Yeah, I asume those are the ones on Netflix. I really don't want a version of DS9 like that on Bluray, a lot of the SFX would look disgusting.
True, but DS9, TNG, Ent and Voyager are airing multiple times daily on at least 3 separate TV channels, Syfy, CBS Action and PickTV. I'm pretty sure I remember Enterprise airing on Sky Atlantic when I was round a friends house once, although that was a year ago now. I guess my point is, although its not on streaming, Star Trek is very much a valuable commodity for TV reruns here in the UK. Don't forget CBS Action actually ran a billboard campaign here for TNG when they first got it a couple years back. If it were available on streaming, I don't think there's any reason to assume it would be a dismal failure.
The UK has a tenth of the population of the US. There aren't enough people there to make it a financially viable endeavour.
I'm not talking about the Blu rays, I'm talking about DS9 as is appearing on Instant streaming in the UK.
I would be really surprised, if the possible viewership is not accounted for during negotiations. I.e.: CBS won't be asking for the same kind of money for streaming rights in the U.K. compared to the U.S. or compared to any other country. Thanks, I feared that
They didn't do a bad job of it all being told. I have seen worse. And the pitch correction does go a long way towards compensating, it's *almost* imperceptable. But there are definitely purists out there who'd prefer them to be in their native 50i at least. Alas and alack that isn't gonna happen. The Blu Rays do benefit from the lack of compression and a lossless audio track, but they also lose out with the 4% slow-down instead of being the speed that they should be. In practice there are both pluses and minuses to upgrading, depending on how well one perceives these things.
So if the new show does well on CBS All Access, what are the chances they'll decide to remaster DS9? Still slim to none?
From what I've heard, CBS spent about $20 million to do TNG restoration. And that was a full restoration; going back to the original film and re-editing the episode and effects together from basics. For that investment? They got about nothing back. The blu-rays basically bombed. Despite being awesome. At some point in the next 10 years, they'll have to do something with DS9 and Voyager. But that something will sadly likely be an upconverting, because it's a fraction of the cost and effort. And the results will be pretty lousy, because upconverting is an awful thing. Getting DS9 and VGR fully restored like TNG? It's going to take a miracle. Even if the cost of doing it was somehow only 2-3 million, I don't think they'd invest even that much at this point. I think we'll get the crappy unconvert treatment within a few years and that's about all. Because the time and effort and money to do it true to form just isn't going to happen. DS9 and VGR are the underdog step-kids basically.
Agreed. It's pie-in-the-sky to hope otherwise. ... and so you can understand their ... reluctance, shall we say, to committing a similar amount to DS9 and VOY, whose public profile isn't anywhere near as big as TNG was. And given that sales of TNG-R failed to meet expectations, to throw money at those two shows would be tantamount to making a big bonfire out of hundred dollar notes. *IF* the new Star Trek show takes off and gives the franchise a booster shot in the arm, then maybe they might commit something to preserving those two shows, although as Frontier points out that'd be much more likely to be an upcoversion than a full HD remaster like TNG got. But otherwise, it's fantasy-land. IMHO.
Well, they got something back from their $20M. They got a high definition show they can air on their network or whatever other distribution mechanism works out well for the next several decades. Not claiming it's a money winner, but it's not a total loss.
I see your point, but it doesn't really make it a easier pill for the studio execs to swallow. Certainly not to the point of being able to commit another $20m to DS9, and another $20m again to VOY. Nobody is going to sell the farm now for the potential dividends five, ten, twenty years down the road. That isn't good business. TNG-R was made that way, on a ''prediction of earnings'' that didn't materialise out of Blu Ray sales, at least. It backfired big time. Sure it'll break into profit eventually, but that's too big a gamble for the suits. They can get a network ready HD show more easily (and cheaply!) from upscaling the existing SD sources. It ain't gonna look great, but it'll be sellable.
The first season BDs sold very well. Then the released remastered seasons went very quickly to official streaming services. I (often) wonder if there is a direct connection to streaming availablility and the diminished sale for later seasons (from 2 forward).
Yeah, it's an asset on the balance sheet, but in terms of cash flow, they might have to wait years to break even. Throwing another $40-50 million at DS9 and Voyager just isn't going to happen. People who want to watch those shows will do so anyway, and forking out the cash for a remastering job doesn't seem to attract new viewers. I'm just relieved TNG got done and looks as great as it does.
So what did they do for the enterprise blu ray? Did they still have the files for them that it was more easy to do?
Absolutely agree. TNG-R looks amazing, and is nothing less than a stellar achievement -- a night & day comparison. It's just such a shame that didn't translate to sales... Yeah, mistakes were definitely made. As much as I appreciated them myself, I do wonder if the decision to do 'movie length' editions of some of the two part stories as stand alone releases actually hurt sales of the season sets somehow, or at least blurred the budget figures by adding extra cost (the production of the discs) to minimum return. It seems to me like they flooded the market with product, using the age old sales strategy from the VHS/DVD days that the fans would buy them, but people weren't willing to take all these second and third bites of the cherry on Blu Ray. Which is a real shame, because the actual work done was amazing across the board. From what I've gathered, CBS kind of used predicted Blu Ray sales figures to nail down the budget of $20m, but the problem is that those sales never materialised as predicted. TNG-R will break even, eventually, but the Blu Ray sales will always have been disappointing. And that's why I doubt they'll commit to DS9 and VOY on Blu Disc. They might upscale them for HD broadcast and streaming purposes, but actual physical media disc releases seem unlikely at this stage.