The video platform says that it has inked an expanded partnership with the nonprofit behind the show, Sesame Workshop, which will make YouTube the largest digital library of Sesame Street content available, including hundreds of classic episodes, beginning in January 2026.Sesame Street, of course, will debut new episodes on Netflix and PBS in November, and Netflix has picked up about 90 hours of library episodes. Warner Bros. HBO Max also continues to make some library episodes available. YouTube, however, will top both of them, alongside new content created specifically for YouTube.YouTube says that over the past year Sesame Street content viewership was up by more than 130 percent, topping 5 billion views on the platform.Perhaps even more notably: Under the partnership, Sesame Workshop, will lead seminars for next YouTube creators “to share best practices on how to create content that is entertaining while also promoting learning.”The deal with YouTube caps off a tumultuous year for Sesame Workshop, which lost its output deal with HBO last December, though the streaming platform inked a deal to continue carrying some library programming.Netflix ultimately swooped in to secure rights to the show, inking a deal that also expands access by allowing episodes to debut on PBS Kids the same day they begin streaming on Netflix. That deal begins in November with season 56 of the show.YouTube, meanwhile, has become a bona fide juggernaut with regard to kids programming, thanks to creators like Ms. Rachel, and channels from the likes of Cocomelon.
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