Sesame Street Renewed For Five Seasons, Moving To HBO Max

Sesame Street was just renewed for five more seasons in a massive renewal deal, but it will also be harder to watch than ever. According to a report by Variety, the beloved children’s show is jumping from HBO to HBO Max, the forthcoming streaming service for all Warner Bros. intellectual property. Some fans are displeased to see the series behind such a pay wall.

Sesame Street has educating and entertaining children for 50 years now, and it is safe for at least five more. However, the new seasons will be available first for subscribers of HBO Max, the app that Warner Bros. hopes will compete with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and the rest of the cutthroat streaming industry. After that, the episodes will air over on PBS Kids, as they always have.

All in all, not much will change for Sesame Street viewers. Those who watch the show on TV will get the chance to do so after it premieres online, while HBO Max subscribers will have a new opportunity to see it first. The app will also contain the entire Sesame Street library — 50 years’ worth of episodes, specials and movies.

The renewal deal is a big one for the show, however. Sesame Street is now guaranteed to run through Seaon 50. Each season will consist of 35 episodes, and there are annual specials and animated spinoffs planned as well. Sesame Street has already seen some big changes since it jumped to HBO in 2015, and it looks like more are on the way.

HBO Max will reportedly produce an anmiated special called The Monster at the End of this Book, based on a children’s book of the same title, and a special in the style of a late-night talk show called The Not Too Late Show with Elmo. The company has also confirmed a new season of Esme & Roy, and two other animated spinoffs. One will be called Meach Builders, and the other has yet to be announced.

Finally, the streamer is also making a docuseries tackling serious life issues from a children’s perspective, so far untitled. It is unclear how much of this will air outside of HBO Max, but the chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment, Robert Greenblatt, said that the company is eager to give Sesame Street all the support it can.

“Sesame Street is, and always has been, the gold standard for children’s programming, and we’re thrilled that Sesame Workshop chose HBO Max as its new partner,” he said. “This brand is synonymous with quality and integrity, not to mention that nothing is more important than educating young new minds. This landmark deal perfectly illustrates the type of quality programming HBO Max will offer across every demographic.”

HBO Max is expected to launch sometime in the spring of 2020.