Alongside episodes, Sesame Workshop will lead seminars teaching YouTube creators how to make entertaining, research-based educational content.
WASHINGTON — “Sesame Street” is about to have its biggest digital home yet.
YouTube announced Thursday that it has signed an expanded partnership with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the iconic children’s show, to host the largest digital library of “Sesame Street” episodes beginning in January 2026.
Hundreds of classic episodes will be available on the platform, alongside new content created specifically for YouTube.
“In the past year, Sesame Street’s YouTube channels garnered more than 5B views, a 130% increase year over year,” YouTube said. More than half of watch time already comes from connected TVs.
Sesame Workshop said in a statement that the move will help “children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder, one episode at a time.”
The partnership also includes a unique educational component. Sesame Workshop will lead seminars with YouTube creators, sharing best practices for making content that is entertaining while also promoting learning, drawing on its 50-plus years of research-driven children’s media.
The expansion comes after a difficult year for “Sesame Street’s” distribution. The show lost its HBO output deal last December, with Netflix stepping in to acquire rights to new episodes and PBS continuing to air them. Netflix also has access to around 90 hours of episodes for its library. Season 56 is set to debut on both platforms in November.
“This partnership is another example of how we’re bringing everything families want to watch together in one place,” YouTube added, citing other children’s creators and programming on the platform like Ms. Rachel, Doggyland and Gabby’s Dollhouse.
