The next 5 seasons of ‘Sesame Street’ will debut on HBO

However, half-hour episodes of “Sesame Street” will continue to air. They will appear first on HBO and be made available on PBS after a nine-month window.

HBO already has some family programming, but building up its catalog, especially with a high-profile show such as “Sesame Street“, is essential to broadening the appeal of HBO Now, which costs about twice as much as Netflix. “I’ll teach you the letter F”, said one jokester on Twitter, alongside an image of an angry Tony Soprano.

“Sesame Street“, had previously been broadcast in the United States on publicly-funded PBS, which is free of charge to TV viewers. “In order to fund our nonprofit mission with a sustainable business model, Sesame Workshop must recognize these changes and adapt to the times”.

The priority, he said, was keeping the show on PBS in some fashion.

The Time Warner pay-cable service said it would license the next five seasons of the venerable program, which has taught preschoolers for decades about numbers, letters, emotional development and the joys of a rubber duckie.

By beefing up its children’s offerings, HBO is clearly looking to please current subscribers with children, as well as bring in more subscribers with young children.

Sesame Workshop, the organization behind the beloved and award winning “Sesame Street“, announced on Thursday that the long-time children’s show will be heading to HBO for the next five seasons.

The new episodes will begin airing as early as fall 2015, with HBO the exclusive, first-run subscription TV distribution partner for “Sesame Street” and the new series, in both English and Spanish.

Plepler said in a statement that the show is “delighted to be a home for this extraordinary show, helping “Sesame Street” expand and build its franchise”.