With Max opting not to renew their deal with Sesame Workshop to produce more original episodes of Sesame Street, the long-running educational children’s program is looking for a new home. Here is a look into who is — and isn’t — likely to be the home of Sesame Street starting in 2026 with Season 55.
1. Apple TV+
Why It Works
If you explore the ‘Kids & Family’ hub on Apple TV+, you’ll notice they’re promoting Sesame Street. Upon clicking on it, you’ll see all the episodes available to stream, and all the ways to stream it — the Apple TV+ app not being one of those ways unless you purchase the seasons. Apple TV+ did develop two over kids shows with Sesame Workshop as part of an overall deal: Helpsters and Ghostwriter, which each lasted three seasons (the former spawning a miniseries spinoff). They also aired two Fraggle Rock series, which, while not from Sesame Workshop, are part of Jim Henson’s Muppets. Plus, Sesame Street is the type of high-quality children’s programming that Apple would love to boast about airing at their events. As a multi-trillion-dollar company, Apple also has more than enough money to afford Sesame Street.
Why It Works
If you explore the ‘Kids & Family’ hub on Apple TV+, you’ll notice they’re promoting Sesame Street. Upon clicking on it, you’ll see all the episodes available to stream, and all the ways to stream it — the Apple TV+ app not being one of those ways unless you purchase the seasons. Apple TV+ did develop two over kids shows with Sesame Workshop as part of an overall deal: Helpsters and Ghostwriter, which each lasted three seasons (the former spawning a miniseries spinoff). They also aired two Fraggle Rock series, which, while not from Sesame Workshop, are part of Jim Henson’s Muppets. Plus, Sesame Street is the type of high-quality children’s programming that Apple would love to boast about airing at their events. As a multi-trillion-dollar company, Apple also has more than enough money to afford Sesame Street.
Why It Doesn’t Work
Even though Apple has the money for Sesame Street, it’s unclear how much of this money they are currently allocating toward their fledging streamer. The streamer is reportedly cutting back on costs recently, which could be a deciding factor in pursuing a show that has already gone through budget cuts to survive itself. Still, Apple has aired far more expensive series, and Sesame Street has the potential to give them far greater returns.
Apple may also be hesitant to pick up Sesame Street because of the risk of backlash from the general public. As a company that prides itself on its image, the last thing they need is viewer outrage over a beloved show like Sesame Street moving from a struggling streamer to one that’s doing even worse. They are still getting backlash for becoming the exclusive home of the Peanuts, and in particular, A Charlie Brown Christmas. That’s something to keep in mind before pursuing Sesame Street.
2. Prime Video
Why It Works
Like with Apple TV+, you can currently access Sesame Street through Prime Video (as long as you purchase it or have a Max subscription). The streamer goes a step further with most other shows that air on PBS Kids: for $4.99/month, PBS Kids is available as an add-on to Prime Video. Additionally, Prime Video is rolling out PBS Kids FAST channels, including access to local PBS affiliates. This means if Amazon were to acquire Sesame Street, the series would air original episodes on the same streamer that houses the PBS Kids library. Thanks to being bundled in with Amazon Prime, Prime Video has over 200 million subscribers worldwide who would not need to sign up for an additional streaming service. Sesame Street would also help Amazon promote the PBS Kids add-in and the brand new FAST channels. This arguably makes a move to Prime Video a win-win situation.
Why It Doesn’t Work
Unlike on Apple TV+, Sesame Street is not marketed very well on Prime Video. The streamer also has largely exited original children’s programming, which is the very reason Warner Bros. Discovery gave for opting not to renew Sesame Street. While Prime Video does house a lot of PBS Kids shows, they have worked out co-distribution deals with PBS Kids on many of these. If they can’t do the same with Sesame Street, which is presumably far more expensive than any PBS Kids original series, Amazon simply may not see the move to be worthwhile.
3. Disney+
Why It Works
Why It Works
If you have the Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle, Sesame Street could move to Disney+ and you would hardly know the difference. This would make the transition between platforms as seamless as possible, essentially the opposite of when new episodes moved from PBS to HBO. Streaming on Disney+ would also provide the option for Sesame Street to air on basic cable; Disney’s children’s network Disney Junior, as well as the programming block of the same name on Disney Channel. Plus, Disney already owns the Muppets, so there is already some synergy on the streamer.
Why It Doesn’t Work
While Disney owns the Muppets, they do not own Sesame Workshop. Disney+’s original series are primarily an outlet for Disney to promote the IPs that they own, and Sesame Street really doesn’t fit in with that. Ultimately, Sesame Street would likely benefit more from airing on Disney+ than Disney would benefit from airing Sesame Street. The company uses their streamer to promote their brands among all else, and Sesame Street, while adjacent to the Disney-owned Muppets, is not one of those brands.
4. Netflix
Why It Works
Netflix is no stranger to Sesame Street. For a brief period of time right before Sesame Street moved to HBO, Netflix had the streaming rights to select episodes of the program. With over 280 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix has an extremely wide reach that could even give Sesame Street a newfound surge in popularity.
Why It Doesn’t Work
Netflix doesn’t really have an obvious use for Sesame Street in the way that Apple TV+, Prime Video, or even Disney+ might. A streamer like Apple TV+ could make Sesame Street one of their flagship series; on Netflix, it runs the risk of getting buried. Sure, Netflix has the greatest potential reach, but also comes with the risk of not treating the show as well as some others would.
5. Paramount+
Why It Works
Paramount+ doesn’t immediately come to mind as an obvious home for Sesame Street, but neither did HBO in 2016. At the very least, Sesame Street would be joining a streamer that already houses the Nick Jr. library. It doesn’t fit quite as well as being on the same streamer that houses PBS Kids, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the show.
Why It Doesn’t Work
Paramount+ is being very careful with costs, even canceling Halo despite its popularity. With few exceptions, it’s a struggle for a Paramount+ original series to survive these days if Taylor Sheridan isn’t connected to it in some way. They recent yanked from the platform children’s programming like the reboot of Rugrats, un-renewed Star Trek: Prodigy before later being saved by Netflix, and housed a SpongeBob spinoff that never truly found an audience. There’s not a whole lot of reason to believe bringing new episodes of Sesame Street to Paramount+ would go much differently, which should give both Paramount/Skydance and Sesame Workshop reason to pause before sending Sesame Street to Paramount+. Paramount would have likely fared better if the entire catalog were up for grabs at once — classic series tend to perform better overall than reboots and spinoffs on the streamer.
6. Peacock
Why It Works
With the addition of Sesame Street, Peacock would be the home of two long-running former daytime television staples — the other being soap opera Days of Our Lives, which is currently one of the streamer’s most popular series. Adding Sesame Street would also allow Peacock to build up their children’s programming catalog. It’s a genre that exists on the streamer, with a reboot of Caillou being among their offerings, but isn’t what they’re known for.
Why It Doesn’t Work
NBCUniversal is cutting down on Peacock’s offerings, not expanding it. They are about to spin off several of their cable networks into what is currently named SpinCo, keeping only Bravo directly under the NBCUniversal umbrella. Picking up Sesame Street for Peacock doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for NBCUniversal if they’re going to focus primarily on NBC and Bravo properties. It also won’t be a very popular move with viewers, as Peacock doesn’t have the same reach that some other streamers do. It’s hard to see Peacock taking Sesame Street over all its competition.
7. Hulu
Why It Doesn’t Work
Since Hulu focuses on adult programming, airing Sesame Street simply does not work. Disney+, maybe, but not Hulu.
What About PBS?
Sesame Street aired on broadcast public television since it premiered in 1969. It first aired on the public broadcast channel NET, and later on NET’s successor, PBS. It’s unlikely, however, that PBS will ever go back to being the exclusive home of Sesame Street. The program is bound to continue airing on PBS, but not as an exclusive. The closest it could get is if PBS and Prime Video co-distribute it, putting new Sesame Street episodes back under the PBS Kids umbrella.