I09 sees the wheels coming off the Paramount+ strategic model with the cancelation of Prodigy.
Interesting piece with some new angles…
This time last year, the series was the bold vanguard of an attempt to bring the venerable sci-fi franchise to new audiences in a way Star Trek hadn’t attempted in years, and the latest in what was now a whole fleet of Star Trek shows on the platform. In a swift, single move—not just the takeback of a second season renewal, but the complete erasure of the series from its platform—the studio’s stratospheric ascent seems to have come crashing down all around it.
There’s a dimension of ‘killing the goose that laid the golden egg’ and eating it.
I can’t see how this is anything but a very tiny and super short term benefit to Paramount Global’s net earnings numbers for Q2 2023.
Metrics from 2022 show that Star Trek is one of the two franchises driving subscription demand, and that Prodigy helped sustain and grow the base through the fall/winter before the run up to Picard. Without Prodigy to help fill in the schedule in winter 2023-2024, Paramount+ can only expect season subscription drops by their Star Trek base.
It seems like this action might make things look slightly better at the Q2 earnings call meeting, but smart investors should see it as a an indication that Paramount will lose revenue next year, if not sooner due to backlash from the fanbase.