HBO Max Removes About 200 ‘Sesame Street’ Episodes

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBought to you by the letters G-O-N-E: The content purge at HBO Max continues as the streaming platform has pulled about 200 older episodes of classic kids’ show “Sesame Street.”The removal of the “Sesame Street” episodes and other recent content by HBO Max appears to be part of new owner Warner Bros.

Discovery’s belt-tightening moves, aimed at reducing streaming-content payment obligations.As of Friday, HBO Max listed 456 total episodes of “Sesame Street,” with a selection from Seasons 1, 5 and 7 and the full lineup from the most recent Seasons 39-52.

Of those, only 29 are from the earliest seasons. Previously, the streaming service offered about 650 total “Sesame Street” episodes, including episodes from Seasons 2-4, Season 6 and those from every season between 8 and 35.

Reps for Warner Bros. Discovery and Sesame Workshop did not respond to requests for comment.HBO and Sesame Workshop first struck an agreement in 2015, providing a new revenue stream for “Sesame Street,” while granting HBO rights to run new episodes of the landmark series first before they appeared on its longtime home, PBS.