The famous children's program "Sesame Street" will now be showcased on the Netflix streaming platform. This news was announced following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to halt federal funding to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In its statement, Netflix described "Sesame Street" as a "beloved and significant corner" of children's media, emphasizing its role in inspiring a love of learning in young hearts.
According to this agreement, Netflix will provide its 300 million subscribers with the new season of the program and 90 hours of archived episodes. At the same time, "Sesame Street" will still be broadcast through PBS.
The future of the program was at risk, as one of its previous media partners — Warner Bros Discovery — decided not to renew its broadcasting rights. This company owns the HBO platform, through which "Sesame Street" was aired.
Currently, President Trump signed an order to stop funding for PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) networks, accusing them of "one-sided and political approaches." Following this decision, the federal agency supporting these two media networks — the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — canceled funding for children's programming.
Under the new agreement, PBS will have the right to air "Sesame Street" episodes that are released on Netflix on the same day.
The "Sesame Street" program first premiered on November 10, 1969. The project's founders, Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Gans Kuni, created an unconventional method of educating children by involving Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. A group of psychologists analyzed child development psychology to develop an engaging and educational show. They collaborated with the famous puppeteer Jim Henson to create characters like Big Bird. The set was designed to resemble an urban street.
Over the years, this program has educated several generations of children. The characters of "Sesame Street" have had a significant impact even outside the small screen. For instance, in 2002, Elmo spoke about music education in the U.S. Congress. In 2006, as childhood obesity became a growing issue in the country, segments titled "Health Habits" focusing on healthy eating and physical activity were featured in the program. Cookie Monster emphasized that cookies are "sometimes a food to be eaten," educating children about balanced diets.
Additionally, former First Lady Michelle Obama visited the "Sesame Street" studio and participated in a segment on healthy eating.
Netflix has begun to place significant emphasis on projects aimed at children in its content. Today, approximately 15 percent of the streaming platform's offerings are dedicated to children's content. Furthermore, Netflix announced the release of new episodes of the Peppa Pig cartoon and a mobile game designed for children that includes coloring, puzzles, and games. This cartoon is about a four-year-old pig named Peppa and her family, who live in a quaint village in Britain.
Thus, "Sesame Street" is stepping into a new life on a new platform — our familiar show will continue to provide education and upbringing to children in the modern digital space.
