B is for bye. And M is for mad.
The decision by HBO Max to remove roughly 200 episodes of Sesame Street from its platform sparked outrage from many viewers on social media Friday as the series became the latest victim of the streaming platform's purge to make room for other content as it merges with Discovery+ by summer 2023.
In a statement, a spokesperson for HBO Max told BuzzFeed News that Sesame Street "is and has always been an important part of television culture and a crown jewel of our preschool offering."
"We are committed to continuing to bring Sesame Street into families’ homes, including the newest season premiering this fall and the nearly 400 episodes of the most current and historic seasons that remain on Cartoonito on HBO Max," the spokesperson added.
Before Friday, HBO Max offered more than 600 episodes of Sesame Street, including those from earlier seasons. But now the streaming service only offers about 400 episodes, most of them from the later seasons.
Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to cut $3 billion in costs as a result of the merger. CNBC, citing people familiar with the decision, reported that Sesame Street just isn't generating strong numbers. Spinoff The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo has also fallen victim to the cuts.
Fans — or rather the parents of fans of Sesame Street — took the news hard and made their displeasure known on social media.
No one said most of Sesame Street was getting purged off of HBO Max as well, the fuck.
Hey @Discovery why did you remove hundreds of of old Sesame Street episodes from HBO Max?! WHAT WAS THE REASON?!
HBO Max got rid of over 30 Seasons of Sesame Street overnight. Damn, I was really digging watching some of the 90s classic eps with my boy. New Sesame Street just doesn’t hit the same.
It already didn’t sit well with me that Sesame Street was put on HBO Max to begin with, and culling a whopping 200 episodes from the platform just makes the whole thing that much worse.
For now, other Sesame Street content will still be available on HBO Max, like Sesame Street Mecha Builders, My Sesame Street Friends, and The Magical Wand Chase.
And for those who still want to view those purged Sesame Street episodes, fear not. On Friday, PBS tweeted a helpful link.
Just leaving this here for anyone who might need it 😇https://t.co/avyOQIYExK