This week,Netflix announced that it had acquired streaming rights for Sesame Street. The long-running educational children’s program had originally streamed onHBO Max(which then became Max, and then recently and mercifully returned to its former name).
Then, for some reason,Warner Bros. Discoverydecided it… just didn’t want to host Sesame Street anymore? It’s just the latest example of WBD, under CEO David Zaslav’s leadership, exhibiting a bizarre apathy toward some of the most iconic family entertainment ever produced in the United States.
The Day WB Blew Up The Looney Tunes
Back in March, I took a break from my busy schedule at theGame Developers Conferenceto see my good friends Porky Pig and Daffy Duck star in The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. I was kind of amazed by how good the movie was. Not just because it kept me laughing across the entirety of its 91-minute runtime, but becauseWarner Bros. had decided it didn’t want to release it.
The Day the Earth Blew Up —like the upcoming live-action/animation hybrid Coyote vs. Acme— was released by Ketchup Entertainment, which purchased it from WB after it was shelved. Warner Bros. has completely fumbled its Looney Tunes stewardship, axing already completed projects like Coyote vs. Acme and The Day the Earth Blew Up andremoving a vast library of classic animated short films from its streaming library for no discernible reason or benefit.
Can You Tell Me How To Get Far Away From Sesame Street?
Now, WB is doing the same thing with Sesame Street, a layup brand. Netflix now has the rights to Sesame Street, and will broadcast new episodes and add the old seasons.
Why does Warner Bros. seem so uninterested in these brands that appeal to families? Is it just David Zaslav’s personal antipathy? Is there a broader strategy to nuking familiar characters associated with brands that people like?
Family movies and TV should be easy to make money on.Inside Out 2 was the highest-grossing movie of 2024, and Moana 2 was the third.The highest grossing original movie of the post-pandemic era is still Elemental, a Pixar film that received mediocre reviews and had a weak debut in its opening weekend, but legged it out to over $500 million thanks to repeat business. Families just need something to do on the weekend sometimes, and it’s profitable to be in the business of providing that entertainment.
Family TV is similarly reliable for streaming services.. I know plenty of parents who will never dropDisney+because it has the movies and TV shows their kids want to watch. How do you get rid of the Bluey machine?
Now that Sesame Street is headed to Netflix, I imagine the streamer will enjoy the same pull for families who love Elmo, Cookie Monster, and friends. If your kid really likes to watch one particular thing, you’re gonna have a hard time getting rid of the streaming service where you can watch that one particular thing. That’s the inherent power of Disney+, even without the new content created specifically for it. If you have 100 years of family movie history archived on your streaming service, that’s evergreen.
But instead of investing in its existing IP to try to offer the same for families, WB seems to just be giving up on reaching them altogether. It’sgotten rid of much of the animation that it once featured thanks to Cartoon Network. It sold off two Looney Tunes movies to Ketchup Entertainment, and got rid of the Looney Tunes shorts entirely. And it’s now shunted Sesame Street to Netflix. What kind of strategy is this?
WB is a two steps forward, two steps back company. This year, it has enjoyed three huge wins. It currently has thenumber one movie domesticallyand thenumber two movie worldwidewithA Minecraft Movie. It has the number two movie domestically, too, thanks toSinnerswhich, despite limited overseas appeal, is the number five movie globally. And it justopened Final Destination Bloodlines to surprisingly huge numbers.globally
Not to mention it had the number one movie of 2023 (bothgloballyanddomestically) withBarbie.
The success of A Minecraft Movie and Barbie suggest that WBdoesunderstand how to reach family audiences. But by ignoring Looney Tunes and Sesame Street, the company is fighting with one hand tied behind its back.
