Shanghai and New York – BesTV and Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street, announced the debut of Sesame Street episodes across BesTV’s media platforms including IPTV, digital TV and OTT devices. The strategic cooperation not only includes content licensing but also cross-promotional opportunities, digital marketing, and co-development of early childhood educational content and mobile applications.

One of the featured programmes will be Sesame Street’s Big Bird Looks at the World, co-produced with Shanghai Media Group. Targeting 3-7 years old, the series, featuring Muppet friends Big Bird, Elmo and Lily, fosters children’s natural curiosity about nature and science and encourages hands-on exploration as a great way to learn.

“Sesame Workshop has been serving the needs of children in the United States since 1969 and in China since in 1983,” said Shirley Yi Zhu, Sesame Workshop’s Global Vice President and Executive Director China. “As our mission is to help all children reach their highest potential, we are honoured to work with BesTV to offer Sesame Street to its platforms, providing engaging television content, outreach, and games to hundreds of millions of families in China.”

Zhang Yue, BesTV’s Executive Vice President and CEO said, “Children’s programming, always so popular among kids, is a great way to get their attention and acceptance. China has been pushing forward the combination of TV programmes and education curriculum. And BesTV is working hard on two fronts – online education and premium children’s shows. Suffice it to say that together with Sesame Workshop, we can not only provide more premium educational programmes but also set the stage for further cooperation in the future. Aside from the engaging and educational programmes, we are planning to add smart and interactive online programmes, which will constitute an integral part of a well-rounded and versatile living room entertainment centre.