There will be a new way to get to “Sesame Street” starting this fall: Sign up for HBO.

Big Bird, Elmo and the rest of the gang are moving from PBS to the premium cable network as part of a controversial five-year deal that will give the show a badly needed infusion of cash.

Sesame Workshop, the show’s nonprofit producer, has operated at a deficit in recent years, forcing it to cut back on the number of “Sesame Street” episodes it could produce. PBS had paid an annual licensing fee of only $4 million, which covered about 10 percent of the show’s annual $40 million production cost.

The partnership with HBO will allow Sesame Workshop to increase the number of new episodes of “Sesame Street” from 18 to 35 each year and to create two new educational series.

Families have to pay to subscribe to HBO while “Sesame Street” has been available for free on PBS. But under the deal, new episodes of “Sesame Street” will air exclusively on HBO for nine months, after which time they will be given at no charge to PBS for it to broadcast.

“Without this five-year funding commitment from HBO, we would not have a sustainable funding model that would allow for the continued production of the show,” said Jeff Dunn, the chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop.

Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 19
NPR, Aug. 13
Vulture, Aug. 13