Back when Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled seven years ago there was much discussion and speculation that the franchise had lost support at the corporate level of CBS/Paramount, especially with CBS CEO Les Moonves. But now the man who runs the company that owns Star Trek is singing a different tune, telling investors that the franchise is working "exceedingly well" as part of the CBS portfolio for online streaming. Find out what he had to say about Trek below.
Moonves Bullish On Star Trek
One of the coolest things that happened in Star Trek in 2011 was CBS licensing much of their content for Netflix online streaming, including the entire Star Trek TV library(and later they also cut the same deal for Amazon Prime). Fans could now see any episode of Trek at any time on their TVs and other Netflix (or Amazon) devices. These licensing deals come with time limits and any Netflix user can tell you movies and shows come and go all the time, however it appears that Star Trek will have some staying power.
While discussing the second quarter results for CBS Corporation with analysts, CEO Les Moonves was asked about the future of the Netflix deal. Moonves indicated that the deal is going to be renewed and brought up how popular Star Trek has been, saying…
Regarding, obviously, the Netflix deal, the renewal is already preordained per se. And you’re right, we have a better idea, although the information is somewhat limited and somewhat preliminary on which shows are working and which aren’t. And as you can imagine, some are working better than others. It’s good to have the Star Trek franchise, I think that’s something that works exceedingly well. And some of the others don’t work as well. And I think, frankly, with Netflix, our relationship is so good, we will be adding titles such as CSI: Miami, which just came off our schedule. And we are working with them about increasing some and decreasing others. And the overall bottom line will be, we will get more money for this and we will have better visibility onto which shows will go into those packages.
The good news here goes beyond Star Trek continuing to be available on Netflix in the future. It is also a good sign that the CEO of CBS is talking about Star Trek and how it is a valuable asset for the corporation. Moonves’ comments are similar to those he made last year following the CBS/Netflix deal, but this time he explicitly noted how important Star Trek was to the deal. This faith in Star Trek is likely part of the reasoning behind the decision to fund the multi-million dollar restoration and remastering project for Star Trek: The Next Generation. This positive attitude for Star Trek could also bode well for hopes of CBS moving forward on a new Star Trek TV series (animated and/or live-action) in the near or medium-term future.
That’s good news considering how over on Doug Drexler’s blog it was said Moonves was responsible for Enterprise being cancelled and the Enterprise sets destroyed before the guy could go get a truck to haul them away. He even posted pictures of the bull dozer destroying the sets.
On a side note, did anyone running bthis site ever consider using Disqus? It’s crazy to have to keep putting my information in to post.
“This positive attitude for Star Trek coiuld also bode well for hopes of CBS moving foreward on a new Star Trek TV series (animated and/or live-action) in the near or medium-term future.”
In theory, absolutely. But with the wrong people helming it (i.e. folks who treat these kinds of things as their own personal ‘fan fiction’ projects), it could easily run itself (and the franchise’s future on TV) into the ground fast than the ‘Killer Bs’ did with ‘Enterprise’…
@2: I like my words better: If you have retards driving the IP, BUT OF COURSE you’re gonna have a car wreck… i still recall my brother’s arguements about ENT’s 2nd season basically being a rehash of Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers…
Netflix having all the Star Trek TV shows on instant watch is a big reason I’ve kept my account. If they keep Trek, I’ll keep subscribing.
Well, I for one am very glad that CBS / Paramount is putting so much into Star Trek. The franchise is amazing and being a member of Paramount’s Star Trek Webmaster Program, leaves me more than excited at what’s coming in the future. I hope Paramount is going to put alot into the webmaster program for the upcoming movie. It was a blast to watch and I learned tons of things on the webmastering side of things.
There’s so much to draw-on with having TWO universes, instead of one long-tail, we’ve got two and who knows more? Now that I look-back on things, the “reboot,” was more than a god-send. it’s like being a parent and after not being able to have children, you’re told you’re having twins or triplets. Fascinating. Amazing. I cannot say more.
I think Star Trek is the only franchise which can not only survive a “reboot” it’s actually the embodiment of it. Where can we all “Boldly-Go,” where no other franchise has gone before? Anywhere our imaginations want to, and in an unlimited fashion and formality. We literally have many universes out-there left to explore. Star Trek is the only franchise which gives humanity the ability to dream and reach for the stars at the same time. Amazing and wonderful.
In the famous words, so eloquently and incisively spoken by William Shatner, “Risk Is Our Business.” And Gene Roddenberry, wherever you are, you have my admiration for without you, sir, humanity would not be or have the capacity to be what we can be or dare to dream to be.
We don’t realize how much of a special-gift this is. I suppose Dr. McCoy told it best, in the TNG episode, “If you treat her like a lady, she’ll always get you home.”
Star Trek is not just my favorite TV, Movie, Etc., it’s my ideology!
Trek
What I want to do is “reboot” Space: 1999, and find-out where and what happened to the Alphans. Hey J.J.!!!! You ever watch this back in the ’70’s? Bob?
I’d love to see this done…and it’s kinda sad where the original show left-off, but it’s a gold mine to a very ambitious director!
Love it, Love it, Love it!
I Grok Star Trek! And Space: 1999!
@1
Star Trek is profitable now. It wasn’t in 2005.
Hey everyone, I am just poping in to say, it’s been fun, but I am not tempramentally suited for this community, certain people anger me, a lot, and I react. I feel it likely that I will make the site unpleasant for a lot of people who have nothing to do with it. I will end up being banned, and I have never been banned from anywhere, and I don’t plan to start now.
Anthony, I love your site, and the work and effort you put in to get us this information will always be appreciated. I will still be reading the stories here of course.
Everyone else, its been real, its been fun, but it hasnt been real fun :). I might pop in for the occassional LLAP or best wishes, but I’m done.
LLAP guys.
@6
There is a reboot for Space:1999 in the works. It is called Space: 2099.
http://www.space2099theseries.com/content/
Fellow Trekkers, keep watching Star Trek on Netflix. Watch all the shows. But DVDs of the TV shows. Maybe this will encourage a new live action Star Trek series. Hey Les, put it on TNT, SyFy, AMC or some other cable network. Yeah, I want to take away the unfair ratings pressure that may be put on the show.
I wonder if Trek on TV might be different than the way it was before, if they bring it back to TV? No more 22 episode seasons? I wonder if they would model Trek after the way cable shows are done today with just 13 episode seasons once a year? They would do Trek like how they do Falling Skies or Dallas or Longmier? Unless a new series is on CBS and not on cable?
Back in 2005 Trek was on life support and left for derad! . Now Trek is Alive and Kicking and Screeming and the People at C.B.S are loving it. Star Trek is going very strong once again. With a new movie coming out in less then a year and all of the Trek Series on Netflix doing well and Tng Remastered really taking off. Only a matter of time before C.B.S pulls the trigger and makes a Live action Star Trek Series once again.
IMHO (and it’s just my own personal opinion), Moonves is a two faced lying cheating hypocrite. When Trek was in the dregs he wanted to distance his precious network as far as he could and pulled the trigger. Now that JJ & Co. have made Trek cool again he wants in. It must be a prerequisite to becoming a network suit that you have to have your spine removed and be painted yellow.
I love the idea of doing Trek on TV like HBO rather than a normal series. They really need to be more like mini movies so they can put more into them rather than trying to fill out a season with the inevitable filler episodes.
14: That would be nice, but not everybody has HBO..
And as for an aninated series, I’d rather wait longer for live action REAL Star Trek, then see ST stoop to such a level. It’s just getting old. And most fans would be alienated. How many adult Star Wars fans watch The Clone Wars? I stopped after season 2. It just didn’t hold interest, it wasn’t Star Wars anymore.
…. Maybe they should put out another star trek movie too! One with a title, some promo pix, maybe a teaser trailer. Ya know, just to keep this franchise going instead of sitting on their butts raking money in on old tv shows. I mean, maybe, they can find an old stage and some old tv cameras and do a made for tv movie just fer grins. And put out some quality star trek merchandise besides salt shakers and pizza cutters. Just a thought. If they had a franchise they cared about.
Meanwhile, on the fan front …..
All these people saying the franchise is back, sheesh. One movie every four years means it’s back? Put a new show on the air then lets talk. For now CBS is just making money off shows already produced. And if anybody thinks people are just watching JJs Movie over and over on Netflix they’re dead wrong. It’s the TV series that are doing the heavy lifting, including the underpreciated Enterprise.
If anyone at CBS is reading, we’d love to get the series on Netflix up here in Canada. Of course if you’re taking time to give them all HD widescreen remasters I’ll wait. :)
Moonves two-faced back-stabbing chump. Sorry, but I had to get that off of my chest.
Awesome news! Now if only they’d add all the Trek movies back to netflix streaming….oh but one can dream :P
Les Moonves saw how J.J Abrams breathed new life into Trek and changed his tune when he saw an opportunity to ride on his coattails.
Just a few years ago, Moonves said how much he hated Star Trek and sci-fi in general.
It’s interesting how money can change someone’s tune!
How the heck do you pronounce his name?
@19 and 21. Could not agree more!
..does anyone really believe that ANY Star Trek was made just out of sheer love and the desire to please and entertain people? Its always been a business, from the time NBC snuffed out The Cage to Berman-Trek, dying on the vine, to JJ’s vision exploding Into blockbuster status. Money is, and will always be, the deciding factor in any future Trek’s creation. It has to make a profit. That’s just good business. And make no mistake, at the end of the day, thats all Hollywood really is…a business.
That’s good. TNG is pretty much the only Trek series that airs on TV in America anymore, so I’m glad it’s staying on Netflix. The DVD sets are freaking expensive.
#15 I agree, after awhile the clone wars started copying star trek with an alien of the week kind of thing(which denotes the limitations of star wars only focusing the same types of sith vs jedi stories) But being an adult I would fully enjoy an animated series just as much as a live action series, so no I dont think it would only be for a certain percentage of the fan base.
team up with Paramount and put it on Epix (they would have at least one new subscriber in me)
@8. Azrael, you will be missed !!!!! Live Long and Prosper!
I would be happy with an animated series so long as it doesn’t condescend to it’s audience. I understand that animation is generally aimed at children however I would just want this to be an all audiences deal
@24 Agree and disagree. Gene Roddenberry made Star Trek out of love for sci-fi and an intense need to be an important “writer-producer” like Rod Serling. He certainly didn’t keep an eye on the till when he was making the first pilot and it was way over budget.
Many of the artisans involved behind the scenes worked long hours to make the best show they could; it was certainly not money that motivated them. Fred Phillips paid $600.00 (a lot of monty at the time) out of his own pocket to get a credible set of ears for Nimoy.
Shatner- yeah, for the most part it was just a job, but he was a pro with his reputation on the line.
Nimoy, the acting teacher. Also at first just a job…a job he was reluctant to take. But it became almost an obsession with him. And after the enormous positive feedback, he became dedicated to doing his best. He was not paid very much, but he still gave his all.
As for Desilu, I don’t think Lucille Ball had any idea of what these guys were making.
Now, to the evil “suits” back in New York at NBC, Mr. Solow sells the show and they make a crummy pilot. Have you ever seen it? “The Cage.” It’s kind of a stinker when viewed alone outside of “The Menagerie.” But NBC executive, Grant Tinker, was really a good guy. He gave “Star Trek” every chance of succeeding. NBC took the extraordinary step of ordering a second pilot. Unheard of! I have never understood why this was done; maybe it had something to do with the esteem they felt for Mr. Solow. It certainly wasn’t because of the track record of Mr. Roddenberry. This is not exactly a money-driven business decision. NBC did want an action show, but there were so many lower budget options to chose from.
And after faltering ratings, the show was saved, again by Mr. Tinker, et al. He stated he could not understand why he didn’t receive ANY thanks from Mr. Roddenberry and nothing but hate from the fans.
Today no one would make such decision. Star Trek’s audience dwindled to 50% of what it had been. The only truly bottom-line oriented decision NBC made, was to kill it by moving it into an awful time slot.
The original Star Trek was not the product of bean-counters and committees. It was the product of lots of dedicated artists and professionals who really cared about what they were doing. All of the subsequent incarnations of Star Trek, however, including the movies, I-VI have been business decisions wrapped in the guise of entertainment.
And therefore, none of them have equalled the impact of the original series.
The calculation behind ST09 is certainly evident (dazzling special effects, clunky product placement, sure-fire sexy casting, an original cast member, etc.) , but we got a rather iconoclastic vision of Trek, thanks to some inventive writing. The truly safe thing would have been to give us more-of-same in a new shiny package, just like the the feeble “re-boot” of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” So it had a kind of power of its own.
Now that there is some real money on the table it will be interesting to see what the new movie in 2013 holds, whether they play it safe or give us something really interesting. One thing is for certain, it won’t be as independent of money as the original show.
I hate star wars.
his eyes are recovered! :) ;)
27 not every cable company offers EPIX, and alot of Apartment complex’s have exclusivity contracts where you can only subscribe to certain cable provider, and dont allow you to have satallite dishes.
Is Netflix going to replace TNG with TNG Remastered?
Please God no animated series. I’d rather have no new series than animated. Animated will only cheapen the franchise. Live action or nothing.
22- Moon Ves
Let JJA handle the rebooted original series on the big screen and hand TV trek over to someone like Jonathon Frakes or Ronald D. Moore. Trek with an ensamble cast breathes better on the small screen in series or miniseries form. The triad approach (Kirk, McCoy, Spock) is designed for the big screen.
Moonves publicly declared his hated science fiction and especially Star Trek.
Now the man is making money off of it.
You would have made MORE if you let the franchise kept going.
Good job.
Moonves can go do unspeakable things to himself…. The best thing he can do is either resign or hand over Star Trek to Paramount entirely.
The only reason Star Trek is still around is because of Paramount and JJ Abrams, not Les “I’m a giant douche” Moonves.
Moonves is all about profit. End of discussion. Luckily, Trek has recovered from its post Enterprise coma. If there was a series of nothing but people picking their noses – and it was profitable – Moonves would be talking about how happy is to have the booger eating franchise a part of the CBS family. He could care less about Trek other than does it make money or not.
If Trek was not making money for CBS he’d have absolutely no hesitation in flushing it instantly into the New York sewers.
40 – what this guy said…
I have the impression that most of the CEO’s (if not all), who have been in charge of maintaining/protecting the Star Trek franchise over time, have not been fully aware or interested in the golden goose they have, which was due to the hard work of all those involved in making the 1960’s Star Trek television series.
Then again, CEOs tend to have, by and large, the mentality and often rather myopic perceptions associated with bean counters (accountants), so reading this article is hardly very surprising. William Shatner made note of this mentality in his books, Star Trek and the second book, Star Trek:The Movies (I think that was the title of the second book). He referred to them as the “Suits” and “bean counters” and what he wrote about them sometimes was anything but flattering. William Shatner may be an arse, but I think he tends to be a truthful arse.
Star Trek is the reason I keep Netflix. I can watch any episode. Anytime.
That didn’t stop me from buying the TNG Blu-rays either.
The problem with studio CEOs being concerned strictly about money is that the products that are made often suffer as a result. Sure, the bottom line is absoluely vital, as movie-making in Hollywood is a business, but its too easy for the suits to forget about the artistic aspect of show business. We’ve seen many times how movies and shows suffer when some guy in charge of a studio who knows nothing about filmmaking decides that he knows better than the directors and producers when it comes to the cost-versus-benefit/profit ratio.
TOS is a prime example. The first two seasons were great, but, the guy in charge of NBC at that time of the third season decided it just wasn’t worth spending (much) money on and slashed the budget, severely crippling the quality of the show’s final season, which resulted in a final cancellation. Yeah, maybe the show wasn’t making the money as NBC had hoped, but they could have easily made the third season the final season WHILE spending the same amount of money they had for the first and second seasons.
absoluely=absolutely
DAMN TYPOS!!!
@44. Everything you said about TOS, happened to Enterprise in its 4th season and actually made it must see Star Trek for me. They slashed the budget, which forced the show to become inventive and pushed the quality up.
Ironic and tragic.
#33 – true, but don’t don’t you think Star Trek would get Epix in more homes.