While we were told it's in the prime universe and to compare, I could hold up a banana and say it's an orange. Doesn't mean it is? Looking at episodes of DSC that refer to TOS, does DSC line up with TOS believably? Not fully, since ENT, TNG, TWOK, etc, also slipped on continuity but the issue might be that of degree. Even Chekov could be explained away, though once DSC's series finale is told we'll then know for sure what arcs and revelations exist or if these episodes are being made without much detail.
Especially with the 25% different mandate and all, it might have been a lot more accessible and believable if it was in the Kelvin timeline where there's a LOT more freedom.
Producers said the show is in the Prime universe. They also say Pike's inclusion in DSC takes place after "The Cage", which is hard to believe given how much different Pike is. Or the little I could sit through without retching, though to be fair I retched through bits of "The Cage" for other reasons as well. And that's just the surface being scratched. I refuse to mention the other character, aka the Vulcan Chainsaw Massacre Murderer until the finale is done with since it's too early to tell why he's been written this way. For the Prime universe, anyway. There's either a reason for such a paradigm shift, or the reason flopped and he's now a mockery of the original character.
Being behind a pay-for service, one that still puts out commercials on top of the basic fee*, also hinders potential audiences. Though the episodes released for free weren't necessarily the ideal episodes to showcase the series with. The recent episode put out on YouTube, and lack of possible interest based on view count, can also be explained by lack of advertising more than anything else that most detractors seemingly enjoy pointing out.
* sponsors pay the network in turn for airtime for commercials for products and we pay for their products so it could be argued we pay for some of the show, albeit indirectly. That's a debate in of itself. They have a higher tier that is commercial-free. Depending on frequency of commercials shown on the basic tier, it may or may not be worth the additional fee.