American children's television series Sesame Street will now be available to stream on Netflix worldwide, the makers said in a statement days after US President Donald Trump pulled funding for the free-to-air channel Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) citing "biased and partisan news coverage".

“We are excited to announce that new Sesame Street episodes are coming to Netflix worldwide and PBS KIDS in the US. The support of Netflix, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting serve as a unique public-private partnership to enable Sesame Street to continue to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder,” the makers wrote on social media on Tuesday.

In the late 1960s, Sesame Street co-founders Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney approached Harvard University's Graduate School of Education with a new way of teaching American children. The creators collaborated with child psychologists to design entertaining lessons. They joined hands with American Muppets creator Jim Henson to teach kids about contemporary problems through skits, short films and humorous anecdotes.

Henson tried to create a setting that mirrors an urban street. He also created unforgettable Muppet characters like Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch to interact with the human actors.

Since its debut in November 1969, the children’s show has won 222 Emmy Awards and 11 Grammy Awards.

Over the decades, the programme and its characters have gained a life beyond the small screen. For instance, during a child obesity epidemic in the US in 2006, Sesame Street aired Health Habits segments designed to teach kids about diet and exercise.

However, it was clear that the show was facing an uncertain future after production banner Warner Bros Discovery, which owns the HBO platform, did not renew its deal with the five decade-old show earlier this month.

According to news reports, Netflix will offer its 300 million subscribers a new season of the show and 90 hours of previous episodes, and it will still also be available on PBS.

Sesame Street is the inspiration behind Galli Galli Sim Sim, a children’s show backed by Sesame Workshop India. Premiering first in 2006, the show has had 10 seasons so far. Episodes of the show aired on Pogo, Cartoon Network (India) and Doordarshan National.