PBS to Offer Shorter Half-Hour Version of Sesame Street

Posted on June 22, 2014

PBS has announced it will offer a shorter, half-hour long version of Sesame Street. The regular Sesame Street show is one hour long. The half-hour version will be broadcast on PBS. It will also be available online at pbskids.org, through the PBS Kids video app and on the PBS Kids Roku channel.

PBS says the shortened version of Sesame Street will include a "Street Story," a "Word on the Street" segment, a celebrity vocabulary segment, songs, spoofs and dance breaks. It will also include segments like "Cookie's Crumby Pictures" or "Super Grover 2.0."

Lesli Rotenberg, General Manager, Children's Programming, PBS, says in the announcement, "The new half-hour format will give PBS Kids the opportunity to offer Sesame Street to even more families, making it easy for parents to help their kids build essential school readiness skills with one of their favorite shows."

Rotenberg says the number of users streaming video through its Video App climbed 34% in the past year. The online streaming of the shorter Sesame Street series is the first time PBS has offered full episodes of the popular kids show online.