In the US it appears as if DS9 and Voyager are still under contract to SPIKE' even if SPIKE doesn't air them anymore.( http://www.cbstvd.com/shows.aspx?showID=60) However Voyager is stillness unhinge here in Canada. But, also in the US nowadays, Netflix, HULU and Amazon, even though they are over the Internet, they seem to be considered by a lot of people as equal to a regular network like FOX or CBS, so it might be old-Fashioned thinking to say that the series are not airing in the US.
Sure, that's true for much of the younger generation. But there are a lot of folks like my mother who doesn't use Netflix, but tunes into BBC America for TNG fairly often, and apparently it's one of BBC America's higher rated shows. I don't think the market for DS9 or Voyager in syndication or on cable is quite as dead as people might think.
I figure that Deep Space Nine in HD will make its premiere right about the same time the USFL makes its triumphant return.
Could contracts maybe be in the way of it actually airing? From the CBS site, it sounds like SPIKE still has both shows under Exclusive Contract. Plus many people in the US are abandoning the standard way of receiving TV, (cord cutters are getting rid of cable and satellite and even rabbit ears for ATSC reception, and are only going with cable for the Internet) and for them Netflix, Amazon and iTunes are the "NEW" TV Networks.
Here in Canada, from what I can tell, Star Trek Voyager seems to be one of SPACE's highest rated shows, and it's the only show that they air that's entirely in 480i! So in the US I don't think the market is dead either, but if SPIKE has an exclusive on both shows, then it could mean that CBS may not have the option to do Syndicated licensing until the contract expires. Remember TOS-R was done to not only celebrate TOS's 40th anniversary, but to return it to syndication after, I think it was USA's network rights expired (and if I recall, TOS had been licensed to USA since 1990-1991 at that point, so 2006 would've been 15 years, and so it could be that SPIKE might have the rights to both series till 2017 or 2018, since if I remember, the acquired DS9 in 2002, and then Voyager in 2003) and CBS was able to make it available in Syndication once again.
In Germany currently TNG, VOY and ENT are airing at the same time on free TV (VOY and DS9 often switch). And TNG was aired in HD when it was released. So in Germany there is a market for VOY and DS9 in HD. Star Treks popularity in Germany is not surprising, since Roddenberry incoorporated a lot of Emmanuel Kant's philosophy into the shows fictional culture. Also telling morality tales through interesting stories is nothing new, since Grimm's Fairy Tales are popular here too. Surprisingly Star Trek has a lot of european/german enlightenment influences which makes it naturally popular here - its concept fits to european culture (as much as it does with US culture). If CBS would decide to upgrade VOY and DS9 to HD: The TV channels in Germany are ready to write the paychecks.
And in the UK all the live action ST shows are stables of various networks SyFy (UK) CBS Action Pick etc.. Sure DSN might not air as often as the others but it still airs.
Perhaps. Don't know the particulars of the contract. I don't know why Spike would pay not to air a show though. "Just in case" demand suddenly picks up for a show no one outside of fans have seen in years? Does not compute. That may be the case now, but that doesn't explain the last 10 years. Plus, if you use Netflix as a metric for what Trek is popular and what isnt... TNG has 1159 reviews. For the sake of argument lets say the remastering broke even. DS9 has 817 reviews. That's 70% of TNG. Not knowing exactly how many plays each series gets - that's probably the best direct comparison of popularity we have. Then you could look at Rotten Tomatos. TNG scores 86. DS9 is 71. I just can't find any sort of way to measure DS9 and show it being anywhere near as popular as TNG.
If it's worth anything, I recently watched some X-Files remastered on Netflix(203 and 204), and there were HD shots with text. The only shots not in HD were the opening shots of 204 (which were shots of NYC, probably stock footage) and the title sequence.
TOS has 479 netflix reviews (DS9 has 170% more), yet TOS got bluray and DS9 hasn't. TMP has a 47% on rotten tomatoes. How did that film even make it to VHS, much less bluray? The point is there really is no "best" comparison right now, at least for those of us who don't have access to any real streaming viewership numbers (which I'm pretty sure is all of us). As far as I know, Netflix has been anything but transparent about their customers' viewing habits, which is an increasing source of frustration in Hollywood. If I were amazon or a competing streaming platform, I'd have viewing habits public within the app. I'd even have minute-by-minute stats. My guess is studios would probably do what they could to invest in and nudge the popularity of such a platform. They would benefit tremendously from that information. And if it's public, customers could use the information to see what is being watched the most, in addition to what we currently have which is how individuals rate/review the shows/movies.
Because a Rotten Tomatoes score doesn't necessarily equate to sales, obviously. I work for a company that reissues movies on Blu-Ray that have absolutely abysmal scores on Rotten Tomatoes, and I can tell you there's absolutely no correlation between units sold and the RT score. The reason the movie is now on Blu-Ray and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine isn't is plainly obvious -- there was an HD master available for Star Trek--The Motion Picture. Reissuing it on Blu-Ray was cheap, and easy money for Paramount.
Didn't say it alone did. But until finds me some shred of evidence that there's some demand that will make CBS willing to shell out millions of bucks it's all we have.
So people are only welcome here if they think DS9 on Blu-ray is going to happen? This thread will probably empty out pretty quick.
Oh give me a break. Squiggy has told me and others to "get out" on other threads. I'm sure he can take a little joke.