Why new Star Trek is online only show according to CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone

bwleon7 · November 2016

From a 40+ min podcast with CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone

"Scifi is not something that has traditionally done really well on broadcast. It’s not impossible, for the future, if somebody figures it out. And things like Lost and Heroes have had parts of, you know, scifi, but historically, a show like Star Trek wouldn’t necessarily be a broadcast show, at this point. And so, you kind of look at the other networks we have, CW and Showtime, it just fit the with the digital audience and having that digital Star Trek audience."

http://www.recode.net/2016/11/10/13557358/star-trek-reboot-naked-aliens-swearing-cbs-digital-chief-jim-lanzone-podcast

rattler2 · November 2016

Oh really? Note that there was no mention of STARGATE SG-1 or how long TNG, DS9, and Voyager were on the air, or frickin' Dr. Who!

BTW... SG-1 had been on the air for 10 full seasons. 10! Combine that with Stargate Atlantis, that's 15 seasons of Stargate total! 15!

legendarylycan · November 2016

and another 3 from SGU, but that was less 'sci-fi' and more 'reality show in space'

rattler2 · November 2016

And then we got Agents of SHIELD...

legendarylycan · November 2016

isn't that netflix-exclusive?

bwleon7 · November 2016

What agents of shield? That's on ABC. You can watch it on over the air TV.

megawolf0 · November 2016

So they want to put in stuff that might take away from Star Trek? Ok yea the other Star Treks had swearing but that was like PG swearing and was ok for it. As for nudity, if half naked girls count then they had those.

Almost makes me think they want a Game of Thrones in space. And I never even gotten into that show.

sohtoh · November 2016

If you add the season of Stargate Infinity (cartoon, yes, I know, but still part of the franchise) it brings it up to 19 seasons.

artan42 · November 2016

Doctor Who? Stargate?
Those shows about a bunch of interfering explorers from utopia... what were those shows called?

That's what happens when you let shareholders and boards call all shots.

dalolorn · November 2016

megawolf0 wrote: »

Almost makes me think they want a Game of Thrones in space. And I never even gotten into that show.

Maybe they're trying to make ENT look good. (As if they haven't done so already.

)

jonsills · November 2016

megawolf0 wrote: »

So they want to put in stuff that might take away from Star Trek? Ok yea the other Star Treks had swearing but that was like PG swearing and was ok for it. As for nudity, if half naked girls count then they had those.

Almost makes me think they want a Game of Thrones in space. And I never even gotten into that show.

Straw man. That's not even remotely the argument advanced in the article.

The point made was that SF on broadcast television (not a cable network like SyFy, nor a streaming service like Netflix, where ratings are far less important) tends to either fall away or get dumbed down in order to increase ratings. (Agents of SHIELD makes a poor counterexample because for one, it's not SF, it's superheroic fantasy, and for another, the ratings aren't all that great - it was listed as "on the bubble" at the end of last season.)

CBS believes that by streaming their new series, they won't have to tweak each episode as it comes out in order to make sure it keeps the ratings up, because their metrics are different. (This may be entirely specious reasoning, done in order to support their desire to start their own streaming service and use ST:D as their flagship series for that service, but it is the reasoning presented.)

antonine3258 · November 2016

The most successful sci-fi shows of recent years have had strong continuity; that tends to synergize well with stream-based binge watching.

captainchaos66 · November 2016

So CBS thinks DarkMatter, and The Expanse are scifi shows that do well on TV? Apparently The Expanse was called " The best show ever" or something like that according to NPR. and Darkmatter is a GREAT show. Both of these shows have small pieces of Star Trek DNA ( ship based story, crew conflict, technobabble) and are quite good. As others have stated I think this is an excuse. They want to do a " different" take on Star Trek. Throw in some PG-13 stuff once in a while. Maybe an F bomb if it fits. Perhaps some nude scenes like not seen before on Star Trek. All of this is fine a dandy, but its also a UUUUGGGE gamble, imo. I still intend to watch the pilot episode and make a decision at that point on whether or not to invest in CBS ON/Demand. Now that I see they have a " commercial free" option, it makes it a little more appealing. However I am NOT investing in another streaming service JUST for ONE show. If the story hooks me quickly, I'm in,, if not,, i'll flip a coin. Until then, I hope they get their TRIBBLE together more than they seem to have lately.

jonsills · November 2016

Neither Dark Matter nor The Expanse is on broadcast TV; both are cable shows. When a show is on a cable network, it can have a bit more time to grow and develop than a broadcast show is given. (Incidentally, The Expanse is also based on a successful series of novels, giving it a (small) built-in audience from which to begin.)

lilchibiclari · November 2016

Basically, broadcast networks, like major Hollywood studios, have grown so large that they need literally millions of viewers to survive, which means that they have to try to appeal to the widest audience possible (i.e. mega-ratings). That is why we get all the lowest-common-denominator stuff, because any program that doesn't get millions of viewers will generate too little revenue to be worthwhile for a multibillion-dollar-per-year company.

daveyny · November 2016

I think folks have forgotten that TNG was NOT a Broadcast network show. It was a very popular Syndicated show.

Unfortunately, the syndication bubble has past its prime, because the big networks now want to earn their money with their own material, not sell it off.

Also unfortunately, free TV is on its way out. (well really, it started dying with the advent of larger cable and dish companies selling the airwaves to us)

Netflix was the harbinger of pay-to-play in-home entertainment, there's no turning back now.

<shrug>

rattler2 · November 2016

lilchibiclari wrote: »

Basically, broadcast networks, like major Hollywood studios, have grown so large that they need literally millions of viewers to survive, which means that they have to try to appeal to the widest audience possible (i.e. mega-ratings). That is why we get all the lowest-common-denominator stuff, because any program that doesn't get millions of viewers will generate too little revenue to be worthwhile for a multibillion-dollar-per-year company.

That kinda explains half the explosion of so called "reality" shows. The other half is "We don't have to pay for a story or actors. Just throw idiots into x situation and let them compete."

Unknown · November 2016

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rattler2 · November 2016

But as far as we know, CBS All Access would only stream CBS shows, while Netflix streams a wide range of things.

jonsills · November 2016

rattler2 wrote: »

But as far as we know, CBS All Access would only stream CBS shows, while Netflix streams a wide range of things.

On the other tentacle, Netflix has to license anything but their "Netflix Original" shows, and the licenses tend to expire after a time - hence the monthly announcements of what's coming to Netflix, and what's leaving. CBS All Access, however, will be able to stream anything in CBS' rather large library in perpetuity, as they are the licensor as well as the licensee.

starkaos · November 2016

Will we even have Broadcast and Cable channels in ten years? Everything seems to go on the Internet these days and I wouldn't be surprised if there are VR channels in 5 years. Just need a way to digitally transmit smell and taste and the Food VR channel would be the most popular channel ever.

rattler2 · November 2016

starkaos wrote: »

Will we even have Broadcast and Cable channels in ten years? Everything seems to go on the Internet these days and I wouldn't be surprised if there are VR channels in 5 years. Just need a way to digitally transmit smell and taste and the Food VR channel would be the most popular channel ever.

Mmm... Iron Chef VR...

smokebailey · November 2016

bwleon7 wrote: »

From a 40+ min podcast with CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone

"Scifi is not something that has traditionally done really well on broadcast. It’s not impossible, for the future, if somebody figures it out. And things like Lost and Heroes have had parts of, you know, scifi, but historically, a show like Star Trek wouldn’t necessarily be a broadcast show, at this point. And so, you kind of look at the other networks we have, CW and Showtime, it just fit the with the digital audience and having that digital Star Trek audience."

http://www.recode.net/2016/11/10/13557358/star-trek-reboot-naked-aliens-swearing-cbs-digital-chief-jim-lanzone-podcast

I said it once, I'll say it again......executives (and CEO's) are BEAN COUNTERS who THINK they have both intelligence and/or talent...but do not.

And TV these days have gone to hell, so this is no surprise. I mean, CBS thought Trek would not survive in the 60's, and no one watched it....

jonsills · November 2016

Trek didn't survive the '60s. And its ratings were really never very good - NBC didn't try to cancel it twice out of pique, you know (that "bean counter" thing again; if a show is profitable, nobody cares if the beancounters like it). What it had was the first really loyal adult fanbase. Nobody knew what to make of that at the time - they knew what to do when the kiddies loved it (sell them all the ripoff merchandise Taiwan could crank out), but when grownups were watching every episode, even in reruns? They had no idea what that meant. Nobody did, really, not until the Trimbles put together the first ever Star Trek-only convention in New York in 1972. According to Bjo Trimble's account, they expected maybe 800 attendees - and stopped counting at 3000.

Unknown · November 2016

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nikeix · November 2016

jonsills wrote: »

(Incidentally, The Expanse is also based on a successful series of novels, giving it a (small) built-in audience from which to begin.)

Which are in turn based on a body of world building done in preparation for a now-canceled MMO. Which really shows in that the setting has a lot of coherent small details already in place before the first word of plot was written, instead of the moment-to-moment writer-room asspulls that have slowly accreted to form the Star Trek milieu.

nikeix · November 2016

So what are the big network broadcast examples of sci-fi for comparison? The original Battlestar Galactica? 2 seasons and dead. Space above and Beyond maybe (one and done). Firefly (half and splat)? I mean is there anything set on a spaceship that's made it 3 seasons... ever?

We might feel all warm and cozy packed here in a little box together where it's nothing but fans for as far as the eye can see. But out there in the cold cruel world of airwaves sci-fi does not fair well.

rattler2 · November 2016

nikeix wrote: »

So what are the big network broadcast examples of sci-fi for comparison? The original Battlestar Galactica? 2 seasons and dead. Space above and Beyond maybe (one and done). Firefly (half and splat)? I mean is there anything set on a spaceship that's made it 3 seasons... ever?

I can't say for BSG. I thought Space Above and Beyond had a bit more than one season. Firefly actually got a following but was canned by FOX, probably in favor of more "reality TV" since they wouldn't have to pay so much for stupid. Came back with a full blown movie though after the outrage fans expressed.

seaQuest had about 2 1/2 seasons back in the ninties, but I think it went down because it moved too far away from the awesome start it had being more real science oriented. But there are examples of shows lasting over 3 seasons. Hell... Enterprise made it to 4, and had started recovering from the slump that was the Xindi arc of season 3 before the higher ups decided to pull the plug. I was actually looking forward to the Earth-Romulan War.

I think Farscape had more than 3 seasons, Babylon 5 had 5 seasons... Hell... nBSG did pretty well apparently. And if we're going old school... how long did Lost in Space run?

IMO if it was on FOX, its pretty much doomed to fail unless its bimbos competing for something. As for other networks, both cable and air, pretty sure there are examples of shows that did pretty well despite the "evidence" provided by CBS that says otherwise.

I mean the most successful single series I can think of is actually Stargate SG-1, at 10 seasons.

nikeix · November 2016

So pretty much nothing more than half-hearted attempts in the big broadcast networks. Cable (multiple Sci-fi channel offerings) and syndication (Babylon 5) or nada.

The distinction IS important to the people making these decisions rather than curled up on the couch channel surfing

.

(I actually just tried to re-watch SeaQuest now that I have Netflix... it was unbearably bad

...)

markhawkman · November 2016

Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles actually got cancelled in part due to the writer's strike.

starswordc · November 2016

rattler2 wrote: »

Oh really? Note that there was no mention of STARGATE SG-1 or how long TNG, DS9, and Voyager were on the air, or frickin' Dr. Who!

BTW... SG-1 had been on the air for 10 full seasons. 10! Combine that with Stargate Atlantis, that's 15 seasons of Stargate total! 15!

Bad example. Other than Star Trek and, in the UK, Doctor Who, there haven't really been any super-successful speculative fiction franchises on network television. SG-1 started on Showtime and moved to Sci-Fi at the start of season 6. Babylon 5, too, only made it to season 4 on network television, and TNT's rescue attempt was largely a failure. Everything else I can think of only made it to two seasons at most.

Of course it would help if Fox would just let the show run properly instead of f*cking with the episode order every single rutting time. Offhand I can think of four different series they killed (Space: Above and Beyond, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Almost Human, and of course Firefly).

Why new Star Trek is online only show according to CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone

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