Paramount+ has Star Trek to thank for a large portion of its streaming numbers.
Paramount+ owes a good portion of its popularity to two franchises, one of which is Star Trek, the other is Taylor Sheridan’s who is behind the Yellowstone phenomenon. Since 2022, both of them were responsible for nearly half of the total demand for Paramount+ original content. According to Yahoo!news, Trek alone accounted for nearly one-third of the demand.
According to a Parrot Analytics senior data analyst, Trek is the second most sought-after TV franchise behind Star Wars. And with the incredible television Terry Matalas is creating like the third season of Star Trek: Picard, it’s no wonder.
Though lay-offs are happening at Paramount Global, Star Trek is ikely helping to keep Paramount+ afloat.
As Chad wrote, Paramount Global is laying off about 6,000 people, but so far, that has mostly been from the business side of things. It seems that creative minds are safe for now, and with the recent announcement of the development of Starfleet Academy, (and hopefully the development of Star Trek: Legacy which, as of now, is still only a hope for fans) that may be because Paramount knows where to invest more of its money—in the franchises that are growing and bringing in more viewers.
With such solid numbers, the franchise that began in the 1960s with Gene Roddenberry’s vision won’t be going anywhere. Right now, with the writers’ strike going on, there won’t be much forward movement in shows that are currently in the planning stages, but this information tells fans that Paramount+ is creating something for every one who wants to boldy go where no one has gone before. And while every Trek show isn’t for every fan, the numbers do speak for themselves. The creative minds behind these shows know what they’re doing.