What channel should a new Trek TV series be on?

[Yug]

A CGI series on a regular TV station wouldn't be perceived as cheap, so I'm fine with that. Put the same CGI series on DVD or download only, and it becomes cheap, because of the perception that it wasn't good enough for TV (and indeed, if it is good enough for TV - why isn't it there?)

Ah, but this is the TV thread, not the download/DVD thread. I never brought up any of that here. JefferiesTube8 will set you straight I'm sure.

This aint TWOP! Let the threads meander as they will!

I agree, tell that to JefferiesTube8. He's who I'm poking fun at. What's TWOP?

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I agree, tell that to JefferiesTube8. He's who I'm poking fun at. What's TWOP?

got it boys.
I think TWOP is the Television Without Pity website which I have rarely seen myself and I didn't even know they had forums.
I just checked and they even have a Star Trek section that also has 5 subforums for different Trek TV series.
http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showforum=753

now regarding this thread perhaps some other members will join the discussion as to where the next Trek series will end up be it cable or broadcast or syndicated...

 

[startrekrcks]

Maybe a satellite channel like Virgin they air Deep Space Nine, TNG and Voyager what do you think

 

[USS_Britain]

Why not put all Star Treks on Virgin1 and +1 Startrekrcks

 

[AviTrek]

Maybe a satellite channel like Virgin they air Deep Space Nine, TNG and Voyager what do you think

The question is about a US channel, not UK. While a UK channel can add some extra revenue, if CBS doesn't have a channel to air Star Trek on in the US it doesn't matter what the rest of the world wants.

 

[AviTrek]

I was just looking at the Bad Robot production deal and I realized CW really may be the best shot Star Trek TV has contract wise. Bad Robot has an exclusive TV deal with WB TV. CBS has the TV rights to Star Trek. Any attempt at Star Trek on TV needs CBS involvement, and any use of Abrams's movie work needs Bad Robot(and possibly Paramount). Bad Robot needs WB involvement for any TV show.

Conveniently, CW is owned by both CBS and WB and would be the easiest place to locate a show involving both CBS TV and WB TV. Also, Thom Sherman, the previous President of Bad Robot, is now the EVP of Drama development at CW.

So I think the question is not, what channel would show a Trek tv series, but what type of Trek tv series would CW want to show.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

the question is not, what channel would show a Trek tv series, but what type of Trek tv series would CW want to show.

My choice in the poll was CW as it has a larger reach into homes (without a cable subscription) and is owned by CBS.

Yes what type as the CW audience is skewed heavily towards women under 25.

I don't think a female captain is gonna do it.
It would have to be the 'hunky guys' on a show that would get the women to watch but would we as Trek fans have to put up with Grey's Anatomy-like soapy elements ala Defying Gravity? CBS' Trek property is a revenue generator and when the time is right they will create a series. Will CW be the right place? If there are enough other dramas on the network.
Look at Smallville and the network CW its on. Smallville used to be on WB.

With eight seasons completed, Smallville has averaged approximately 4.76 million viewers per episode,

per Wikipedia.
Sure we'd love to have Trek get those ratings but it is Star Trek and based in outer space on a spaceship not set at a high school or college on Earth.
While not Starfleet Academy I can see a series on the CW that has a younger crew on a ship.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I've heard recently that CW is expanding more into the young male demographic. Maybe we should give it another look-see for Trek.

 

[AviTrek]

CW has a pilot for "Nomads". It's about a group of young backpackers who work secret missions for the CIA. If that does well for the network in 2010-2011, I could see them considering Star Trek for 2011-2012.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I could see them considering Star Trek for 2011-2012.

AviTrek let's not get ahead of ourselves. Paramount will expect at least half of the profits they got from Star Trek XI and would not jeopardize this property from that in 2012 by allowing CBS Television to put out a Trek TV series diluting the brand before Trek XII is released.
I think the only release we'll see of Trek before then will be ENT on Blu-ray.

The idea that CW is exploring a wider range of programming that would appeal to males aged 18-49 is a good thing though.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

CW has a pilot for "Nomads". It's about a group of young backpackers who work secret missions for the CIA. If that does well for the network in 2010-2011, I could see them considering Star Trek for 2011-2012.

That's still pretty far afield from space opera. There seems to be a mini-vogue for CIA themed shows this fall (maybe inspired by Chuck? which would be odd, since that show has only been a modest success). But it's a long leap from there to a show will all the off-putting stuff like spaceships and aliens that networks seem so afraid of.

The CW had a potential space opera pilot called Plymouth Rock, essentially Teens in Space (yes, yuk yuk yuk) but that hasn't been picked up. If CW was going to delve into space opera, Teens in Space is where I'd expect them to start.

Paramount will expect at least half of the profits they got from Star Trek XI and would not jeopardize this property from that in 2012 by allowing CBS Television to put out a Trek TV series diluting the brand before Trek XII is released.

It would dilute the brand only if it were poorly done and violated the Trek XI continuity in some obvious way. I don't see why CBS would bother with a shoddy Star Trek show in the first place, and the continuity violation would have to be extreme to bother anyone - how many people who saw the movie could really tell you whether it represents a new timeline, new reality, or anything new at all (other than recast characters, which are necessary).

If done reasonably well and coordinated to a basic degree, a TV series and movie series should be able to bolster each other, you know, like they did in the good old days.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

If cable is a possibility what about a deal with a specific satellite operator DirecTV?

DirecTV is starting up

a linear 3D channel dubbed "N3D."The satellite operator's N3D channel will include programming from partners AEG/AEG Digital Media, CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions, HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting System.

That did say CBS.
Since CBS Television owns Star Trek series it is possible to premiere the next Trek TV series in 3-D HD.

Look further down the road. Trek XII (29 June 2012) and Trek XIII will probably be released before the next Trek series in 2012-2014.

Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment & and IMAX Corporation's 24-hour 3-D channel launching in 2011 mentioned in January:

the network will target primarily early adopters for the first 24-36 months, people who will likely be the first to buy television sets that are 3D capable. After that, the target households will be the 20 million affluent homes in the U.S., after which the technology and the price point will likely be affordable to the average consumer.

So we are looking at 2014 already anyway for that channel to consider just the 20 million affluent homes in the U.S.

Is Trek really geared to the average consumer?

Could Trek work on a 3-D channel similar to N3D that would be on DirecTV and also cable networks?

 

[SWHouston]

The Poll is closed, but, I would have voted for one of the National Broadcasters. CBS over CW though, there are a lot of places that CW isn't received all that well.

I'm very interested in the promotion of Free TV, like you get from your own personal Antenna for local channels. I'd like to know that people wouldn't have to pay an exorbitant price to view Trek, past, now or futures.

Problem with that is, that it cost SO much to make series, Actors, Locations are just pricing our viewing experience right off the Air, or abbreviating it at least. I'm not sure that without that "income" from a Pay to View, that it would be in any way profitable for a Producer.

A catch 22 for the most part.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

ratings

If a Star Trek TV show plans for roughly the 10 million viewers Fringe gets, then it will need to keep it's budget at $2m/episode.

Since ENT was cancelled the game has changed.

television is growing more splintered and fractured than ever before. With Lost’s heralded finale scoring only 13 million viewers, the idea of the big television event, or the huge hit show is becoming a thing of the past. Specialized programming is the future of the industry.

"Battlestar Galactica." But even at its most popular, "BS" hovered at around 2 million viewers a week - sufficient for a cable channel like Syfy but not for big-time network TV.

SOURCE

A show can survive on Sci-Fi if the ratings hover at HH 1.5.

The worst ENT ever had was 1.4 and 1.5. Most episodes were more then enough to make it a success on Sci-Fi.

This shows why Star Trek series 6 would prosper on cable TV not broadcast TV. Since most of the audience is over 34 (The Nielsen ratings prized 18-34 MALE demographic) anyway make it as intended for adults with a TV-14 rating or even TV-MA rating means the program may be unsuitable for those below 17. Why not intend for the show to be for over age 17?

Star Trek is a brand that will have a regular viewership after Trek XII. The numbers will not be the same as TNG days. Period.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Starz just greenlighted a US version of Torchwood. Maybe that's the right place for Star Trek. HBO and Showtime are probably too high-tone to pick up an existing sci fi franchise, but Starz is like their sleazy little sister and not so fussy.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Starz just greenlighted a US version of Torchwood. Maybe that's the right place for Star Trek.

Hmm. Wikipedia mentions

As of December 2008, Starz's programming is available to 17.7 million subscribers in the United States.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starz_(TV_network)#cite_note-0

Unlike HBO and Showtime, the Starz channels neither have international premium channels nor have international cable channels using the Starz or Encore brands.

This would allow CBS Television distribution to sell them to anyone outside of the USA territory.

 

[AviTrek]

Starz just greenlighted a US version of Torchwood. Maybe that's the right place for Star Trek. HBO and Showtime are probably too high-tone to pick up an existing sci fi franchise, but Starz is like their sleazy little sister and not so fussy.

Except CBS owns Showtime, so why would they sell Star Trek to a competitor?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They probably wouldn't, but if they're not doing anything with the Star Trek name, why not license it to someone who's interested in doing something with it, and make some money that way?

 

[peteym5]

CBS and Paramount would want this show to reach the widest range of audience possible so it will either be on the CW or CBS. If it ends up on CBS, the network may put up money for experienced actors, maybe someone from a prior Star Trek show. Look at how ABC is doing V, most of the cast had come from prior Sci-Fi shows. You have to remember it is about ratings and it has to good. They have to stick with material that made Star Trek popular in the past like Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, characters with accents, red shirt deaths, etc. That along with being creative to do some new stuff. Cannot do anything stupid like put a few bad actors on the show, get stuck far away, and run into aliens with bad hair-dues. It would need some clever writing to make it into a good drama.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

CBS and Paramount would want this show to reach the widest range of audience possible so it will either be on the CW or CBS.

peteym5 welcome to TrekBBS.
You should really go back and read the posts in this thread. I know you are brand new to the forum but really AviTrek and Temis the Vorta
give very good reasons for why your thinking is flawed further up in this thread.

Just because Trek may seem mainstream and a Trek sci fi action feature film was released with PG-13 rating in 2009 doesn't mean a Trek series cannot be on basic cable or even the next tier up in cable television.
Trek is not just that mainstream in the first place as Nielsen ratings have shown since Voyager.
Properly promoted cable TV would be fine for the USA territory.