The content purge at HBO Max continues with the removal of over 200 older episodes of the iconic children’s program “Sesame Street.”
HBO Max’s removal of “Sesame Street” episodes and other current programming appears to be part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s cost-cutting measures to reduce streaming-content payment commitments.
As of Friday, HBO Max offered a total of 456 “Sesame Street” episodes, including a selection from Seasons 1, 5, and 7 and the complete lineup from Seasons 39-52. Only 29 of these are from the earlier seasons. Previously, the streaming service provided approximately 650 “Sesame Street” episodes, including those from Seasons 2-4, Season 6, and each season from 8 to 35.
HBO and Sesame Workshop originally reached an arrangement in 2015, establishing a new revenue source for “Sesame Street” and offering HBO the exclusive right to air new episodes of the historic programme before PBS. Through 2025, their existing agreement keeps new “Sesame Street” seasons exclusive to HBO Max.
Currently available on HBO In addition to the remaining “Sesame Street” episodes, Max owns the 10-episode “Sesame Street Mecha Builders” series, seven seasons of “My Sesame Street Friends,” and the Elmo and Abby special “The Magical Wand Chase.”
The withdrawal of the “Sesame Street” programs follows Wednesday’s announcement by HBO Max that at least 36 additional titles will be removed from the service this week. This includes 20 original HBO Max programming, such as “Generation,” “Infinity Train,” and “Summer Camp Island,” as well as various “Sesame Street” specials. This is in addition to the previously announced titles leaving HBO Max this month, including the original eight “Harry Potter” movies.
Warner Bros. Discovery stated that the decision to remove the films from HBO Max was related to the platform’s upcoming merger with Discovery+. The business said in a statement, “As we seek to consolidate our content portfolios into a single platform, we will modify the content offerings on both HBO Max and Discovery+.” This will involve removing certain content from both platforms.
Six Warner Bros. films and HBO programs, including “Camping,” “Vinyl,” “Mrs. Fletcher,” and “Run,” have been taken from HBO Max in recent weeks. Under Warner Bros. Discovery’s management, HBO Max just cancelled Greg Berlanti’s DC series “Strange Adventures” and a live-action “Wonder Twins” film.
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