• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

With a COVID-19 related "Trek drought" coming, is it time for CBS to crank out remasters?

I just feel like it's got to happen sooner or later. As streaming services continue to grow, they're going to need content to attract people. Star Trek is already a big draw; making CBS All Access the exclusive home of every classic Trek series fully remastered in beautiful HD would make it even more so. And it would future-proof those shows in the coming decades as video technology continues to improve.
 
Remastering old shows isn’t really CBS’s business model right now. They apparently want to spend their time producing new shows, so that it gets to a point where there won’t be a drought of Star Trek on TV. And if the coronavirus gets to be very bad, remastering DS9 is going to be at the bottom of CBS’s worry list.
 
Dukhat said:
Remastering old shows isn’t really CBS’s business model right now. They apparently want to spend their time producing new shows, so that it gets to a point where there won’t be a drought of Star Trek on TV. And if the coronavirus gets to be very bad, remastering DS9 is going to be at the bottom of CBS’s worry list.
Click to expand...
And I don't really blame them. I think remastering old content will not profit them as much as fans might think.
 
It's not about profit is about preserving the show for the next 50 or so years. As screens get bigger and more high res, lower resolution content starts to look blurry. Remastering the shows will give them a longer life and attract new fans.

The shows them selves have already been very profitable for CBS over the years this is a small investment to continue to keep them generating income. The TNG remasters did not generate huge profits but they didn't lose money either.
 
Captain Moe said:
It's not about profit is about preserving the show for the next 50 or so years. As screens get bigger and more high res, lower resolution content starts to look blurry. Remastering the shows will give them a longer life and attract new fans.

The shows them selves have already been very profitable for CBS over the years this is a small investment to continue to keep them generating income. The TNG remasters did not generate huge profits but they didn't lose money either.
Click to expand...
But why would they do this now? Their revenues are tightening up and if it won't make money in the short term I can't see them rolling the dice at this moment in time. I'm not saying "No, nay, never" (though I don't think it is necessary-I care little about resolutions) but right now? Eh...not sure it makes sense.
 
Captain Moe said:
It's not about profit is about preserving the show for the next 50 or so years. As screens get bigger and more high res, lower resolution content starts to look blurry. Remastering the shows will give them a longer life and attract new fans.

The shows them selves have already been very profitable for CBS over the years this is a small investment to continue to keep them generating income. The TNG remasters did not generate huge profits but they didn't lose money either.
Click to expand...

The TNG remasters weren’t as cost-prohibitive as a remaster of DS9 and VOY would be. And CBS isn’t really all that interested in preserving the show for 50 years. They’re not in the archiving business; they’re in the money-making business. And that will not make them money. It’s the same reason Warner Bros. isn’t bothering to remaster Babylon 5. It makes them zero money and they don’t care about preserving it (although they sure do seem to care about not letting anyone stream it for some odd reason.)
 
I still believe it's going to happen some day; especially since there's new Trek in production, CBS would be wise to get these two shows remastered and put onto their platform. Of course, I don't know what percentage of viewers out there are sticklers for high definition video, with resolutions only getting better and better - eventually, it's going to be damn-near impossible to watch pre-HD shows. Hell, I'm a video editor for a living and I can't even sit through DVD quality now.

The bigger question I have is how many people actually still buy disc media with the proliferation of all these streaming services now?
 
A fundraiser with fan donations could do it. Perhaps the whole thing could be done by fan professionals, with permission and access to the original material. Kinda like the DeLorean restoration a few years ago.
 
fireproof78 said:
But why would they do this now? Their revenues are tightening up and if it won't make money in the short term I can't see them rolling the dice at this moment in time. I'm not saying "No, nay, never" (though I don't think it is necessary-I care little about resolutions) but right now? Eh...not sure it makes sense.
Click to expand...

I did state in my first post that due to the economic climate that C19 puts us in it was unlikely to happen any time soon due to everyone needing strapped door cash.


Dukhat said:
The TNG remasters weren’t as cost-prohibitive as a remaster of DS9 and VOY would be. And CBS isn’t really all that interested in preserving the show for 50 years. They’re not in the archiving business; they’re in the money-making business. And that will not make them money. It’s the same reason Warner Bros. isn’t bothering to remaster Babylon 5. It makes them zero money and they don’t care about preserving it (although they sure do seem to care about not letting anyone stream it for some odd reason.)
Click to expand...

There are lots of ways to do it that works reduce the cost, outsource it to the fan community, license or out to boutique label that specialises in this.

Preserving the show does generate money in the long turn, the show continues to be viable to sell into streaming and syndication.

WB dislike B5 with a passion, they have never considered it a success JMS seems to have indicated that he has a gaining out with someone at WB that has hindered any future with thus say property.
 
fireproof78 said:
I must be the only person who doesn't care about HD and still watch VHS.
Click to expand...

It's all a matter of perspective, what you like and what you enjoy. A lot will depend on your set up as well, VHS probably looks more then acceptable on a HD TV, and if you are not a picture critic don't become one, trust me you don't want to go down that road.

Once you move into 55" 4k territory even DVD starts looking blurry and crap. Last night I was watching TNG in bed on a 40" HDTV and decided to see what Voyager looked like on it, the colours were horrible, the resolution so low it looked blurry.

At the end of the day it's what you enjoy that's most important. Fans like me are always going to wish for the best, regardless of whether something is feasible, viable or economical.

Seeing those few clips of DS9 in WWLB just wet the appetit.
 
fireproof78 said:
I must be the only person who doesn't care about HD and still watch VHS.
Click to expand...

No, you're not - hello yes, me too. :)

Literally the only reason why I care about HD TNG is because Jean-Luc is in HD and I LOVE Jean-Luc in HD. NOTHING else matters. If it wasn't for him I'd NEVER have bought the Blu Rays AND a BluRay player. My DVDs look fine on my little TV. (I'd even still be using VHS but I came into the fandom just as DVDs were becoming a thing and it made sense to get the DVDs because they had the English version as well, unlike our VHS, they only come with the German dubbing and I refuse to subject myself to that.)
 
fireproof78 said:
And I still haven't. :)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have done so either if HD TNG hadn't come along (I was actually against the idea at first, I was worried they'd do the same thing they had done with TOS, altering entire scenes, I still haven't watched TOS remastered, I'm quite happy with my old effects TOS DVDs) - I totally blame Jean-Luc for this entire investment. If I should ever be able to SOMEHOW meet Jean-Luc I'll be like "You're lucky that you look even better in person than on my Blu Rays because if you didn't I'd be asking you RIGHT NOW to give me my money back". :lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
[REUPLOAD] Some stuff i made about Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Replies
3
Views
1K
cooleddie74
cooleddie74
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top