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The innovative story behind Sesame Street: Why the collaboration between Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett changed television history.
The birth of Sesame Street was not only the beginning of a children's program, but also a major innovation in the history of educational television. Conceived by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, the project underwent years of research and development before finally hitting the screen in 1969, changing the growth process of countless children. Cooney and Morrisett's collaboration shows how the combination of education and entertainment could find a way out in the media environment of the time.
Social background behind
In the late 1960s, 97% of American households owned a television, and young children watched an average of 27 hours of television per week. Yet, children from low-income families perform far worse in school than their middle-class counterparts. This prompted Cooney and Morrisett to think: How can this medium be used to educate and help these children?
“We want to break down the gap between the rich and the poor and, through education, enable all children to catch up.”
Challenges and breakthroughs during the creation process
In the winter of 1966, Cooney held a small evening party to discuss with Morrisett and others the possibility of using television to educate children. Their discussions led to a feasibility study and ultimately to the first round of funding. Initially, they received funding from major foundations, including an initial $1 million grant from the Carnegie Institution, which allowed the project to continue.
"Without Morrisett's efforts, this project might have been aborted."
Sesame Street's Debut
Sesame Street premiered on the National Educational Television Network (NET) on November 10, 1969, and quickly gained widespread attention and love. The show was created by a diverse production team who strive to incorporate educational content into entertainment to capture the attention of young audiences.
Research-based educational model
Cooney and Morrisett understood that quality education requires a foundation of rigorous research. Therefore, they spent about 8% of the initial budget on research and recruited a number of education and psychology experts to form the "CTW model." This model emphasizes close collaboration between the production team and educators, with extensive evaluation and content adjustment.
Crisis and innovative development
As the 1980s approached, Sesame Street faced challenges in finding an audience, and other new shows did not perform well at the box office. The unstable funding source caused the organization to fall into financial crisis for a time, but it eventually stabilized its profits through licensing agreements. This wave of crisis has prompted CTW to explore other innovative solutions, including partnering with MTV's Noggin to launch a new educational channel and produce several new programs.
"We are not afraid of failure, because every challenge allows us to learn more."
Continued influence and future prospects
With the success of Sesame Street, CTW continued to expand its international cooperation and changed its name to Sesame Workshop in 2000 to better reflect its diverse activities. By 2008, Sesame Street's mascot, the Caterpillar, was bringing in $15 million to $17 million in licensing revenue each year.
Today, Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett's collaboration not only impacts the education of generations of children, but also opens up new possibilities for subsequent educational television programs. Their innovative stories make us think: In today's era of rapid digital development, how should we use new media to further promote educational change?
