Sesame Street moves to HBO and you won't be able to see it on PBS until NEXT summer

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Sesame Street fans will have to pay for new episodes - or wait nine months - as show moves to HBO
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New episodes will being airing in the fall first on HBO which will also produce a Sesame Street Muppet spinoff series
HBO is partnering with Sesame Street to offer the next five seasons of the iconic children’s classic on the premium network’s platforms
The pact means that Sesame Workshop will be able to produce almost twice as much new content as previous season
After nine months of exclusive HBO broadcasts, the show will air on PBS
Sesame Street has been running since 1969

Published: 11:07 EST, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 17:59 EST, 13 August 2015

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Sesame Street, the children's television show that has been running since 1969, is about to make the switch to cable onto the adult-orientated subscription channel HBO.

The premium cable channel and Sesame Workshop, which produces 'Sesame Street,' have announced a five-year deal that will expand the Sesame Street increase the amount of programming it produces.

However, the deal means that no new episodes of the program will be see for free on PBS until well into the middle of next year.

The first HBO-produced editions of the show will be shown in the fall, whilst viewers on PBS will have to make-do with reruns for at least nine months, until HBO send over the new material.

Entourage: HBO and Sesame Street just announced a surprise deal that will put America’s most famous children’s TV program on the same network as Game of Thrones. Pictured, creator Joan Ganz Cooney

PBS have stated that during the time Sesame Street is being shown exclusively on HBO that viewers will be watching reruns that have been 'edited together' to make the material 'appear fresh'.

The next five seasons of the respected children's series will all be available on HBO and its related platforms, including HBO GO and HBO On Demand.

It's an unusual move for HBO who are hoping their foray into children's television programming will help them reach a younger market.

Most of the content currently aired by channel which can cost upwards of $20 a month it R-rated.

The very ambition of the cable channel to be moving into an unfamiliar market signals a change of tact at the broadcaster.

Over on the other side, despite PBS viewers being deprived of any new material until summer 2016, the public service and free-to-air broadcaster is attempting to put some positive spin on the deal by stating it will allow Sesame Workshop, a nonprofit educational organization, to produce almost double the content of previous seasons.

It will also, for the first time, provide the new shows free to PBS and its member stations after they have been shown first on HBO - and with a nine month delay.

'Our new partnership with HBO represents a true winning public-private partnership model,' said Jeffrey D. Dunn, Sesame Workshop's CEO.

He said it provides his organization with 'critical funding' to continue producing the show and airing it on PBS, its home for 45 years.

Big Bird sings his 'Happy to be me' song on Sesame Street

New direction: The move represents a push by HBO to provide more children-friendly programming on a network that’s more commonly identified with R-rated material

Besides 'Sesame Street,' the workshop will make a Muppets spinoff series and a new original educational series for children.

HBO said it also has licensed more than 150 past episodes of 'Sesame Street.'

Joan Ganz Cooney, co-founder of the series, said she has 'long admired the creative work of HBO and can't think of a better partner to continue the quality of 'Sesame Street's' programming.'

She noted there have been dramatic changes in the way children consume video and the economics of the kids' TV business, and said Sesame Workshop must 'adapt to the times.'

The move by HBO reflects another reality - fledgling TV competitors such as Amazon and Netflix are making their own forays into children's programming as part of their streaming services.

Starting as early as this fall, HBO will get an exclusive window of nine months to air the show before it reaches PBS. The show’s producers say the deal will allow the production of twice as many shows at not cost to PBS

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.

The new series will be available for PBS after the HBO window, with no interruption in the airing of 'Sesame Street' as part of PBS Kids service on public television's member stations, the partners said.

In addition to Sesame Street, HBO will also license approximately 50 past episodes of 'Pinky Dinky Doo,' an animated series for preschoolers with a focus on early literacy, and 'The Electric Company,' which relaunched in 2009, from Sesame Workshop.