Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could help change the game again.
So streaming sure isn’t all that it was hyped up to be, eh? Sure, people are loving it. It’s a massive part of the modern zeitgeist, but if we’ve learned anything from the current trend of entertainment, and broadcast procedures, streaming doesn’t make money. Not like broadcast television did. The real money is in commercials, not subscriptions or the like.
There’s really no debate in that either, with the fact that of all major streaming services, only one, Hulu, is reported to be making any kind of profit at all. Even Disney+ isn’t turning a year-to-year profit and is in the ole, apparently, hundreds of millions of dollars of debt. Netflix owes several billions of dollars worth of debt.
Paramount+, the home of Star Trek is losing money so fast, that they’re canceling successful shows so they can take government-assisted aid. It’s a mess. And it’s time to stop pretending like these services are worth the ever-increasing payments they demand. Streaming worked initially, because 1) everything was centralized on Netflix and 2) because it was a tenth of the cost of cable.
Now, to watch all of your favorite shows, you’ll need Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube TV, Peacock, Disney+, Paramount+, Hulu and MAX. We don’t even need to do the match, but just having Sling TV or your standard cable is cheaper than that now.
It’s time to switch course back to the more efficient and affordable model; terrestrial television. And thanks to Paramount, namely Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, it may end up being far more viable than one thought.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds could cause a change in course with the Trek franchise
Now, it’s likely that it won’t happen, but there does exist a possibility that if Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is going to make its broadcast premiere on CBS this September, does well in the ratings, Paramount may opt to bring more shows over to television for first-run episodes.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea, either, as television networks still charge a higher rate for commercials than streaming services, meaning they’ll make more money back on the content they air on television.
Now, if Strange New Worlds debuts to middling numbers, and there’s no interest to watch it on broadcast television, then this idea is dead in the water. But, if the show does strong numbers, especially since it’s going to be airing content from over a year prior, then that’s something that will be able to be looked at as a model to work again on television.
Sure, you’d have to cut budgets on the Trek shows, but it’d be hard to argue against that, especially if it got our favorite shows more episodes, and a more secured slot each and every week. It was rare for a show to be in the midst of a production schedule, and then get canceled when shows aired on television.
But in the world of streaming, shows are getting canceled while filming is taking place. Clearly, this isn’t a stable medium to distribute content and hopefully, Strange New Worlds can help shake the execs awake, and maybe, just maybe, Trek can return to broadcast television where it belongs.
Though, don’t hold your breath.