Big Bird might need to start making his own birdseed milkshakes -- Sesame Workshop is cutting back. From the AP:
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit producer of Sesame Street and other kids' programs, is cutting about one-fifth of its workforce because of the economic downturn.
The company said Wednesday that it's eliminating 67 of 355 staff positions.
Declaring it is "not immune to the unprecedented challenges of today's economic environment," the company pronounced a need "to operate with fewer resources in order to achieve our strategic priorities."
I'd love to tell myself that list of "strategic priorities" has "helping kids learn to read" as its first item, but alas, Sesame Workshop long ago morphed into a "non-profit" media machine. With the economy in the dumper, Elmo's World is now being brought to you by the letters B,R,O,K and E and the Number 0:
Sesame Workshop gets revenue from product licensing and the sale of its programs to PBS and syndication. The company is also funded by government agencies, foundations and corporations.
Total revenue was $145 million in 2008, with operating expenses totaling $141 million, according to the company's website.
