This will allow them to produce 35 episodes a year up from 18 episodes currently. And an analysis I read someplace (possibly the Hollywood Reporter) pointed out that kids love to watch the same show over and over again. So this might improve the appeal of HBO Now, their streaming service. HBO gets access to 150 past episodes, along with other stuff including the Electric Company.
FYI, this page has all of their parodies and spoofs, including Birdman, True Blood, Mad Men and other TV shows and movies.
I dunno, the best crossover I’ve seen recently was when Mike Rowe came on the show to do Oscar’s job.
Doesn’t Sesame Street generate huge amounts of revenue from the sales of merchandise? Does all that go to CTW and none to PBS? And how expensive a show is it to put on really? Do they even still use the actual ‘street’ set with live actors anymore? Last time I caught it it seemed like it was all animation, stock footage, and Muppets on green screens!
The HBO money also goes to CTW ( I think it’s now Sesame Workshop). Sesame Street wasn’t actually a PBS show. (There really aren’t any PBS shows in the way there are network shows.) PBS paid a licensing fee to Sesame Workshop , but most of the money (something like 90%) used to produce Sesame Street came from video/DVD sales, which have dropped due to streaming and on-demand. The PBS licensing fees didn’t increase, so there have been fewer new episodes and less new content.
The most recent licensing fee paid to Sesame Workshop by PBS was $4 million annually, but the fee will drop to zero with the new HBO deal.
On merchandising - not anymore. I read that merchandising used to provide 80% of its income but kids just arent into Sesame street themed products anymore. Disney is way bigger.
They still use some of the “street” theme but your right, most of the show is just old stock footage. But then when a show is 45 years old their is a LOT of stock footage.
Frankly when my kids were young I found the show to be dumb. Whereas I loved it when growing up.
It’s actually Sesame Streetwalkers.
Rather ironic, considering that Jim Henson himself didn’t include the Sesame Street characters in the deal that (eventually) sold The Muppets to Disney because he wanted the CTW to retain their profits…
Katie Perry did sesame street, the idea has potential.
B, B is for boobies
Declan