Sesame Workshop, the non-profit that produces Sesame Street, has named veteran digital media exec Joseph Giraldi as its new chief operating officer.

Reporting to newly-installed CEO Sherrie Westin, Giraldi, most recently a co-founder of the consulting firm CJBK Media Group, will have as an early priority finding a new home for fresh episodes of Sesame Street after Warner Bros. Discovery opted not to renew anoutput deal with HBO and Max.

Format changes are also in the works for the long-running childrens series, starting with season 56 set to debut in fall 2025. The show will drop the magazine-style format for two longer, narrative-driven segments, joined by a new animated segmentTales From 123. Giraldi brings to Sesame Workshop wide experience in driving new business growth in digital media, including completing executive stints at Imax, Time Inc. and IBM. He also held executive roles over 12 years at Paramount with the Smithsonian Channel including executive vp, marketing, digital media strategy for three years to 2021 and earlier served as director, digital distribution strategic partnerships at HBO.

Sesame Workshop has been using the power of media to bring quality early education to children around the globe for more than 55 years, and in this rapidly changing media environment, Josephs deep expertise in digital strategy and business development will be a huge asset going forward, said CEO Westin in a statement on Monday.

Giraldi also noted Sesame Workshop needing to keep pace with unprecedented media industry change. Five decades ago, it used the cutting-edge medium of the time, television, to transform the way children learned and prepared for success in school and life. Today, the Workshop continues its legacy of innovation at a critical time when its mission has never been more needed. I look forward to working with the team to help carry on this incredible legacy, he said in his own statement.

Giraldi is also an adjunct professor in the Entertainment, Media, and Technology Program at NYU Stern School of Business.