The Shuttle Pod Podcast Explores ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ And The Future Of Streaming

Shuttle Pod 81 – Strange New Streaming Services

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This week, Brian and Kayla welcome back special guest Anthony Pascale, owner and founder of TrekMovie.com, to discuss the recently announced Captain Pike show, Strange New Worlds and take a bit of a dive into the business side of Star Trek, CBS All Access, the CBS-Viacom merger, and what it all means for Trek going forward.


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The future of streaming is kind of obvious. In 10 years it will be consolidated into two or three companies, and the price will be similar to what we would have paid for Cable and Satellite back in the day, and so we will be left wondering what in the hell the point was from moving away from those delivery methods.

The winners of streaming will be Disney, Netflix, Amazon, and HBO. I’m not sure about Star Trek. Maybe Apple will buy Star Trek in 5 years.

The streaming wars are just healing up. Cable and satellite are still a thing you know.

I think you’re wrong. The future of streaming is an unknown.

You know, Apple buying Viacom/CBS at some point kind of would make sense.

Why do folks think Apple will be so successful in future that it will be buying content producers?

They were always more consumer than corporate, and even that is in decline. I’m really seeing the market turn from them. Covid may be obscuring their loss of market share.

Because they’ve been trying to get into the content game for over a decade. And their net worth is over 1 TRILLION.

But I agree. If they’d wanted to buy someone they’d probably have done it by now.

Even if that’s true, no reason why HBO, Netflix, or Amazon can’t host the Trek shows. They don’t need to buy CBS or Viacom or even the IP to be the streaming home of Trek. After all, it’s on Netflix outside the US even now.

CBS and Viacom won’t make it. Someone will buy them out eventually. The streaming wars don’t look easy for them.

You’re conflating CBSAA with Viacom. Their combined worth after the merger is north of $30B, I believe. They do not need to sell the entire company just because the app fails. They could simply choose to sell streaming rights to their shows to another service, as they currently do outside the US.

CBS is a HUGELY successful company worth tens of billions of dollars. There is no reason to think they “won’t make it.”

I think he means the app. But you’re right– as a conglomerate, they’ll be fine. And now that Paramount merged with CBS, the app stands a better chance. They can now incorporate content from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Dreamworks, not to mention brands like TV Land and Nick at Night.

But if there is contrition in the future, CBS will probably be one of the first to fall, along with HBO.

It’s really remarkable how the big studio’s obstinance to streaming allowed Netflix and Amazon to emerge as powerhouses, when neither of them owned their own content.

This is why it’s so important to embrace new formats early. They created their own competition by telling themselves streaming wasn’t the future.

This is why theaters will die.

Unknown? Not at at all. The future of streaming is MAKING MONEY!

I disagree. I think there will be 3rd party services that allow consumers to lump streaming sites together for lower prices, or track their services, turn them on and off every month, to make it much easier to manage having 5 or 6.

I only have 3 streaming services. I don’t need 5 or 6 of them I pay every month but don’t use.

Hence the third party service that would allow you to toggle them on and off. Please read the entirety of my comments, it seems to be a common problem around here.

a third party service that bundles competitors together? Don’t see the point of anybody allowing that, as it keeps your competition afloat alongside you, and dilutes brand loyalty to boot. Only benefits consumer.

I don’t think you understand the concept I laid out. But that’s OK. I’m operating on a higher level. Maybe I should do it. Billion dollar idea, guaranteed.

The concept you’re describing would require the services themselves to give the app the access needed in order to turn off the service. It will never, ever happen.

The difference is that once you watch everything you want for a streaming service you can easily turn it off, and then only pick it up again when it has something else that you want to watch.

Strange New Worlds is so exciting. Star Trek is in a good place right now. The Captain Pike show is so sweet.

The future of streaming remains to be seen. I’m not sure if the CBS-Viacom merger is enough. The media landscape is changing. Apple and other tech companies are getting into streaming too. Mergers like the Disney-Fox merger are happening more now.

HBO Max is coming really soon. There is Disney Plus, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock… Streaming is the new cable.

I enjoyed the podcast.

“Who is Your Gorn?”
You guys need to put that on T-shirts. ;)

Thanks for the great summary and opinions regarding the business of streaming television and entertainment. The writing was pretty much on the wall way back in 2015 (and probably a lot earlier) about the future of broadcast tv and that is when I cut the Comcast cord (down to the basic pkg) and added Hulu, CBS.com, NHL TV, MLB TV to my Netflix subscription. I know it was rude to laugh at those who were archaically critical of Discovery, Short Treks and now Picard being behind a paywall, but perhaps listening to the podcast will finally convince them about where the future is headed. The only persons I do have a little sympathy for is the few who use OTA antennas for network TV. Unfortunately, free network broadcasts are not going to have much premium content going forward, perhaps with the exception of some live sports programming but even that is disappearing.

I cut the cord back in 2004, long before streaming. Never regretted it. It was such a waste.

There is nothing good on TV anymore. The only thing interesting is the pandemic news coverage. More people die and the cases keep going up.

Honestly, maybe I should read a book more. So I can escape from this horrible world.

You contradicted yourself, homeboy. In your comment below you stated that “I’m fed up with hearing about the pandemic and everything else wrong with the world”. Two minutes later you’re saying that the only thing interesting is pandemic coverage?

I still have cable but there is nothing good to watch anymore.

I’m fed up with hearing about the pandemic and everything else wrong with the world.

I’m cutting the cord!

How long have you had cable with nothing to watch? Why did you keep it? Seems very foolish.

There used to be some good stuff but I lost interest over time. Calling it foolish is easy for you to say.

Yeah it is. I keep telling my elderly folks to let it go since they only watch 3 or 4 channels, and to get a skinny bundle for half the price, but they’re stuck in the 80s.

They both also have cell phones, but insist on maintaining TWO land lines as well…

Talk about foolish.

What are ‘Amazon channels’? I have Amazon Prime and watch a lot of movies there and Columbo. But I’ve never heard of ‘channels’.

Thanks!

I’m going to say something based on the hope that this website is not run like the current authoritarian government in China.
First, let me be clear. I LOVE Trekmovie and I think Anthony Pascale has done a GREAT job with it. I mean that 100%.
But…
I really hope there is less Anthony on Shuttlepod going forward. To put it bluntly, I find him to be arrogant. He speaks as though everything he says is fact, when much of it, like anyone else on the show, is just his opinion. By contrast, the usual Shuttlepod crew, who I adore, don’t state their opinions as if they must be right; and whenthey disagree with another, they don’t act like the other person must be wrong.

For example, Brian mentioned about how the creators of “Strange New Worlds,” in their press announcement, seem to be responding to the fan reaction that Picard and Discovery were lacking in Star Trek’s optimism, and also that many fans did not like the serialized nature of the shows, but preferred the old episodic format. Anthony responded by insisting that this was not about fan reactions but was always part of their plan. Now, maybe Anthony knows for a fact that this is the case, and that Brian is wrong. But unless that is true, that fan reactions were not that significant, I think Anthony should just say he has a different opinion. He shouldn’t sound like he he is “correcting” Brian.” I was one of the many long-standing fans (I’m 56 and went to my first convention in 1975) who really can’t stand the death of Roddenberry’s optimism and have been vocal about it; as have many others. I would like to think Kurtzman and company actually care about feedback from fans. If it’s not true, ok; but I want to learn it’s not true because it’s not true, not because Anthony says so. This only one example; it doesn’t matter if I’m right or wrong in this particular example. It’s about tone.

I get that Brian, Kayla, and Co. can’t really speak their minds fully and freely – Anthony is their boss. But I can.
Anthony did, and continues to do, an incredible job with this website, and I am grateful for his work. He’s obviously very gifted. I just would prefer he let Shuttlepod’s regular crew do their job, unfettered. I enjoy the show very much with them; they are delightful.

Hi Gary –

Thanks for the kinds words about the pod. It’s very much appreciated.

Just to be clear – there is an editorial firewall between the podcast and the rest of the site. Tony has never influenced any of our choices or views.

Having known him for many years I can tell you he’s not trying to correct me or talk down; he’s just giving his opinion. If it’s coming across as something else I can assure you it’s completely unintentional. He also did not insert himself into this podcast – he came on because Kayla and I asked him to. As we mentioned in the pod, some of us, including him, enjoy chatting about the business aspects of Hollywood, and as you heard, Tony knows quite a bit.

I hope this clears things up. Thank you again for the support!

Brian

Thanks for your response, Brian. I’m happy that you feel free to speak your mind with Anthony. I’m glad to be wrong.
I still think you guys are at your best without without guests. Matt, Jared, Kayla, and yourself are a perfect combination.

Thanks for your feedback. To be clear, I consider the pod team (and everyone who contributes to TrekMovie) to be my friends first and my partners on making this site the best Trek site in the world. In the case of the pod, it is their baby entirely. I am a guest on their pod. They all know me and are free to contradict me any time, and they do.

As for the particulars, I agree SNW exists mostly due to positive fan feedback, and we talked about that on the pod. IIRC, I disagreed with Kayla’s supposition that the episodic format was in response to a view that serialized stories ‘failed’ on DSC and PICARD. My point was simply that they have always said they would do different formats, and a more traditional Trek show fits into that, and also is likely marketed to fans who want a more traditional Trek. In the end I do think we all agreed on that.

thanks again for visiting and listening!

Awesome episode. I love this podcast. What’s a good amount to give?

But I look at Discovery as the necessary “evil” to get Strange New Worlds. It just bugs me that Akiva Goldsman is doing it. None of his previous Trek stuff was good. I’m hoping beyond hope we get Ron Moore or Manny Coto back.

Star Trek was always on the forefront of new TV. Syndication in the 80s to new network in the 90s to streaming in the 2010s and today.

Thanks for the kind words, VZX!

I don’t feel comfortable telling folks how to spend their money, so I’ll just say that any amount is very much appreciated.

Strange New Worlds is the first Trek show I have been excited about in a long time I love Pike, the Enterprise, NUmber one, SPOCK and IHear Uhura might appear. i love these characters, with the show being more positive i think this show has an opportunity to feel like TOS with a modern twist. Strange New Worlds might be the first true TOS spin off!