Paramount Global made the major move to shut down its television studio this past week, ending a unique era in the company's history. This studio was responsible for series like Shooter, 13 Reasons Why, The Haunting on Hill House, Jack Ryan, Heels, Time Bandits, and more. While not every series was a hit, it was an avenue for the company to make money.
They would create the shows and sell the streaming rights to other networks. Just about every show, save for a handful, appeared on non-Paramount Global services or channels, with the rare few coming before corporate mergers.
With such a large area of revenue now cut from their services, there's a clear reason for Star Trek fans to be mindful of what comes next. We've spoken about this before, but with each new cut or each new multi-million dollar saving effort, it becomes more and more painfully obvious that Star Trek will walk back a lot in the coming years.
We've seen them cut back on shows, ending several of their series recently as their prices have skyrocketed. We may see this play out more and more often, with a real possibility that Paramount Global goes the Disney Channel route.
During its heyday, Disney Channel would end popular shows at, around, or just after 65 episodes. If the franchise is successful, they'll relaunch it under a new title, just so they can continue to underpay talent. While Paramount Global may not sink to such distasteful tactics, the concept isn't so far-fetched it's impossible to think it could happen.
As talent contracts expire, Paramount Global could start canceling shows instead of renewing them. Then they could replace them with shows with less expensive actors and actresses, making sure to keep their budgets and contracts low.
Money is a major factor in things, and the TV side isn't the only place dealing with these concerns. The announcement of the fourth film was made before all of the talent agreed to new contracts. While we're told that the holdup is due to the script, that may not be entirely true. If Paramount Global is struggling financially with streaming and television, they're doing so as well with the film side of things.
This has led to mass speculation that the budgets for future Star Trek properties, as well as new seasons of established shows, will be met with a significantly reduced budget. Considering the expenses going into Starfleet Academy, the latest Star Trek show in development, it may end up being a show with very limited special effects compared to other recent shows.
If that ends up being the case, Star Trek may go back to the 1990s concepts of television, where they put character and story over flashy special effects. Which, doesn't sound too bad if we're being honest.