Sesame Workshop supports magazine for children

At a time when the magazine business is struggling, Sesame Workshop is making the case that the demand for magazines for young readers is still strong.

At a media event held highlighting its digital products Tuesday morning, Sesame Workshop executives noted the expansion it had undertaken in the magazine world.

In January, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street, reintroduced Sesame Street magazine as a partnership with the British firm Redan Publishing. Then in March, Sesame Workshop started a separate bimonthly digital magazine called Sesame Street S’More; executives say it has become the thirdbest-selling title in the Apple store for children’s magazines behind National Geographic Kids and Time for Kids Family Edition.

S’More’s December issue, which focuses on the themes of please and thank you, comes out Dec. 25.

“It seems to be a viable business model,” said Jennifer Perry, vice president of worldwide publishing for Sesame Workshop, referring to its expansion into these titles.

It’s been a rough path for children’s magazines in recent years, which have largely followed the same trajectory of the magazine industry as a whole. Sesame Street magazine, which began in 1970 with the creation of Sesame Workshop, was turned into a supplement to Parenting magazine in 2002. In 2008, at the start of the recession, the magazine became a free alldigital title. By 2011, Sesame Workshop stopped publishing the magazine entirely.

But Perry said that the revival of Sesame Street magazine began when Redan approached them about including Sesame Street content in its Fun to Learn Friends magazine, the equivalent of a bimonthly US Weekly for children with its coverage of celebrities like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Bert and Ernie.

Redan then reached an agreement with Sesame Workshop to revive Sesame Street magazine as a print publication with its first issue last January. Social media welcomed back the title.

Tuesday’s event also highlighted the growth of Sesame Workshop’s newest digital magazine Sesame Street S’More. Betsy Loredo, executive editor of book publishing for Sesame Workshop, said that three-quarters of the content for the magazine came from old issues of Sesame Street magazine. But the content has also been inspired by input from the three sons of Paul Roberts, the manager of digital publishing assets for Sesame Workshop. Roberts said they had been offering him feedback on stories.