HBO Max, Sesame Workshop link up

HBO Max will feature a Sesame Street hub

Forthcoming direct-to-consumer (D2C) service HBO Max and Sesame Workshop have agreed a content partnership covering multiple new projects plus its 50-year library.

The agreement will bring four new series and five new seasons of Sesame Street, as well as annual specials and its library of existing seasons, to HBO Max, which is scheduled to launch next spring.

The initial partnership is domestic only, but Sesame Workshop and WarnerMedia said in a joint statement they will explore expanding globally as HBO Max grows.

The new projects are a family-centric live-action take on a late-night talkshow, The Not Too Late Show with Elmo, featuring Sesame Street’s celebrity friends.

A new season of the animated Esme & Roy and two new animated series, the first being a spin-off of Sesame Street called Mecha Builders (working title), featuring favourite Sesame Street characters as heroes in a robot-animation style, and a second series to be announced later.

They are rounded off by a docuseries that will explore key issues for kids and families, building on Sesame Workshop’s expertise in tackling difficult issues from a child’s perspective.

A Sesame Street hub on HBO Max will help families and fans access all-things-Sesame on-demand, including five new 35-episode seasons of Sesame Street, beginning with season 51, which will premiere on HBO Max and then continue to air for free on PBS Kids.

HBO will continue to air Sesame Street through season 50 after the US cablenet securing exclusive first-run rights to the five seasons of the show in 2015.

HBO Max will also feature annual Sesame Street specials, kicking off with The Monster at the End of This Show, an animated version of the acclaimed The Monster at the End of this Book. It will also include shortform content and a broad collection of Sesame Street episodes selected from the past 50 years, many available on-demand for the first time.

The news comes in the week that HBO Max revealed the exec team that will commission its original kids’ content.

“The scope of our partnership with Sesame Workshop is unprecedented,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max and president of TBS, TNT and truTV. “The beloved Sesame Street characters and these incredible new shows will be ambassadors for our service and the cornerstone of HBO Max’s extensive kids’ offering.”

In addition, the two organisations will look for ways to expand the reach of Sesame Workshop’s social impact content as well as developing and distributing interactive educational experiences. Sesame Street will continue to be available to every child in America for free on PBS Kids.

Sesame Workshop is also working with another new streamer, Apple TV+, on a slate of original programming that marked the tech company’s first commissions for children.