CBS: Star Trek Is Part of Streaming Service Success
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In their first quarter earnings conference call yesterday afternoon, CBS spoke about their earnings and expansion of their streaming service.
With shows like Star Trek: Discovery bringing in the customers, CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services “hit CBS‘ target of eight million subscribers earlier this year, two years ahead of schedule.” CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone credits this to “rigorous business planning and financial discipline. It does not require turning our business upside down to compete,” he said.
“This year, we are on track to invest more than $8 billion in programming, which positions us competitively with any player in the marketplace,” said Joe Ianniello, president and acting CEO. “The benefits of this content-driven strategy were on full display at CBS All Access in the first quarter. Season Two of Star Trek: Discovery began in January, and the return of The Good Fight dropped in March.
“Add to that, Super Bowl LIII and March Madness, and CBS All Access had its biggest quarter of sub growth ever. The momentum continues here in Q2 with The Twilight Zone, which was the most-watched original premier on CBS All Access and which we just renewed for a second season. Up ahead, we’ll have a dark comedy starring Lucy Lu called Why Women Kill from Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives, as well as a true crime drama called Interrogation. And then we’ll launch a whole new Star Trek series, starring Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, which will have a strong international appeal.
“So when the season ends on May 22, it’s safe to say that CBS will be the most-watched network for the eleventh consecutive season and for the sixteenth of the last seventeen years and will be No. 1 whether or not you include the Super Bowl. No other network has that kind of reach, consistency and stability. We are now in the middle of screening pilots for our new fall schedule, and soon we’ll be adding a number of new shows to our deep bench of established hits.
“Everyone knows CBS is the No. 1 broadcast network, but not everyone knows that CBS operates the top ten Internet property right alongside of it,” said Lanzone.”
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