Sesame Street shrinks to 30 minutes, new shows will premiere on HBO and PBS nine months later

[minor muppetz]

One thing I've thought about: Sometimes, there'll be a major tragedy that inspires Sesame Workshop to do episodes to help the kids deal with those kinds of issues (whether it be 9/11 or a hurricane). I feel like maybe they should have made a deal where if there was a need to make such an episode that PBS be allowed to broadcast it sooner. Kids without HBO shouldn't have to wait so long to see such important episodes.

Of course, they could very well just make them special resource videos or television specials.

Suddenly, I wonder if it'll be common to see new episodes on DVD (whether they're full half-hour episodes or just street stories) before the PBS broadcasts. It's been said that DVD sales have gone down and that digital is more popular, but I have faith that there'll still be DVDs. I wonder how long Warner Home Video's deal lasts (though I saw in one of the press releases that Time Warner also owns HBO, which I don't remember knowing until recently).

 

[zhelder]

I just can't believe this. Sure, I love HBO, but a deal like this is antithetical to everything Sesame Street stands for (or at least used to pre-Barney).

And they're licensing only 150 "old" episodes? I'll bet it's the same old stuff that's been available for years - 98% recent stuff that most people don't care about, and 2% "classic" episodes.

The whole way this is being handled/spun is also a problem for me. Sesame Workshop waits until just before the expected start of the new season to drop this bomb, rather than give people some time to process and adjust to whet may be the biggest change to the show in its 46 years of existence. Then, they state that their output of the show will be "doubled", because they're producing 35 episodes instead of 18. But if the episode are cut to a half hour from an hour, isn't that actually less output? (And wasn't Season 45 twenty-six episodes?) Pure sneaky spin.

It's outrageous that our gubment has cut public TV funding to the bone, and that's a big part of the problem, but there's other things that could've been done. I said it before, and I'll say it again:

SESAME WORKSHOP, CREATE AN APP/SERVICE AND LICENSE YOUR ARCHIVES FOR STREAMING. PEOPLE WILL PAY $$$ FOR IT (MYSELF INCLUDED). DON'T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT INCLUDING THE 4x SEASONS OF SESAME STREET. PUT UP THE CLASSIC STUFF. THE FIRST 20 SEASONS OF SESAME STREET. THE ENTIRE RUN OF THE ORIGINAL ELECTRIC COMPANY. 3-2-1 CONTACT. SQUARE ONE TV.

Sorry, but I'm hopping mad about this deal. Sesame Street's been in a coma since 1993 when Around the Corner started, but now, I can truly say: RIP, Sesame Street (and PBS).

 

[minor muppetz]

Then, they state that their output of the show will be "doubled", because they're producing 35 episodes instead of 18. But if the episode are cut to a half hour from an hour, isn't that actually less output? (And wasn't Season 45 twenty-six episodes?) Pure sneaky spin.

Well, I assume this means more original street stories, as opposed to a season of mostly new street stories and a small portion of recycled street stories from two seasons ago. We wouldn't get two street stories per hour-long episode (back in the pre-2002 days, there were occasionally episodes with two separate street stories, such as the season 12 heat wave episode where the first half hour focuses on the adults wanting to cheer up Oscar by bothering him, and then the second half where Mr. Rogers judges a race between Big Bird and Snuffy, or episode 3156 where the first half has Sherry Netherland wanting to find out the source of a squeaky sound at the Furry Arms Hotel, among other comical scenes there, and the second half has Gordon tutoring Carlos with science).

 

[Oscarfan]

We were told by Sesame Workshop today that the HBO version will be 30 minutes as well. They worked really hard to get funding and keep the show on PBS. The silver lining is the five year deal ensures we get a 50th season which might not have happened otherwise.

Did they also tell you when the season is supposed to start? I'm assuming that since the hour-long shows are dropped on Nov 16, the new season starts then too.

SESAME WORKSHOP, CREATE AN APP/SERVICE AND LICENSE YOUR ARCHIVES FOR STREAMING. PEOPLE WILL PAY $$$ FOR IT (MYSELF INCLUDED).

They kind of already do - Sesame Street GO. It's pretty much what you said though - mainly recent stuff with a couple dozen classic episodes.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I'm friends with Chris Cerf on FB and here's what he says:
It may surprise many of you that I'm very much in favor of the new arrangement. What a lot of those criticizing it are overlooking is that PBS has not provided significant funding for Sesame Street for years, despite stations' implying the contrary in their fundraising drives. Sure, if PBS didn't raise money from viewers, there probably would be no free place to view Sesame at all, so the public TV funding pitches aren't entirely misleading. But the fact remains that, right from the beginning, CTW (and now Sesame Workshop) has had to raise very significant funds from foundations, third-party agreements, and licensing arrangements just to keep Sesame Street on the air.

The new HBO deal is a win-win, I think, because it permits Sesame Street to stay on PBS (and to be streamed free on PBS Kids); because it permits the Workshop to produce almost twice as many shows per season as they could otherwise have afforded to make; and because it provides SW with funding for additional educational TV series development beyond Sesame Street.

 

[D'Snowth]

PBS has not provided significant funding for Sesame Street for years, despite stations' implying the contrary in their fundraising drives.

That's one of the main reasons my PBS stopped having pledge drives ten years ago, because they weren't bringing in as much funding as they were wanting (our minimum pledge amounts jumped up from $20 to $25 per person our last pledge drive) . . . and at that time, it was mainly because those Far Right fanatics were going around town and crying out, "Don't support PBS! It brainwashes r kidz to tink its ok 2 b gay n dey shud b frend wif gay peoplez!"

And again, it's always been in the Far Right's agenda to ax PBS, so again, I feel like should that ever actually happen, at least SST will already have themselves a new place to call home.

 

[jobi71]

My response may seem terse and
high falutin and I apologize for that in advance. I know three folks who have
worked for Sesame Street - two whom have moved on and one is still there.
They earned far less than they would at another show. But they knew the
mission and worked as long as they could. Corporate funding is down for
PBS considerably. Government funding has also been cut - less than you
might think. This is not a measure for PBS or Sesame folk to make money it is to ensure the survival of the show. PBS is spending its limited budget to buy rights for shows like Downton Abbey which generates viewers. There
are about 4,000 episodes of Sesame Street - they could repeat them forever (hey the alphabet is always new to someone). They are doing what they
can to sustain it.

Two side notes: I would bet Sonia Manzano's decision to leave was fueled by
(but not caused by) this change. She's been on the show forever and maybe
the increase in episodes was too much or maybe since a big change was
coming she thought: It's a good time to go.

I am, however, concerned how online content will be handled. My sister with three kids 3-8 relies on Sesame Street. They have the Old School DVD's
and watch it on PBS but sometimes youtube clips are needed. So I hope
some content remains available and free. I also believe the episodes that
deal with Mr. Hooper's death and the Hurricane remain available as they are a public service rather than a program. Excuse me while I get off my high
horse.

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't know about terse, but yours seems to be the most rational and well-put response yet.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm pretty much over this and let it through my system, but there are two sore points that still stick out for me.

The fact SW had to do both of these (cable assistance/half hour chop) because of PBS (job71 pretty much said what I said about pouring its budget into getting British costume dramas, and frankly, at this point let the *&^% Neo-Cons take the funding away), and the 9 month window. That's waaaaaaay excessive. There's no way there wasn't going to be some sort of time related advantage to HBO pouring its money into Sesame Street. No matter what went down they weren't going to let it simulcast on PBS, because why bother trying to get HBO, right? But here's why 9 months is too much...

• First off, obviously, we know that's 3 months shy of a year. Almost a year is a long time in television. And with a pop culture heavy show like Sesame Street we could have bands break up, movies being flops, TV shows ending, and those moments that were hip and at the moment now seem like everyone beat them to the punch. Bad enough for production lead time and PBS's airing schedule that it happens now.
• That's more time for PBS to rerun the heck out of reruns already. And while kids don't really seem to mind (I'd imagine some would), I'm sure parents will collectively moan, "UGH!!! This one again?!! Let's see what else is on."
• And most importantly... did you really think PBS would, once they get these, air them in an uninterrupted pattern? I can see HBO airing all the episodes at once, maybe taking short breaks here and there. But lest we forget that PBS's run of Sesame Street the past decade has seen episodes stretched out from September to May. This year saw hold out episodes as late as June! So if PBS gets these 9 months later, it could easily take them 9 more months to air all the episodes. That's a year and a half! A year and a half to run 30 something half hours.

So what would have been a better compromise? Certainly they could have gone with a still self-beneficially long, yet reasonably less so 4-6 months. Maybe simulcast a couple episodes, maybe the first week, then open the 9 month window. Or have PBS vow to run all the episodes once they're available. Or even have a special edition version of the half hour show made up of some unseen footage (Monstros Supersanos clips cut up, some Furchester Hotel bits) to give PBS exclusive "new" but not brand new footage to air in the mean time.

 

[Oscarfan]

My response may seem terse and
high falutin and I apologize for that in advance. I know three folks who have
worked for Sesame Street - two whom have moved on and one is still there.
They earned far less than they would at another show. But they knew the
mission and worked as long as they could. Corporate funding is down for
PBS considerably. Government funding has also been cut - less than you
might think. This is not a measure for PBS or Sesame folk to make money it is to ensure the survival of the show. PBS is spending its limited budget to buy rights for shows like Downton Abbey which generates viewers. There
are about 4,000 episodes of Sesame Street - they could repeat them forever (hey the alphabet is always new to someone). They are doing what they
can to sustain it.

Two side notes: I would bet Sonia Manzano's decision to leave was fueled by
(but not caused by) this change. She's been on the show forever and maybe
the increase in episodes was too much or maybe since a big change was
coming she thought: It's a good time to go.

I am, however, concerned how online content will be handled. My sister with three kids 3-8 relies on Sesame Street. They have the Old School DVD's
and watch it on PBS but sometimes youtube clips are needed. So I hope
some content remains available and free. I also believe the episodes that
deal with Mr. Hooper's death and the Hurricane remain available as they are a public service rather than a program. Excuse me while I get off my high
horse.

Very well said, no "high horse" necessary.

I don't think they'll stop putting their stuff on YouTube. As I had posted before, those viral views are essential to them these days and from an all-around standpoint, it would be foolish to give that up.