Paramount's Brad Grey Wants to Build a TV Studio

[jefferiestubes8]

CEO of Paramount Pictures and a prominent former TV producer himself, is looking to build a new TV division to insulate the studio from the lagging film industry.

Grey acknowledged at a recent company town hall alongside Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman that it would "absolutely" make sense for Paramount to get more involved in TV production, and the executive has been discussing it openly with colleagues.

Sure it could take a couple years but do they want to sell their shows or air them on CBS networks?

Paramount, which declined to comment for this story, is a subsidiary of Viacom, which owns profitable cable networks including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. Yet while rival studios like Warner Bros. and Sony operate both film and television production studios, Paramount does not. For now.

“Their dream is to bring a TV company back,” an individual with knowledge of the studio’s plans said of Paramount executives, who remember when the company produced hits like “Happy Days” and “Taxi,” which drove long-tail revenue for decades. “They haven’t figured out how to do it, but they definitely want do it.”

Maybe with a new Trek series? CBS would have to make a deal with them.
Paramount's Brad Grey Wants to Build a TV Studio: Who Will He Hire to Run It?
March 28, 2013

Of course we would be right back to the topic of the other threads as to
Which CBS owned cable channel?

and the older thread:
Poll: What channel should a new Trek TV series be on?

 

[Christopher]

Since the corporation currently known as CBS owns Trek, and already has its own television studio, I don't see any reason they'd subcontract its production out to a different TV studio, even one named Paramount. Unless it were something that both studios collaborated on in order to split the costs or something.

 

[C.E. Evans]

If wishes were horses, Mr. Grey.

But even if Paramount gets back into the TV business, a new Trek TV series would be solely at the discretion of CBS, who may tell Paramount to f___ off.

CBS wasn't too pleased when Paramount co-formed the EPIX network to compete against their Showtime network and took the Paramount film library--including all the Star Trek movies--with them (Showtime only has access to Star Trek: Nemesis and a select few Paramount movies through a backdoor distributor).

 

[jefferiestubes8]

CBS Television is believed to always have the right to produce a new television series, but reportedly stayed away from the franchise so as not to interfere with the film efforts now headed by director J.J. Abrams. Sources inside CBS Television have always implied that any new series would have to get the blessing of Paramount, which wasn't exactly forthcoming, creating even more confusion over who would have the right to produce a television series.

But one observer told Airlock Alpha Friday that the rights to create a new series would actually lie with Paramount. CBS Television did retain rights to already-produced episodes of Star Trek over its long run on television, but do not necessarily have clear rights to producing new episodes. Those rights belong to Paramount, and if Paramount is looking to get back into television, it's almost a given that one of the franchises on its slate is Star Trek.

According to The Wrap, it could take Paramount five years to get its television production arm up and running. Paramount is treating the television side as a startup, and it will obviously look for quick hits that can help develop it into the power that it once was before becoming CBS Television.

Is Paramount Preparing For New Star Trek Series?
http://m.airlockalpha.com/node/9562/is-paramount-preparing-for-new-star-trek-series.html

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Airlock Alpha used to be SyFy World.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

CBS Television is believed to always have the right to produce a new television series, but reportedly stayed away from the franchise so as not to interfere with the film efforts now headed by director J.J. Abrams. Sources inside CBS Television have always implied that any new series would have to get the blessing of Paramount, which wasn't exactly forthcoming, creating even more confusion over who would have the right to produce a television series.

But one observer told Airlock Alpha Friday that the rights to create a new series would actually lie with Paramount. CBS Television did retain rights to already-produced episodes of Star Trek over its long run on television, but do not necessarily have clear rights to producing new episodes. Those rights belong to Paramount, and if Paramount is looking to get back into television, it's almost a given that one of the franchises on its slate is Star Trek.

According to The Wrap, it could take Paramount five years to get its television production arm up and running. Paramount is treating the television side as a startup, and it will obviously look for quick hits that can help develop it into the power that it once was before becoming CBS Television.

Is Paramount Preparing For New Star Trek Series?
http://m.airlockalpha.com/node/9562/is-paramount-preparing-for-new-star-trek-series.html

Let's hope that this happens, so that Star Trek can return to the medium it works best on-TV.

 

[Melakon]

Sounds more to me like they're thinking of a TV studio designed for 3-camera productions with audience bleachers, like comedy shows. They have plenty of soundstages for 1-camera shows.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Airlock Alpha used to be SyFy World.

Twelve years and a couple of days later and that still cracks me up that they fell for that. Good work there.

 

[C.E. Evans]

CBS Television is believed to always have the right to produce a new television series, but reportedly stayed away from the franchise so as not to interfere with the film efforts now headed by director J.J. Abrams. Sources inside CBS Television have always implied that any new series would have to get the blessing of Paramount, which wasn't exactly forthcoming, creating even more confusion over who would have the right to produce a television series.

But one observer told Airlock Alpha Friday that the rights to create a new series would actually lie with Paramount. CBS Television did retain rights to already-produced episodes of Star Trek over its long run on television, but do not necessarily have clear rights to producing new episodes. Those rights belong to Paramount, and if Paramount is looking to get back into television, it's almost a given that one of the franchises on its slate is Star Trek.

According to The Wrap, it could take Paramount five years to get its television production arm up and running. Paramount is treating the television side as a startup, and it will obviously look for quick hits that can help develop it into the power that it once was before becoming CBS Television.

Is Paramount Preparing For New Star Trek Series?
http://m.airlockalpha.com/node/9562/is-paramount-preparing-for-new-star-trek-series.html

There's quite a bit of misinformation about that article, namely the fact that Paramount has the rights to make a new Trek series. They don't and haven't since 2006.

 

[xortex]

Except that Brad Grey is not Les Moonves. Big difference.

 

[yenny]

It will depend on how the up coming star trek movie does in the theaters. If it does as good or better then then 2009 film? There will most likely that a new star trek series will get the green light to start production.

But must likely won't be on a network, until after star trek 13 is in the theaters.

 

[yenny]

CBS Television is believed to always have the right to produce a new television series, but reportedly stayed away from the franchise so as not to interfere with the film efforts now headed by director J.J. Abrams. Sources inside CBS Television have always implied that any new series would have to get the blessing of Paramount, which wasn't exactly forthcoming, creating even more confusion over who would have the right to produce a television series.

But one observer told Airlock Alpha Friday that the rights to create a new series would actually lie with Paramount. CBS Television did retain rights to already-produced episodes of Star Trek over its long run on television, but do not necessarily have clear rights to producing new episodes. Those rights belong to Paramount, and if Paramount is looking to get back into television, it's almost a given that one of the franchises on its slate is Star Trek.

According to The Wrap, it could take Paramount five years to get its television production arm up and running. Paramount is treating the television side as a startup, and it will obviously look for quick hits that can help develop it into the power that it once was before becoming CBS Television.

Is Paramount Preparing For New Star Trek Series?
http://m.airlockalpha.com/node/9562/is-paramount-preparing-for-new-star-trek-series.html

There's quite a bit of misinformation about that article, namely the fact that Paramount has the rights to make a new Trek series. They don't and haven't since 2006.

Actually Paramount does own the right to make a new star trek series or anything star trek. CBS never took over the ownership of star trek, they only took over the ownership of Paramount television division. But CBS does have the first dibs to have it air on CBS or the CW.

 

[xortex]

There is no reason for it to ever return to tv or netflix or anywhere else except in the theater in movies where they can corral the most amount of stupid people to pay the most amount of money for the most amount of crap. The alternatives are usually worse. It's why people drink the sand - because they don't know the difference and have no choice. It really is the opposite of building up the brand. they're watering down the drinks because it's the only game in town, yet. they can get away with it. Same reason why Chinese food tastes like cardboard.

 

[Christopher]

Actually Paramount does own the right to make a new star trek series or anything star trek. CBS never took over the ownership of star trek, they only took over the ownership of Paramount television division. But CBS does have the first dibs to have it air on CBS or the CW.

Sorry, but you have that completely backward. The company we now call the CBS Corporation is the same one that was called Viacom until the 2006 breakup, and in that breakup it retained the rights to all of Viacom's television properties, including Star Trek. It didn't "take over" anything, because it's the same company under a different name. The company that's now using the Viacom name, and which owns Paramount Studios, is actually a new spinoff corporation, and it gained ownership of Viacom's motion picture properties in the breakup. Since ST was both TV and movies, Viacom/Paramount was granted a license to continue making ST movies, as long as it exercised that license within 18 months of the breakup -- which is why they got a Trek reboot underway in 2007, at a time when everyone was saying the franchise needed to rest for a few more years. But it is the CBS Corporation that owns the entire franchise.

Want proof? Look at the copyright notices. I'm looking at the DVD case of the 2009 movie, and in fine print just under the credits, there's a line that reads, "Copyright (c) 2009 Paramount Pictures. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved." The novelization contains the same line on its back cover and copyright page except with "(c) 2009 CBS Studios Inc." inserted after the Paramount copyright. And if you look at any other post-2006 Trek novel or comic based on the original, non-Abrams continuity, the copyright notice mentions only CBS Studios, not Paramount at all.

Not to mention that the contracts I sign with Pocket Books for the Trek novels and stories I write refer to "the STAR TREK television series and/or motion pictures distributed by CBS Consumer Products ("CBS")." My last contract to mention "Paramount Pictures Corporation" instead was dated May 2006.

So it is CBS Studios (formerly known as Paramount Television) that owns Star Trek in its entirety. The current Paramount Studios only has a copyright on the movie properties, but it's only allowed to use them under license from CBS, which owns the underlying concepts.

 

[yenny]

Actually Paramount does own the right to make a new star trek series or anything star trek. CBS never took over the ownership of star trek, they only took over the ownership of Paramount television division. But CBS does have the first dibs to have it air on CBS or the CW.

Sorry, but you have that completely backward. The company we now call the CBS Corporation is the same one that was called Viacom until the 2006 breakup, and in that breakup it retained the rights to all of Viacom's television properties, including Star Trek. It didn't "take over" anything, because it's the same company under a different name. The company that's now using the Viacom name, and which owns Paramount Studios, is actually a new spinoff corporation, and it gained ownership of Viacom's motion picture properties in the breakup. Since ST was both TV and movies, Viacom/Paramount was granted a license to continue making ST movies, as long as it exercised that license within 18 months of the breakup -- which is why they got a Trek reboot underway in 2007, at a time when everyone was saying the franchise needed to rest for a few more years. But it is the CBS Corporation that owns the entire franchise.

Want proof? Look at the copyright notices. I'm looking at the DVD case of the 2009 movie, and in fine print just under the credits, there's a line that reads, "Copyright (c) 2009 Paramount Pictures. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved." The novelization contains the same line on its back cover and copyright page except with "(c) 2009 CBS Studios Inc." inserted after the Paramount copyright. And if you look at any other post-2006 Trek novel or comic based on the original, non-Abrams continuity, the copyright notice mentions only CBS Studios, not Paramount at all.

Not to mention that the contracts I sign with Pocket Books for the Trek novels and stories I write refer to "the STAR TREK television series and/or motion pictures distributed by CBS Consumer Products ("CBS")." My last contract to mention "Paramount Pictures Corporation" instead was dated May 2006.

So it is CBS Studios (formerly known as Paramount Television) that owns Star Trek in its entirety. The current Paramount Studios only has a copyright on the movie properties, but it's only allowed to use them under license from CBS, which owns the underlying concepts.

Yeah you're right, I have the dvd and it has on it what you've wrote. I had just look at it.
Then CBS should do a Star Trek series. When was it the last time they had a sci-fi series on there network? Me, I don't know. I think it was Lost in Space. But we have google search to see with one was the last.

 

[Christopher]

Then CBS should do a Star Trek series. When was it the last time they had a sci-fi series on there network? Me, I don't know. I think it was Lost in Space. But we have google search to see with one was the last.

Of all the US broadcast networks, CBS is the one that's had the lowest percentage of SF/fantasy shows in its history. But currently it does feature one significant SF show, Person of Interest. Other genre shows on the network since 2000 include Wolf Lake, Jericho, Threshold, Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight, Eleventh Hour, Medium, and the short-lived Century City, while other notable CBS genre shows in decades past include the original Twilight Zone and its first revival, My Favorite Martian, The Wild Wild West, The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Logan's Run, Beauty and the Beast, Airwolf, The Flash, American Gothic, and Now and Again.

But if you mean to ask when CBS last had a show set in outer space, then as far as I can tell, Lost in Space was the last one of those, although 1985's Otherworld took place on an alien world which may have been either a distant planet or a parallel-universe version of Earth, and Logan's Run and Jericho were both in post-apocalyptic futures.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^
There was a very short-lived spaceship series on CBS in '93 called Space Rangers. It was one of those "blink and you missed it" shows (only six episodes before CBS pulled the plug).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Rangers_(TV_series)

It was somewhat forgettable, but somewhat fun in an oddly Power Ranger-ish sort of way.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Those examples are too old to be very useful. TV is changing fast, which may be in Star Trek's favor since broadcast is under extreme pressure to adapt to the future of narrowcasting exemplified by Amazon and Netflix (without having subscription revenues). Cable is also starting to feel the pressure.

The more the industry shifts towards narrowcasting (smaller audiences paying more for nichier content), the better it is for Star Trek which is in a niche (space opera) too small to work on broadcast and even basic cable is questionable anymore.

Premium cable might be able to swing it, but they'd be more likely to follow the Game of Thrones model and adapt some well-regarded novel series vs. going with a brand associated with free TV (not really the image Showtime wants to maintain - brand image being totally separate from the quality of the program itself.)

CBS is the most secure of all the broadcast networks, so they're under the least pressure to swing for the fences. Conversely, being in the more secure position, they might feel more free to experiment with new ways of delivering nichier content, like their collaboration with Amazon to produce Under the Dome (definitely genre, unlike Person of Interest, which is sci fi only under the most generous definition.)

 

[xortex]

Space Rangers 6 episodes kicked collective Star Trek's post TOS's ass IMO. It had character, it had space ships, not the greatest, it had accessable central casting (people like looking at beautiful likable people and things). It had good music - main the by Hans Zimmer, not bad. I really loved it. It was niche and campy and cultish. It was almost a procedural like space Precinct or Academy or what have you, another show I really liked. The aliens were really alien with big heads and it had Alan Brennert writing it. It certainly surprised me so much so that I used to stay awake 'till three o clock in the morning to watch it in repeats. I thought it was a kids show but it had good stories of course.

 

[Flake]

I think a traditional Trek TV show will seem very dated in todays world of smartphones, connected devices, 'google glass' and miniaturised electronics (mini drones etc) unless the producer is very bold and makes some considerable changes to old Trek. A big-budget flashy effects driven action movie can get away with it.. but a weekly TV show I am not sure about...

A good starting point would be to look at 'Prometheus' which was essentially a Trek away mission gone wrong. Some nice gadgets in that.

IMO.