CBS Will Not Let You Binge Their New Star Trek TV Show
If you thought you’d be able to binge Bryan Fuller’s new Star Trek series on CBS All Access, think again. Les Moonves, chairman and chief executive of CBS, announced today the episodes would roll out weekly.
Fans were hesitant from the get-go on this new Star Trek series from CBS. Then they added Hannibal’s Bryan Fuller as showrunner and some, myself included, thought that might make a subscription to CBS All Access worth it. They also added veteran Trek creator Nicholas Meyer.
And while the way the show was going to be viewable had been debated (it was said to debut on the subscription-only service but some language seemed to indicate it would show up on the CBS network itself later), we finally have at least one answer. Variety’s Cynthia Littleton tweeted:
CBS’ Leslie Moonves commits to January premiere for the new “Star Trek.” Showtime OTT is “meaningful contributor” to CBS’ cable biz.
— Cynthia Littleton (@Variety_Cynthia) May 3, 2016
CBS execs say “Star Trek” episodes on CBS All Access to roll out weekly. I had no doubt.
— Cynthia Littleton (@Variety_Cynthia) May 3, 2016
CBS’ Leslie Moonves commits to January premiere for the new “Star Trek.” Showtime OTT is “meaningful contributor” to CBS’ cable biz. CBS execs say “Star Trek” episodes on CBS All Access to roll out weekly. I had no doubt.
Seriously though, I don’t know what they were thinking. People are now used to the Netflix model of shows debuting all their episodes at once. I still may not be the biggest fan of streaming myself but I do know asking Star Trek fans to pay for CBS All Access, which costs $5.99 per month, and not get binge privileges is not going to make them happy campers.
Don’t get me wrong, I get it. They don’t want people paying $5.99 once, watching the whole season, and then quitting the service but this just goes to show you how wrong CBS is approaching moving into the future.
You may recall Moonves previously revealing the TV show would have to debut six months after Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond due to who owns the rights to each version of the franchise. We just learned this week that the show would begin shooting this Fall in Toronto.
What do you think of this latest development?
[…] hear more about who will star in the show, who else will be working behind the scenes, and how the airings will actually play out for those not convinced to subscribe to CBS All […]
I plan to binge the series when it’s done. I am in no hurry and trying to milk fans out of several months of subscription gives me no incentive to try it in the first place.
I don’t see a problem with episodes rolling out one at a time. We don’t want a saturation.
Thanks for the reminder that I need to cancel my CBS All Access account now that Supergirl is on hiatus…
If it’s not available on Hulu, I won’t be watching it.
End of story.
This seems rather counter-purpose to me. The ability to binge watch is one of the main draws of streaming services like Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu, etc. If you’re going to roll them out once a week why not just do a regular show on airing on the network?
They aren’t going all-in on the series… weekly roll out will gauge interest… and if it doesn’t rise to the numbers they expect… it can disappear quickly
Why not just stream them for free on CBS’s site?
It’s exclusive to CBS All Access.
I’m sure they will… eventually. This is just “do you wanna be the first viewer?” nonsense. I can wait.
KHAAAAAAAAN!
its like every business on the face of the earth thinks nerd have an endless supply of 5.99 dollars a month laying around CAUGH**TMS***CAUGH
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Bkdr5oBlS4k/ViNAt9wOdeI/AAAAAAAAPuo/fUHK_pPMKeM/w506-h281/DW_12_ThumbsUp.gif
:(
CBS’s handling of this reminds me of how Blockbuster tried to compete with Netflix, back when when the latter was just starting to gain ground.
In that, they didn’t, really, at all, and botched their attempts at trying.
While I doubt I’ll be getting this service, The Mindy Project streams weekly and it’s the only reason why I got a Hulu subscription. (And now I can’t live without it, but that’s a different story) It seemed to work for them, given the amount of advertising they put into Mindy and the discount they made to sign up when the fourth season began. But then again, Hulu allows me to access all of the Mindy Project whenever I want, as well as shows from three other major networks. CBS will only give me Star Trek and, well, the other CBS shows.
TL;DR: this format does have precedence, which is probably why they’re doing it with a show that’s guaranteed to give them viewers.
Right, I feel like Mindy might be the only thing like that, yes? And I feel like it’s only that way because it used to be a weekly show on TV. I could be wrong. But again, like you said, there’s tons more stuff on Hulu so it’s more appealing for a lot of folks.
The 11/22/63 miniseries rolled out new episodes weekly on Hulu, it was also not bingeable.
Is that the Stephen King thing? I hadn’t heard much about it.
It had the best ending I’ve seen in a long time for a Time Travel show…. Satisfying and bittersweet.
Hmm maybe I’ll look into it. I love a good time travel story. Hulu is actually one we don’t subscribe to, we’ve got Amazon Prime and Netflix and couldn’t see the point of the added expense since we still have cable.
tbh, its only an 8 episode mini, so unless you like Mindy and that, there’s not a ton on Hulu worth paying for…. You could always read the Stephen King book instead. :D
We were considering doing the free trial for that other show with Aaron Paul so maybe!
There’s also a bunch of BBC material, and the Criterion collection of films ad free for Hulu plus subscribers. I think it’s a handy thing to have.
Yeah, that was what I was thinking too. The one episode per week format isn’t necessarily a problem. Plus, they kinda need to establish CBS All Access in the market first, and get people interested in it. Right now, they basically only have one show, the new Star Trek, so, if they allowed binge watching, people would only get the “one week free trial” option.
11.22.63 was also a great show on Hulu in addition to Mindy. Really great.
I can’t see paying for CBS every month. I’m not 65. I don’t watch NCIS: Bayonne or CSI: Outer Appalachia.
It’s going to have to be MUST WATCH chatter from the internets to get me to do this.