CBS aims to keep Star Trek fans locked into a $6-a-month contract.
[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]hen news first broke that CBS planned on releasing a brand new Star Trek television series, Trekkies everywhere were more than happy with the news. Many fans believed CBS would either air one episode every week as is the norm for television networks or they would release every episode available online just like Netflix has done in the past. Unfortunately, CBS is doing neither and will be airing one episode of Star Trek every week that is only available through their CBS All Access service.
CBS’s move to grant access to their Star Trek series comes from the increasing amount of television viewers leaving cable and satellite companies for other services like Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix. The ability to watch an entire show whenever you want is hard to argue with and why would anyone want to pay $35 or more a month to watch just one episode a week when you can watch the exact same show one day after it aired on Hulu? CBS’s CBS All Access is the television network’s plan to use the upcoming Star Trek as a way to entice viewers into a monthly subscription service that is only available online.
“We could have cashed in for a lot of money, selling it to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu … they were all very interested in it,” said CBS’s president Les Moonves in a conference with reporters. “We know that Star Trek is a high-priced, quality product … there are a lot of very rabid Star Trek fans who are going to sign up for it.
The era of television networks controlling their viewers has been coming to an end since companies like Netflix and Hulu grew popular and access to old and new television shows became increasingly easier to access. How CBS plans to hold on to Trekkies after the first season of Star Trek is finished is anybody’s guess and while Moonves claims CBS plans on debuting four or three original shows on CBS All Access that isn’t enough to keep those who signed up for the service solely to watch Star Trek to stay.
The new Star Trek series will debut in January of 2017.
