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It's not just cord-cutting, however, this changes Sesame Street's relationship with PBS, and over-the-air broadcast service. The group Sesame Street needs to re

It's not just cord-cutting, however, this changes Sesame Street's relationship with PBS, and over-the-air broadcast service. The group Sesame Street needs to reach the most is not cord-cutters, it's people without an Internet connection. Low income and low literacy families are what Sesame Street was created to reach, that's why it's a show designed to appeal to both kids and adults. Certainly with a show like Sesame Street having the newest episodes is not necessarily critical (though they have done some good topical pieces in the past, the episode where a Hurricane hits Sesame Street comes to mind), so it's not a major issue in this case. Needless to say I was happy to see that there would continue to be some relationship with PBS, and I can't emphasize enough how important I find over-the-air public programming (both TV and radio). EDIT: To be clear, I do not necessarily think this is a bad deal. I think the STW produces great content and anything that helps them continue to produce quality non-commercial content is great. I just hope that content continues to be available for free on over-the-air broadcasts in the long term.

oddevan 11y ago
It's my understanding from the press release that, once the 9-month window passes, PBS will get the episodes both for broadcast and for streaming, and they'll get them for free. I might have misread, though. Regardless, they're also trying to keep the relationship with PBS alive, probably for exactly the reasons you state.
intopieces 11y ago
>"Historically, less than 10 percent of the funding for “Sesame Street” episodes came from PBS, with the rest financed through licensing revenue, such as DVD sales. So this does change the relationship with PBS. But instead of PBS using their limited funding to make up for the decline in licensing income (90% of which came from other sources to begin with), it seems like they'll still get to air Sesame Street and Sesame Street will have a more significant source of funding.
- justizin 11y ago
  Yeah, but I'm worried that current-events based shows that feature public figures like the First Lady will be delayed to lower income households. The kids won't really care, but it makes Sesame Street less of a bullhorn, because going on Sesame street next week only gets you into the homes of HBO subscribers. Maybe with the 'differently edited' previous shows they'll be rotating through PBS, they'll address this. It sounds like a decision come to out of desperation. :/

oddevan 11y ago

It's my understanding from the press release that, once the 9-month window passes, PBS will get the episodes both for broadcast and for streaming, and they'll get them for free. I might have misread, though. Regardless, they're also trying to keep the relationship with PBS alive, probably for exactly the reasons you state.

intopieces 11y ago

>"Historically, less than 10 percent of the funding for “Sesame Street” episodes came from PBS, with the rest financed through licensing revenue, such as DVD sales. So this does change the relationship with PBS. But instead of PBS using their limited funding to make up for the decline in licensing income (90% of which came from other sources to begin with), it seems like they'll still get to air Sesame Street and Sesame Street will have a more significant source of funding.

justizin 11y ago
Yeah, but I'm worried that current-events based shows that feature public figures like the First Lady will be delayed to lower income households. The kids won't really care, but it makes Sesame Street less of a bullhorn, because going on Sesame street next week only gets you into the homes of HBO subscribers. Maybe with the 'differently edited' previous shows they'll be rotating through PBS, they'll address this. It sounds like a decision come to out of desperation. :/