Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

A Muppet always pays his debts – Sesame Street finds new home behind paywall

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, announced a programming deal that will send Sesame Street from its longtime publicly-subsidized home on PBS to the corporate Time Warner-owned home of Westeros on HBO. According to a press release from Sesame Workshop, the deal includes:

  • a five-year order of 35 episodes per season (nearly twice its current 18 episodes per season);
  • 150 library episodes;
  • a muppet-based spinoff series;
  • an additional educational series;
  • library episodes from Sesame Workshop-produced shows Pinky Dinky Doo; and,
  • 2009 reboot of the 1970s educational series The Electric Company.

New episodes of Sesame Street will begin airing on HBO as early as this fall.

Exact financial details of the agreement were not immediately released. On the surface, this looked like a surprise move. After all, aside from movies, HBO is known primarily for its adult-themed programs like Game of Thrones, The Wire, Girls, and True Detective because FCC governance is less strict on premium television. However, the move benefits both Sesame Workshop and HBO.

From the article "A Muppet always pays his debts – Sesame Street finds new home behind paywall" by Glenn Hower.

Previously In The News

FuboTV offers 4 UEFA soccer matches via pay-per-view

When it comes to live streaming content, sports tops the leaderboard in U.S. households, according to Parks Associates. The firm found that of the 43% of homes that streamed live content online in the...

What I’m thankful for in sports media

Media research firm Parks Associates said there are more than 300 direct-to-consumer streaming services in the United States. From the article "What I’m thankful for in sports media" by Jeff Agrest...

Deeper Dive—Who would buy DirecTV?

Although DirecTV is losing subscribers at a rapid pace, it’s not exactly a lost cause. Brett Sappington, senior research director and principal analyst at Parks Associates, said the satellite operator...

Industry Voices—A new generation of data and its impact on traditional players

Among US broadband households, Parks Associates finds that 72% subscribe to at least one over-the-top (OTT) video service, while 46% subscribe to two or more OTT services. Further, 25% subscribe tothr...