Sesame Street is closing in on a truly remarkable achievement: 1 billion YouTube video views. So today it’s asking for a bit of help to put it over the top. The number reflects a “rarified digital milestone,” according to The Associated Press. It will be a first on YouTube for a nonprofit or U.S. children’s media outlet, and “reflects the increasingly multimedia nature of kid entertainment. Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch are now about as likely to be watched on an iPad, phone or laptop as they are on PBS,” the story notes. Sesame Workshop launched the Sesame Street YouTube channel in 2006; so far, the most popular video is “Elmo’s Song,” watched some 86 million times since being uploaded in 2009. The first single video to hit 1 billion YouTube views was “Gangnam Style,” which achieved the feat in December 2012.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Sesame video views were at 978,247,378.
UPDATE: Sesame hit the 1 billionth view on March 5, prompting a celebratory counting spree by Count von Count.