for most of its history, "sesame street" had been shown on pbs. in 2015, new episodes began airing on hbo in january 2016, but those episodes would be shown on pbs nine months later. in 2020, sesame street aired on hbo for the last time. after five seasons on hbo max, the show returns to pbs as its first-run program, for the newer episodes, starting with the 51st season.