Spoilers New Picard TV Series and Litverse Continuity (may contain TV show spoilers)
- Thread starter chrinFinity
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No, Nickelodeon bought the entire company last summer. Jim Davis is still creatively involved.
I think they will split S&S up into two companies:
Company 1 only does licensed books for ViacomCBS brands
Company 2 does everything else
And then they will sell Company 2 off. The majority of S&S doesn't fit with ViacomCBS's goal of being a streaming giant, so if there's interest, they will sell it off. That's standard business. I'd read online they're selling Cnet for this very reason, because even websites don't fit in with their vision.
As for licenses, ViacomCBS owns S&S. They can void their own in-house agreement at any time. It's a mistake to think they wouldn't. And as KRAD says, it's not exactly big business. They can pay out whatever contracts are in place, or agree new terms. Or just do it. What exactly is going to happen?
See, I would think CBS would be unhappy having someone discussing their future business plans in public...
Judging by a private message asking me to forward private emails, the people "in the publishing business" in this thread seem to really have had no idea Star Trek licensing has already changed hands. That should be a benchmark for their knowledge on this matter. It's pretty low.
As for worst case scenarios, it's really not. If ViacomCBS doesn't want to be in the publishing business, then it's better for the people working in that sector (and for shareholders with publishing interests) to sell that (profitable) division to somebody that would better utilise it.
This particular interview I've found on CNBC is telling:
... we’re going to go and unlock the value as we move forward operating, whether that’s stuff we’re doing on the content side, the commercial side, ad sales, distribution, licensing, or on the streaming side. But in the short-term, there’s also an opportunity to demonstrate that there’s value left untapped. And so today, we talked about two things related to that. One is, you know, we’ve looked at non-core assets inside the company. And most of the assets are clearly core. But you look at some of the real estate assets, as an example, BlackRock. You say, “Do you really need to own that?” The answer is “No.”
S&S is a non-core asset, where the only core thing its does is licensed books. They can -- and I think will -- split it up, and sell the non-core part of it to one of the other major publishers.
That's not a worst case scenario... That is the best case scenario.
How is this any different to thousands of other discussions about ViacomCBS and its future plans?
If they gave two shits about what somebody on a Star Trek message board speculated about a non-core asset they have, they would have come hard after the creators of YouTube videos with 100,000+ views claiming their flagship core assets are going to be scrapped. They don't care.
Also, I linked to this thread when I spoke to Clint at Nickelodeon. He said he doesn't know why the writers wouldn't know Star Trek merchandising changed hands. It's already happened.
You are saying that you've had discussions with CBS about business plans, that is a far cry from a YouTube video trying to guess what is going on.
I know I wouldn't want to do business with you, if you were running to message boards after the fact discussing our deals. But that is just me.
@CaptainXaviOfEarth you seem to have a lot of inside information, and I'm just wondering -- who are you? I mean, I'm speaking as Keith R.A. DeCandido, a veteran author and editor of tie-in fiction whose been in the business of book publishing since 1993. You keep speaking from a position of seeming authority, but I have no idea who you are or why I should believe anything you say.
Begging your pardon, but who the fuck are you?
I‘m a non executive director and agent for Money Chest, who own NECA, Wizkids, Loot Crate, etc. It’s a bit of a clusterfuck in terms of organisation, so you can say I work for all the brands in some capacity. I specifically oversee tabletop games and the business end of that.
Okay, thank you. You were just coming across as Random Dude On The Internet Who's Pontificating Without Knowing What The Hell He's Talking About, and I'm glad to see that you actually work in licensing and gaming. Which isn't quite the same as tie-in publishing, but it's adjacent.
I do know what I can and can’t talk about, in relation to my own dealings.
What you perceive as insider info about Star Trek is just public info nobody bothered to tell others about. I see on LinkedIn that Star Trek has a creative director for its merchandising, Stan Madaloni, so flag it up with him why this isn’t more widely known.
I’d personally do big fanfare that Star Trek is partnering with a global licensing behemoth to make it a bigger thing in the licensing world. Maybe they will do that and I’ve rumbled that PR blitz a little early? If that’s the case, don’t have Nickelodeon employees pushing licensing opportunities before you announced they’re now doing that.
Yep not the same but I’ve ended up needing to approach it similarly.
Oh gawd, Loot Crate? They still owe me over a hundred bucks from their Star Trek Crate clusterfuck.
Stan's role doesn't involve merchandising. He's not involved with product development or reviewing proposals for merch/etc. He's overseeing aspects of extending the Star Trek brand in areas online and various interactive efforts such as traveling exhibits, theme park/game/etc. experiences, and so on.
LicenseGlobal.com - ‘Star Trek’ Global Franchise Management Names Creative Director
If you'd like a direct contact to sort this out for you, PM me. New owners, new management.
Interesting to know. So who is in-charge?
Tell Stan we need a good solo player video game!
It’s odd that Discovery doesn’t have a game, even something like a Telltale game.
