^That's why I said what I said ('Like it as not, this is what we've got') to Flake before. But a person can still dream....
Well if CBS are so apathetic and un-interested when it comes to developing new Trek (zero thus far in 8 years) and are content with letting it slowly die then they should cash in now and sell the rights to someone else willing to make an effort.
CBS is re-mastering TNG, DS9, and VOY. They wouldn't be doing that if they didn't care. I'm convinced they have a two-pronged strategy. First, they want to make sure all the series are future-proofed. Second, I think they're trying to build up nostalgia for '90s Trek. Maybe an updated (repeat, I said updated) version of Star Trek on TV, that's uniquely CBS's version, will spring up from there. By the time all the series are re-mastered, the Abrams Trilogy will have already finished. Reportedly, Star Trek is one of the most-watched series on Netflix. More people watch TV online than on actual TV, so there might be something to it. Netflix is the syndication market of today. The re-mastered sets are also selling. I don't know the numbers but interest seems to be there. Source: link
TNG will finish being remastered in HD by the end of the year. Although I strongly suspect DS9 and VOY will receive the same treatment, no official announcement has been made. Nonetheless, CBS hasn't been letting Trek "slowly die." If that was their strategy, well, they wouldn't have signed the deal letting Paramount play with their intellectual property on the big screen (as well as exploiting that new version of the I.P. in merchandise, video games, and books). CBS hasn't been exploiting Trek to the same extent Paramount did in the '90s (when it was known as "the franchise" on the lot), but there's a reason for that. The last attempt at a television series was cancelled (after years of declining ratings for the franchise), and the last time a Trek movie was a hit at the box office before the Bad Robot movies was in 1996. Paramount over-saturated the market in the '90s, which made a lot of money for a few years, but wasn't a sustainable long-term strategy.
Sorry guys, that's all just me. Seriously though, I'd love it if Netflix got the go ahead to create a Trek series. I'm not sure I trust CBS to get it right.
It would work the other way around. CBS makes the show and then sells the rights to Netflix to stream. Netflix doesn't have a production studio. And first run Netflix is probably one of the more likely locations for Trek. The question is, is Netflix willing to write a big enough check for CBS to make the show.
The bigger question -- and the real one in my opinion -- is whether or not the same level of effort for re-mastering TNG would be put into DS9 and VOY.
That is what they earn in licensing from The Original Series alone. From what I've read Abrams was worried about competing merchandise. Overall, I'd say CBS is earning quite a bit more from licensing of the entire franchise. Which would include syndicated/digital distribution, merchandise licensing and the licensing fee Paramount pays to them for making Star Trek movies.
If DS9 and VOY make it to HD, I'm worried they will simply be uprezzed versions of the current 480i video.
Is there really any precedent for an HD presentation so shoddy? I think your worries are unfounded. I'd say the worst presentation we'll end up with would match what Fox is doing with The X-Files: using an outside vendor (in Fox's case, the dreaded Illuminate, formerly known as HTV) and going back to the original film for the live action elements, but upscaling the visual effects.
Re: Everyone CBS are letting it die, its Paramount putting the effort in, without Paramount Trek would not be on anyone's radar! Paramount were told by CBS to start developing a Trek movie before 2007 or else they get movie rights as well iirc? If those rights went to CBS there would be no nuTrek as they have shown no desire to do anything new. Remastering is great for the old fans but does it bring many new ones in? Does it secure Treks future in the coming decades? Fortunately Paramount have taken up the slack but I feel if both companies where pulling in the same direction we could have much more from the nuTrek franchise.
It doesn't have to do with "letting Star Trek die", it has to do with something worse: politics. JJ Abrams didn't want CBS putting out merchandise with the likeness of TOS instead of his films. CBS didn't agree. Because of this impasse, if I understand it right, an agreement couldn't be reached to produce New Trek for TV. It's not a question of would a new Trek series make money or how popular it would be or not wanting to oversaturate the franchise. What it really comes down to is, "I don't like that guy!" CBS and Paramount are working together to put out new Star Trek about as well as Congress and Obama. This is why I think CBS would want to go in a different direction. It's not about money, or what makes sense, it's all about "mine's better than your's!" The best they'll do is stay out the way while Abrams puts out his films.
CBS is hardly letting it die. They're just in a position where they don't have to produce a new Trek TV series to keep the entire franchise afloat. CBS otherwise merchandises the hell out of Trek, more so than any other property they have. Nope. Paramount simply got a license to continue making Trek movies from CBS (Paramount already had a license for the first ten Trek movies prior to their split from CBS). CBS does have a movie division (CBS Films), but it's geared towards only making the occasional small- to medium-budget film every now and then. It's almost an indie outfit, really. In a real sense, the success of the movies is what's keeping a new Trek TV series off the air, although I wouldn't rule out an animated series in the foreseeable future. People may call CBS lazy or whatever for not having a new Trek TV series on the air right now, but I think it's just a case that they really don't have to, even if it makes some Trekkies unhappy.
You never saw this? I have yet to see anything from a creditable source to say otherwise. Frankly, JJ's jumping ship for Star Wars in my mind on strengthens the case that this is what happen. As for there not being another Star Trek show on the air anytime soon, because JJ said so, based on this and what the good people at the Save Enterprise on NetFlix people have said (who I put faith in as it's run by folks that have actually worked on Star Trek in the past and are Industry Professionals), I'd say take what JJ says with a grain of salt. The man doesn't give a damn about Star Trek or her fans, all he wanted was an I.P. he could exploit and back in 2006, he thought Star Trek was the ticket. I'm grateful the good people at CBS have kept him at bay the way they have.
"...according to an individual with knowledge of the dispute.... Paramount declined to comment for this article and a spokesperson for Bad Robot did not respond to a request to comment." So, it's the dope according to one unnamed source that no-one will go on the record to back up?!? Meh. I meant a citation to something with journalistic integrity. I keep forgetting that that doesn't go without saying. I'll leave the reading of entrails and tea leaves to the tabloids. There's nothing there that supports what was alleged, which was: That Abrams "doesn't give a damn about Star Trek" is factually contradicted by his delivering two successful films so far. So, whatever.