The second more subtle (and, perhaps more important) reason that fans are turned off by the move to only All Access is the fear that it may spell the beginning of the end for a show that hasn’t even aired yet. CBS is using Star Trek to anchor their streaming service. If you want to watch it, you’ve gotta subscribe, so they are banking on enough people paying to see Trek to help the budding service grow.
But, what about the undoubtedly significant number of fans for whom a streaming service is too much of a barrier? All Access strikes fear into the heart of some for two main reasons. First, Star Trek fans tend to skew older. Many of our beloved elder Trekkies (the ones you’re jealous of for getting to watch TOS during it’s original run) are now supposed to navigate the world of streaming television, where they have to buy a new “set top box” and subscribe to some new fangled technology. If grandma needs a detailed set of instructions to confidently operate the remote control, there’s no way she would understand All Access.
Old (and old-at-heart) people aside, what about people with only a passing interest in Star Trek? The new movies did do good for the franchise by stirring up interest in lots of only semi-interested would-be Trekkies (who then went back and watched the television series’ on Netflix). But, would they pay $6/month for one show that they may or may not care about? Probably not.
Star Trek has been used to bolster a new network before, and we all remember how well that turned out for the ratings.
This is not to say that the move to exclusive online is a bad one. CBS may just be on to something here, and if they have enough confidence in Star Trek to use it to anchor their streaming service, let’s hope they at least put their money where their mouth is and give the show a decent budget (and, more importantly, a great set of writers and show runners).
But, what about the undoubtedly significant number of fans for whom a streaming service is too much of a barrier? All Access strikes fear into the heart of some for two main reasons. First, Star Trek fans tend to skew older. Many of our beloved elder Trekkies (the ones you’re jealous of for getting to watch TOS during it’s original run) are now supposed to navigate the world of streaming television, where they have to buy a new “set top box” and subscribe to some new fangled technology. If grandma needs a detailed set of instructions to confidently operate the remote control, there’s no way she would understand All Access.
Old (and old-at-heart) people aside, what about people with only a passing interest in Star Trek? The new movies did do good for the franchise by stirring up interest in lots of only semi-interested would-be Trekkies (who then went back and watched the television series’ on Netflix). But, would they pay $6/month for one show that they may or may not care about? Probably not.
Star Trek has been used to bolster a new network before, and we all remember how well that turned out for the ratings.
This is not to say that the move to exclusive online is a bad one. CBS may just be on to something here, and if they have enough confidence in Star Trek to use it to anchor their streaming service, let’s hope they at least put their money where their mouth is and give the show a decent budget (and, more importantly, a great set of writers and show runners).
$6\month is a lot of money when you really only want one show (who cares about old content I can already access or new content I already get on TV?)
I also completely agree this is a huge barrier for many for multiple reasons, especially the casual viewer who has only seen the new movies but would tune in (and boost ratings) if it was on TV.
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