been a wonderful, creative experience working with everyone at Sesame Street on the iconic children's series, and we're excited to keep a portion of the library series about Max in the U.S.,” a spokesperson for the streamer said The Hollywood Reporter.

The representative confirmed that the choice to finish the deal was a part of a technique to prioritize “adult and family stories” and shift focus away from children's programming.

“Sesame Street” is now searching for a brand new home.

“We will continue to invest in our world-class programming and look forward to announcing our new distribution plans in the coming months to ensure 'Sesame Street' reaches as many children as possible across generations,” said the show's producer. Sesame Workshop said in a press release.

“Sesame Street” has had a bumpy journey through the streaming landscape since HBO received his consent in 2015. The deal gave HBO exclusive rights to air recent episodes months before their release on PBS, where the series had run since 1969.

In 2020, HBO Max abruptly launches about 200 episodes faraway from “Sesame Street.” from the streamer, days before it announced the removal of 36 shows, including a “Sesame Street” spinoff.

At the time, Variety reported that the sudden move was likely a way for Warner Bros. Discovery to scale back the fee of streaming content.

In 2023, “Sesame Street” announced its 56th season, scheduled for 2025 “rethought” with a brand new format in an effort to maintain it fresh. Sesame Workshop intends to follow the brand new format in every deal the organization can secure.

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