They wouldn't invest the money if they didn't think it would work.
Yes. Of course. Although entertainment executives are not always the most in-tune people. Lest we forget UPN wanting to add random boy bands to ENT each week... somebody thought that would work, too.
Not to mention VOY "Threshold" was written, greenlit, produced, filmed, post-productioned, and aired... and "They" thought "Yeah, this is definitely going to work."