Good grief! Charlie Brown’s famous “Peanuts” holiday specials, once available annually via ABC and CBS, are now caught in some of the intricacies of the streaming age.
Apple, which in October unveiled its new rights to classic properties like “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” as well as “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” for its Apple TV video streaming service, said that he would make the specials available on PBS and its PBS Kids outlet, adopting a “windowing” model for a classic children’s property that has started to take root in a new era for the television industry.
In 2018, Apple made connections with Charles Schulz’s centuries-old “Peanuts” empire, which has its origins in a daily comic strip about characters like Lucy, Linus, and Peppermint Patty. The pact initially called on Apple to develop original series, specials, and short films, including one featuring iconic canine Snoopy as an astronaut who would teach children about science, technology and math. But the company’s attempt to factor in the holiday specials raised eyebrows, as it placed the shows behind a payment wall, even though Apple promised to make them available for free viewing for a limited time. Apple’s video streaming service costs $ 4.99 per month and requires the subscriber to have a high-speed connection at home.
The companies have said that “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” will air on PBS and PBS Kids on November 22 at 7:30 p.m., while “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will air on PBS and PBS Kids on December 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. Apple will broadcast “Thanksgiving” for free from November 25 to 27 and “Christmas” between December 11 and 13. A window for the Halloween-themed “Big Pumpkin” appears to have already closed.
Other major media companies have grappled with the prospect of securing popular children’s media property, traditionally seen as part of a larger vision. WarnerMedia’s HBO in 2015 made a pact with Sesame Workshop that gave it first access to new episodes of “Sesame Street,” which were then made available to the show’s longtime home, PBS, after a period of a few months. More recently, NBCUniversal’s video streaming hub, Peacock, announced that it would be the first home to a new season of “Curious George,” long a staple in the PBS lineup.
Apple and PBS will be making the specials available in a format some viewers may not be accustomed to: ad-free. The trio of “Peanuts” specials aired for decades on CBS, which began performing “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965; “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in 1966 and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” in 1973. Commercials for Coca-Cola and Dolly Madison cakes and pastries appeared in the first shows, later followed by commercials for candy. like Almond Joy, Mounds and York Peppermint Patties (which had no connection with the character “Peanuts” with a similar name). ABC obtained the rights to the animated specials after 2000.
PBS has long positioned itself as having a strong mission to help bring early education to children, especially those living in low-income households who may not have access to the latest technologies or programs broadcast on the Internet. cable or digital media. PBS has more than 330 member stations and in 2016 launched the digital cable network PBS Kids to give young viewers better access to programs such as “Daniel Tiger”, “Molly of Denali” and “Nature Cat”.
