How to get Star Trek and Sci fi shows back on TV

[EmoBorg]

Right now CBS owns the television rights to the Star Trek franchise While Paramount owns the Movies rights to Star Trek.

One of the reasons why Star Trek and sci fi shows are not being produced right now is because of the high costs involved. CGI effects, Set Design and Make up (aliens) all add up to the costs.

And now days we have dozens of channels all competing for viewers and hence the Broadcast Channels and Cable Channels don't really get the Nielsen Ratings they like for their shows and good shows are cancelled as a result .That affects sci fi and non sci fi shows as well.

May i suggest joint productions by CBS with Foreign Channels ,in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or even other European and Japanese channels that may broadcast in English, to produce Star Trek Shows. Joint international productions of any sci fi could cut cost.

Farscape was a joint american/aussie production. So why limit Star Trek Production to CBS only?

The Star Trek movies make money from foreign audiences watching them.

CBS could get foreign channels to share in the production cost and give the foreign channels the rights to telecast the series at around the same time in their respective countries as CBS telecasts the show in America. There would be an interest from foreign channels as the Star Trek Brand is famous in the English speaking world.


That would certainly cut down on illegal downloads overseas. Illegal overseas downloads occur when overseas fans of Star Trek or any sci fi show get tried of waiting for the latest episode and illegally download the shows ,from Torrents sites, provided by American seeders.

CBS loses money from illegal downloads and sales of legal downloads (itunes) and DVDs go down as a result in overseas markets.

Broadcasting the show around the world at the same time, using foreign channels, taking into account local time differences off course, could rake in Ad revenue & series sponsorship money for all parties involved. The simultaneous broadcast would reduce illegal downloads as overseas fans would prefer watching the show on the local tv, than spending hours downloading the same show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

CBS is very successful, and I doubt that the holdup is that they can't fund Star Trek themselves. It may simply be that nobody with credibility has yet pitched them on doing a new series. Moonves is at best indifferent to Star Trek and isn't going to lead the charge. But if the next movie is a big hit and Abrams & the gang pitch a series based on that success, things could change very quickly.

I'm sure that part of that pitch will be that CBS can expect reasonable foreign revenues, but that's just business as usual for them. They make the supposedly most popular TV series in the world after all, CSI Miami.

Farscape was a joint american/aussie production. So why limit Star Trek Production to CBS only?

The Star Trek movies make money from foreign audiences watching them.

If CBS thinks Star Trek on TV is viable, they will want to keep all the profits for themselves. And if they don't think it's viable, they won't do it. Also, keep in mind that Star Trek is not as successful proportionately overseas as most big popcorn movies are now so that's not a great argument in Star Treks favor.

And Star Trek is going to be pirated anyway. Hard to stop people from stealing stuff when they don't expect to be caught and punished. CBS just needs to discount piracy as a factor in making this decision.

 

[EmoBorg]

Well with overseas markets now days having an increasing appetite for US movies and TV shows, it will be a good move by American productions companies to go into joint productions with foreign companies to help cut costs and find a larger audience for their productions.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

American tv selling well overseas isnt a recent ohenomenon, its been that way for a while. And Star Trek isn't particularly a beneficiary of that. for example, the new Dallas is being sold into the foreign market strongly. Since Star Trek is in competition with other shows that could be made, instead, then its odds are the same.

CBS could use the foreign market, say, to justify reviving Falcon Crest instead (if CBS has the rights to that show, I can't recall). Or just do another CSI on the basis of that franchise's international strength. Or a Hawaii Five-0 spinoff, for the same reasons.

What we need is a reason why Star Trek is a better bet than any of those series. And the foreign market isno help there, because a lot of stuff sells well overseas. It's really not a distinguishing trait of Star Trek.

As for co-financing, that's a different issue altogether. it makes sense when the production company can't fund the series itself, but lack of money is not CBS's problem.

 

[Tom]

As for co-financing, that's a different issue altogether. it makes sense when the production company can't fund the series itself, but lack of money is not CBS's problem.

True, but CBS does neet to make money on the show (it all about the money ) . While i'm not sure how they would veiw foreign co-production. It is more likely they could do very well at selling 'second run' licensing options. A new episode would be allowed to air a short time after it originally airs in the US. I believe the foreign market very viable with an internationally popular franchise like Star Trek. There may be some competition but shows like Dallas are different genre's and fan bases.

 

[MacLeod]

Well what we are actually talking about is getting Sci-Fi shws back on US TV, After all in the UK we have DW and later this year Red Dwarf returns. So Sci-Fi is on TV.
BSkyB in the UK as a co-producer. That means at bare minimum CBS would lose the fee they could charge Sky for the rights to air it, and possible Sky could say we want x% of the rest of the sales/ merchandise that this series earns. the x% being roughly equal to the % they contribute.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

They make the supposedly most popular TV series in the world after all, CSI Miami.

The irony is that CSI Miami was cancelled a few months ago. I spoke with a Malaysian friend of mine who was devastated. The Nielsen supersedes the international gains quite a bit, heh.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

That would certainly cut down on illegal downloads overseas. Illegal overseas downloads occur when overseas fans of Star Trek or any sci fi show get tried of waiting for the latest episode and illegally download the shows ,from Torrents sites, provided by American seeders.

Say what? Can you site a source that supports this? I really don't think fans getting tired of waiting, as you put it, is the reason; see below.

CBS loses money from illegal downloads and sales of legal downloads (itunes) and DVDs go down as a result in overseas markets.

Broadcasting the show around the world at the same time, using foreign channels, taking into account local time differences off course, could rake in Ad revenue & series sponsorship money for all parties involved. The simultaneous broadcast would reduce illegal downloads as overseas fans would prefer watching the show on the local tv, than spending hours downloading the same show.

See, the simultaneous broadcast isn't going to cut down on piracy by people who don't pay to access the legal outlets in the first place. Piracy is cheaper than paying for it, period.

In other words, you're telling me that people in other countries, who are pirating shows for free today, will start paying for them, just so they can get them a few hours earlier than they do now? I don't think so.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They make the supposedly most popular TV series in the world after all, CSI Miami.

The irony is that CSI Miami was cancelled a few months ago. I spoke with a Malaysian friend of mine who was devastated. The Nielsen supersedes the international gains quite a bit, heh.

I heard it was cancelled, yeah. But I'm sure CBS has tons of other cop shows that do great, too. The shows that do well overseas seem to be pretty much the same ones that do well domestically, except that comedy doesn't translate as well as drama and reality shows all have local editions, in fact a lot of American reality TV is adapted from foreign shows.

I believe the foreign market very viable with an internationally popular franchise like Star Trek. There may be some competition but shows like Dallas are different genre's and fan bases.

I'm thinking more in terms of competing resources. CBS can only do so many shows per year and has only so many timeslots for new shows, which means Star Trek and Dallas would compete in that sense if both were vying to be one of CBSs new shows in production for a given year.

 

[EmoBorg]

That would certainly cut down on illegal downloads overseas. Illegal overseas downloads occur when overseas fans of Star Trek or any sci fi show get tried of waiting for the latest episode and illegally download the shows ,from Torrents sites, provided by American seeders.

Say what? Can you site a source that supports this? I really don't think fans getting tired of waiting, as you put it, is the reason; see below.

CBS loses money from illegal downloads and sales of legal downloads (itunes) and DVDs go down as a result in overseas markets.

Broadcasting the show around the world at the same time, using foreign channels, taking into account local time differences off course, could rake in Ad revenue & series sponsorship money for all parties involved. The simultaneous broadcast would reduce illegal downloads as overseas fans would prefer watching the show on the local tv, than spending hours downloading the same show.

See, the simultaneous broadcast isn't going to cut down on piracy by people who don't pay to access the legal outlets in the first place. Piracy is cheaper than paying for it, period.

In other words, you're telling me that people in other countries, who are pirating shows for free today, will start paying for them, just so they can get them a few hours earlier than they do now? I don't think so.

To answer your first question, i am currently working in Singapore after being send there by my company. A Singaporean colleague of mine , who is a big fan of star trek, told me back in the early 2000s when Star Trek enterprise was being broadcasted in the US, The Singaporean fans were at least 2 seasons behind the American Broadcast. When Enterprise was into it's 3rd season on UPN, The Singaporeans were only getting to watch the first season of enterprise.

That particular singaporean colleague, being a star trek fan, started downloading the latest Enterprise episodes illegally so that he can watch those shows when the TV channels in Singapore had not picked up Enterprise yet. Then after watching those shows ,he deleted them as a precaution.

I am sure similar things has been done by overseas fans of Star Trek who were tired of waiting to catch the latest episodes.

Singapore has a small population who watches english programs but cooperation with larger populations of english speakers in UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand could help reduce cost and reduce illegal downloading by overseas fans who are often weeks, months or even seasons behind the lastest star trek or even sci fi shows shown on American TV.

CBS could still retain the Merchandizing and Distribution rights but allow overseas channels the right to broadcast the show within 24 hours of the American Broadcast or even earlier, considering Australia,New Zealand and UK are ahead of the Americas in the GMT.

To answer your second question, Many people living in asian countries just like those in Europe and North America do have access to cable shows. Cable Shows are a big business in Asia. Even developing countries like India and China have hundreds of millions of viewers who subscribe to dozens of cable channels. Folks in the Developed English speaking world and hundreds of millions of folks who speak english in the developing world, also watch cable shows. They already pay for watching the channels on a monthly basis. Paying is not the issue here.

Getting those paid channels to join up with CBS to joint produce Star trek or any sci fi shows is the main issue here. Giving them the right to broadcast the episodes around the same time as the american counterparts might tempt them into co productions.

If you know that latest star trek episode is going to be shown on your local TV within 24 hours of the American telecast, Would you rather watch it broadcasted on your large living room TV or spend hours downloading the show and then watching the show on your smaller LED computer monitor.

The Star Trek Brand name is famous in the english speaking world. You will certainly get the following

1) Foreign english channels willing to take part in co productions with US Channels. They could help reduce the costs of expensive sci fi show by being given the right to broadcast at the same time as the American broadcast.

2) There will be advertisers who are willing to put in Ad money and you might even get series sponsorship in individual countries for Star Trek Shows when Advertisers know that that the TV episodes are being broadcasted at around the same time as in the US.

The same formula can be used to reduce cost of other sci fi shows that are deemed too expensive to produce by one Broadcaster alone.

Remember back in the old days when there was a new upcoming TV show, The TV channels advertised about it, There might even be radio and print media ads about the new show as well.

But now in the cyber age. Folks living in foreign lands thousand of kilometers from the US, can learn about new upcoming americans TV show. But they don't learn about the new american shows in their local media be it local tv, local radio and local print media. They learned about it from the internet.

They then use the internet to watch online or even download those shows. Americans Broadcasters earn nothing as a result. By broadcasting americans shows on foreign paid channels at around the same time as the American broadcasts, illegal downloading can be reduced. That i am sure. And plus joint productions can help reduces costs for a single Broadcaster.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Recounting a few anecdotes is not the same as citing a source [apologies, I misspelled the word 'cite' in my post].

 

[MacLeod]

Question, does any one think that ENT was losing money when international sales were factored in?

CBS might have to accept the fact that any ST show might lose money domestically and rely on international sales to turn the profit.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I wouldn't be surprised if simultaneous worldwide release of TV shows and movies might have some impact on piracy, but it wouldn't make it go away entirely because there is still a significant financial motive in getting something for nothing, and no good mechanism for punishment. Would liquor stores be safe if everyone knew the cops couldn't do anything to deter theft? I don't have that much faith in human nature.

But how feasible is simultaneous release? For instance, in America, shows are still launched mainly in the fall, to coincide with a big ad push by automakers. Is that true everywhere? Or are there reasons why it would make more sense to launch a new show sometime other than in the fall, depending on local cultural and business factors?

And coordinating dozens of countries to do something at the same time seems like a big chore. Considering that networks already discount piracy, and are managing to survive even with piracy siphoning off some difficult to determine percentage of revenues, is that coordination worth the expense and effort?

Question, does any one think that ENT was losing money when international sales were factored in?

CBS might have to accept the fact that any ST show might lose money domestically and rely on international sales to turn the profit.

It may have been making money domestically. Shows don't only get cancelled for losing money, they get cancelled for not making as much money as the bean counters think the next show might make.

As far as we know, networks have been canceling money making shows all along. We don't have access to the financials to know one way or the other. What gets a show cancelled is that this suits see a new pilot that they think will make even more money. Why settle for one dollar when you can make two?

CBS knows how to make shows that make huge profits both domestically and internationally. Those aren't sci if shows. So they don't need to sacrifice domestic profits for international ones, they can get both, and without bothering with the expense of sci fi.

 

[MacLeod]

True, but if we look at ST for example, given that it re-run year after year. It is still generating money over 40 years later.

I have doubts if some of the cheaper to make TV shows that return a healthy profit quickly, will still be bringing in revenue in 2050.

So you have to have a mix of shows that make a quick profit and some that continue to bring money in year after year.

 

[EmoBorg]

CBS does not need to co ordinate with dozens of foreign paid channels for a joint production. It might just need to work with an aussie and UK Broadcaster because those countries do have ,relatively speaking, a large English speaking population. CBS and 1 to 2 foreign English channels can certainly work together for a joint Star Trek production. I could be wrong but aren't UK channels shown in Ireland and Aussie channels are shown in New Zealand as well?

Remember Economics 101, there are two ways to increase profits

1) cutting costs = Joint production by CBS with 1 or 2 foreign english language Broadcasters can help reduce costs.

2) increasing revenue = Star trek Brand name will certainly pull in Advertisers for all Broadcasters especially if it is touted as a joint production with CBS and an almost simultaneous Broadcast in their respective countries.

A win win situation for all parties, Broadcasters and Star Trek Fans.

This same formula can be used for other sci fi shows as well. For Example, Farscape was a joint aussie/american production.

 

[MacLeod]

I believe BSkyB, held finance the first season of nuBSG as well as helped with "The 4400"

 

[Temis the Vorta]

CBS does not need to co ordinate with dozens of foreign paid channels for a joint production

It does if it wants to stop piracy with simultaneous worldwide releases, on the assumption that that would have any impact on piracy to begin with. and don't assume that Star Trek would only be sold to the English speaking world. CBS sells shows to non English speaking territories very successfully. Japan for instance is a big market for Star Trek.

And emerging markets like India and Brazil need to be considered. They're getting more important all the time as the worldwide middle class keeps growing and demanding new goodies like entertainment. That's the same thing that's driving huge growth in big budget Hollywood movies.

I still fail to see why CBS requires any financial help in producing a big brand name like Star Trek. BSG was much more of a risk, being a brand name with virtually no value at the time, and The 4400 and Farscape had no brand name at all. The holdup is that CBS doesn't have the will to do Star Trek, maybe just because they haven't been pitched by someone with clout who they trust. When that hurdle is overcome, I'm sure they can find the money to invest in the project, or they wouldn't do it to begin with.

A co production not only cuts costs, it cuts profits. If CBS has faith in their ability to make money from Star Trek, why would they not want to keep all the profits for themselves?

 

[C.E. Evans]

The holdup is that CBS doesn't have the will to do Star Trek, maybe just because they haven't been pitched by someone with clout who they trust.

They don't need anyone with clout, they'd be more interested in someone who can deliver a show on time and within their ideal budget (something that a formerly unknown producer named Rick Berman was able to do very well for Paramount).

Ultimately, though, it's just a case that CBS doesn't feel the need to do a new Star Trek series yet. Trek is just one of many TV properties CBS owns and they'd likely get better ratings from a revival of Perry Mason than a more expensive Star Trek show. An animated Trek show does stand a better chance than a live-action one, though.

 

[MacLeod]

Of course a longer gap between ST shows can help. A longer gap can make it more of an event when it actually returns to screens.

Perhaps the closest TV ananolgy would be DW which had a 16 year gap on TV (except for 1 TV Movie). Yes low ratings played a part in it's cancellation but it was a show that the fanbase wouldn't let die and they made sure the Beeb knew that. A smiliar case is happening with ST. I'm sure CBS knows there is a potnetial audiance for a new Trek show. It's about making the numbers work.

As each year passes new tech might reduce the cost of things like FX. But even if they started today it would be 2014 at the earliest before it was back on our screens.

 

[EmoBorg]

CBS does not need to co ordinate with dozens of foreign paid channels for a joint production

A co production not only cuts costs, it cuts profits. If CBS has faith in their ability to make money from Star Trek, why would they not want to keep all the profits for themselves?

When CBS produces a show and sells it to foreign channels, the foreign channels broadcast those shows along with local Advertisements in their respective countries . The revenue from the local Advertisements goes to the foreign Broadcasters and not CBS. CBS does not gain any Advertisement money from foreign broadcasts of it's shows in the first place.

In a co production, Same things happens, Advertisement revenue goes to the Broadcaster. The only difference, CBS saves money from a joint production and in return allow its partners to broadcast the show in their respective countries at around the same time as CBS.

CBS could still retain Merchandising & Distributions rights.