Apple is establishing a footprint in children’s programming, handing a multi-series order to Sesame Workshop for a slate of new children’s programs. This marks the first kids programming deal for Apple’s Worldwide Video division run by Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht.
Under the pact, Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street and a host of other programs — will produce live-action and animated series, and will develop a puppet series.
While there is a strong Sesame Street presence on Apple with ebooks, apps, and video content, the show Sesame Street is not part of the deal. In the U.S., Sesame Street broadcasts daily on HBO, and has aired uninterrupted on PBS since it first started almost 50 years ago. Internationally, Sesame Street is available on a variety of content platforms including television, on-demand and steaming services.
Present in over 160 countries, Sesame Workshop’s mission is to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder, the organization says. The company’s content is often cited by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics as model educational content for children which includes heavily researched and tested curricula in all content. There have been more than 1,000 studies to date showing Sesame Street’s positive impact in the U.S. and around the world, according to the organization.
In 2018, Sesame Workshop won more Daytime Emmys than any other children’s production company. The organization also has been awarded the first-ever 100&Change $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation; as well as an American Ingenuity Award from the Smithsonian Institution.
