Thankfully, the beloved journey to Sesame Street continues. The iconic children's television series, which first aired in 1969, will now be accessible to stream on both Netflix and PBS following the end of its longstanding agreement with HBO and Max at the close of 2024.
New episodes of Sesame Street will be available on Netflix, along with a global catalog of past episodes. Additionally, these new episodes will be released on their premiere day on PBS stations and PBS Kids. This new partnership also paves the way for Netflix to expand into gaming, allowing the development of video games based on Sesame Street and its spinoff, Sesame Street Mecha Builders, aligning with Netflix's broader initiative to enhance its gaming offerings.
The announcement of this exciting deal was shared by Sesame Street on their social media on May 19, 2025. "The support of Netflix, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting serve as a unique public-private partnership to enable Sesame Street to continue to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder," stated a post from the Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the series.
We are excited to announce that all new Sesame Street episodes are coming to @netflix worldwide along with library episodes, and new episodes will also release the same day on @PBS Stations and @PBSKIDS platforms in the US, preserving a 50+ year relationship.
The support of… pic.twitter.com/B76MxQzrpI
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) May 19, 2025
For its 56th season, Sesame Street will undergo some structural changes, introducing an 11-minute story format inspired by other popular children's shows like Bluey. However, fans can still look forward to the return of cherished segments such as Elmo’s World and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck.
Sesame Street debuted its first episode in November 1969 and joined the PBS network in the 1970s. Since its inception, the show has been a cultural phenomenon. In 2015, HBO and Max entered into a $35 million deal to produce new episodes, but this partnership concluded at the end of 2024 as the platforms shifted focus away from children's programming. Despite this, the Sesame Street library will remain available on HBO and Max until 2027, extending the original 10-year agreement but without the production rights.
