Big Bird may get the boot.
Sesame Workshop, which produces the popular PBS kids' show Sesame Street, announced today it will lay off 67 of its 355 employees. The show was first televised in 1968, and has since grown into an international company, producing children's programs in South Africa, India, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Brazil, Israel, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, France, Japan- the list goes on.
I imagine these cuts are primarily administrative, although certainly a lot of good muppeteers and muppet artists will lose their jobs. This is just another example of non-profits' struggles. (For the record, Sesame Workshop brings in about $145 million a year, and takes $141 million to produce.)
As a young adult who was raised on Sesame Street, I would be very sad to see this program go. One of the most education children's programs on television, I fear what would happen if we allow programs like this to go extinct. I'm sure PBS won't let this happen. The program is one of the staples that keeps PBS on air, but even PBS has a hard time coughing up cash when no donations are coming in from viewers like you.
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