For decades, Sesame Street has been a cultural cornerstone of educational television in America. The show has nurtured the minds and hearts of children since its debut in 1969, and for just as long, it has been closely associated with PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service. So much so, in fact, that anytime Congress debates cutting federal funding to PBS, Sesame Street becomes the poster child—literally. Political cartoons show Big Bird on the unemployment line. Campaign ads warn of Elmo’s cancellation. And activists rally behind the beloved Muppets as though the fate of early childhood education itself hangs in the balance.
But here’s the thing: That’s not how it works. And frankly, it never has.
PBS Doesn’t Own Sesame Street—It Airs It
Despite what many people believe, Sesame Street is not a PBS property. It is produced by Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop, which is a private nonprofit organization. The show is licensed to PBS, not owned by it. And licensing is a key word here. If PBS ceased to exist tomorrow, Sesame Street would not disappear—it would simply find another partner. And in fact, it already has.
In 2015, Sesame Workshop struck a deal with HBO to air first-run episodes on the premium cable channel, with PBS airing the same episodes months later. That deal lasted until 2023, when HBO chose not to renew it. So what happened next? Sesame Street didn’t vanish—it migrated once again, this time to Netflix. That’s right: Sesame Street is now a Netflix show.
This arrangement underscores a crucial point: Sesame Workshop is more than capable of keeping Sesame Street alive without relying on public television.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
According to Sesame Workshop’s 2024 financial report, only 4% of the organization’s revenue came from federal funding. In contrast, they made over $84 million in licensing revenue and an additional $33 million in merchandising—from toys, books, digital content, and more. And here’s another interesting fact: PBS doesn’t even pay a licensing fee to air the show. It’s essentially getting Sesame Street for free, because the exposure helps the show maintain its public image and educational mission.
So Why the Confusion?
Much of the misunderstanding stems from PBS’s long-standing branding strategy. The network has leaned heavily on Sesame Street’s popularity, using it in fundraising drives and promotional materials, which has helped create the perception that PBS owns the show. While they’ve never explicitly claimed ownership, the implication has served PBS well when defending its federal funding.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich recently echoed this misconception in a viral video on X (formerly Twitter), where he accused the Trump administration of trying to “fire Elmo” and cancel Sesame Street through education budget cuts. Reich's invocation of Sesame Street as a casualty of those cuts is based on a myth.
To be fair, Reich is hardly alone. Many Americans still believe PBS and Sesame Street are inseparable, as if Big Bird clocks in at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting every morning. But the reality is far more independent—and much more resilient.
Sesame Street Survives Because It’s Smart
And this independence should be seen as a good thing. Sesame Street has proven that educational programming can thrive in the marketplace. Through a combination of nonprofit structure, smart licensing, philanthropy, and product revenue, Sesame Workshop has built a sustainable model that doesn’t hinge on the federal budget.
Here’s how Sherrie Westin, now president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, put it in 2013 when this debate flared up during another round of political wrangling:
“Quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting. But when they always try to trot out Big Bird and say we’re going to kill Big Bird—that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here. Big Bird lives on.”
And that’s the real takeaway. Sesame Street doesn’t survive because of PBS. It survives because it's Sesame Street—a show that’s earned the trust and love of families for over 50 years and has built a model smart enough to sustain itself in any media environment.
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