The thing that makes Sesame Street a reason for parents to switch or become customers is that it's actually a show that's tolerable (I'd suggest actually "enjoy

The thing that makes Sesame Street a reason for parents to switch or become customers is that it's actually a show that's tolerable (I'd suggest actually "enjoyable") for parents. A pretty large percentage of the content in Sesame Street is over the heads of its core audience, but hits a bullseye for parents. Why does this matter? Much of the widely-covered "screen time" research has been of pretty poor quality, but there's some indication that the perceived or observed harm from screen time comes in part due to a lack of personal interaction while kids are sitting in front of a TV, especially as TV is used as a babysitter. With parents watching, laughing, talking to their kids about what they're seeing, not only might it mitigate that harm, but it certainly reinforces the actual educational content in the program. My wife, a developmental pediatrician and neuroscientist, has a rule of thumb: it's "bad" screen time if you're not paying enough attention to what your kid is watching to follow the story yourself. Sesame Street is entertaining enough to make it easy to watch.