Sesame Street Sells Its Soul to Netflix in Massive Deal After Being Abandoned By Warner Bros….

After nearly a decade of being pimped out by Warner Bros. Discovery, Sesame Street has found a new home… Netflix. Yes sir. The most sanitized, mass-marketed, corporate-approved children’s show on the planet just got scooped up by the same company that greenlit Squid Game and the Jeffrey Dahmer Cinematic Universe. Who would have thought? Not me… 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Warner Bros. Discovery, in its infinite wisdom and ever-shrinking attention span for anything that doesn’t involve reality TV or DC reboots, quietly announced that it wasn’t renewing its deal to stream new episodes of Sesame Street on Max… (instead, maybe a few more fixer-upper shows for people who hate their spouses). 

So with WBD bailing like a deadbeat dad, Sesame Workshop… the nonprofit that owns Sesame Street… went door knocking. And Netflix, the algorithmic hell-machine that turns every piece of IP into a global franchise or a three-part docuseries no one asked for, said yes. New episodes will debut later this year on Netflix globally, alongside 90 hours of back-catalog content. The 56th season is being rebranded and “reimagined,” which basically means shorter episodes because the brain’s of America’s future are fried thanks to Cocomelon. 

(Source: Fox Business) 

But, but, but… here’s the thing: despite Netflix’s usual exclusivity fetish, new episodes will still air on PBS the same day. Interesting. A global streaming monopoly and a U.S. public broadcaster have entered into a ménage à trois with a puppet show. It’s the most unholy public-private partnership since the Iraq War. But don’t worry. Sesame Workshop made sure to say this is all about “helping children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.” Meaning, when you’re licensing content to a platform that built its empire on binge-watching and psychological manipulation, you have to throw in something about kindness to keep the donors from asking questions.

Meanwhile, Sesame Workshop is trying to make the obvious not obvious. Even though they’re emphasizing continuity, legacy, and their relationship with PBS… this is a Hail Mary. The HBO Max deal was worth $30–$35 million a year… which is a lifeline for a nonprofit that’s been around since Nixon was in office. And while Netflix didn’t disclose the terms, you can assume it was enough to make Elmo stop asking questions and smile for the camera. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Additionally, in the background of all this, the streaming wars continue to cannibalize whatever’s left of legacy media. Disney is merging ESPN into its DTC Frankenstein. Amazon is cranking out more content than it can promote. And Netflix is quietly cornering the market on children’s media. So yeah, that’s where we are. Sesame Street is now part of the Netflix machine. The same machine that killed Blockbuster, turned binge-watching into a lifestyle, and is now looking to monetize your kid’s screen time even more.

Translation: Big Bird doesn’t live on PBS anymore. He lives in the cloud. And if you want access, you’ll pay $15.49 a month and like it. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone with two yahoos running around… so yeah, I’m forced to like it. But hey, Netflix is up 20.13% this month, so really… who’s complaining? Until next time, friends… 

Stocks.News holds positions in Amazon, Netflix, and Disney as mentioned in the article.