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

With 50% of X1 Subscribers Accessing Netflix, Comcast and Netflix Expand Their Business Relationship

Recent research from Parks Associates reveals the important sales channel relationship legacy pay-TV providers like Comcast have become to Netflix. Just over 20%, or one in five, of pay-TV subscribers...

Consumers May be Overestimating the Security of Home Security

Consumers may be overestimating the security of home security. While 64% of American broadband households worry about security and privacy when they use their connected devices, 63% think the signals...

Parks: OTT Viewing Migrating to the Largest Screen in the Home

OTT viewing is increasingly taking place in the living room, with more than half (52%) of U.S. broadband households now watching online video on an internet-connected television, according to a new re...

Report: Increasing Mobile Video Usage is a Leading Indicator for Cord Cutting

People who use their smartphones to watch more than six hours of video per week are more likely to cut the cord during the next year than those who watch 2.5 hours, according to Parks Associates. The...