Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

A Muppet always pays his debts – Sesame Street finds new home behind paywall

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, announced a programming deal that will send Sesame Street from its longtime publicly-subsidized home on PBS to the corporate Time Warner-owned home of Westeros on HBO. According to a press release from Sesame Workshop, the deal includes:

  • a five-year order of 35 episodes per season (nearly twice its current 18 episodes per season);
  • 150 library episodes;
  • a muppet-based spinoff series;
  • an additional educational series;
  • library episodes from Sesame Workshop-produced shows Pinky Dinky Doo; and,
  • 2009 reboot of the 1970s educational series The Electric Company.

New episodes of Sesame Street will begin airing on HBO as early as this fall.

Exact financial details of the agreement were not immediately released. On the surface, this looked like a surprise move. After all, aside from movies, HBO is known primarily for its adult-themed programs like Game of Thrones, The Wire, Girls, and True Detective because FCC governance is less strict on premium television. However, the move benefits both Sesame Workshop and HBO.

From the article "A Muppet always pays his debts – Sesame Street finds new home behind paywall" by Glenn Hower.

Previously In The News

Don’t Interrupt My Show! and Other Consumer Concerns with Interactive Streaming

Interactive streaming sounds great on the face of it—lean-forward experiences offer levels of engagement that passive viewing can’t compete with. However, according to Parks Associates’ Jennifer Kent,...

Roku wants to grow to 100 million active user accounts in next 18 months

The streaming device manufacturer, and operator of The Roku Channel streaming service ended the third quarter of 2024 with 85.5 million streaming households, and according to data compiled by Parks As...

Parks: 37% of Connected TV Homes Use Samsung Consumer Electronics

Parks Associates reports that among smart TV owners, which includes 66% of all U.S. internet households, more than 37% say Samsung is the brand used most often in the home. Many consumer electronic...

Samsung Leads in U.S. Smart TV Ownership

Parks Associates research finds that Samsung and LG combine to capture more than half of the U.S. smart TV market. According to consumer technology research firm Parks Associates, the majority of U...