Lots of Folks Want To Buy Paramount, but No One’s Mentioned Star Trek
Franchise may no longer be studio's biggest money-maker, but it is its most enduring
While interest in — and potentially the competition for — an acquisition of flagging Paramount Global certainly seems to be growing, so far no potential buyers have publicly mentioned an explicit desire for the Star Trek franchise as a reason for a purchase.
Which, frankly, is at once understandable but also rather odd.
Paramount, of course, is a sprawling media conglomerate, with assets in studios, streaming, legacy, so-called “linear TV,” and more.
In recent days, Apollo Global Management have joined David Ellison and his Skydance Media as well as media mogul Byron Allen in kicking the proverbial tires and considering an offer for Paramount, which has been struggling financially for much of the last year. (The company reportedly is laying off 800 employees.)
And new potential buyers seem to be emerging at least weekly.
But no one has publicly mentioned Star Trek as a core rationale for wanting to buy the company.
At one time, a few decades ago, “Paramount” and “Star Trek” were nearly synonymous.
After all, what did Paramount Studios do back in the late 70s to answer the appeal of the blockbuster which was then Star Wars?
Its executives quickly dusted off Star Trek and greenlit it as its own feature motion picture.
Star Trek today just isn’t quite as tall a tent pole as it once was, however.
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It clocks in as just Paramount’s fourth-highest-grossing property right now.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora the Explorer and even SpongeBob SquarePants have all earned billions more than Star Trek at this point.
However, I would argue that is a very myopic view.
Star Trek has lasted decades longer than any of those other properties.
And, perhaps more importantly, it is much more adaptable and wide-ranging in its appeal.
Those others primarily are kids’ and nostalgia brands.
Star Trek, however, has demonstrated itself as a crossover draw for children, Millennials, Gen Z and more.
Star Trek executive Alex Kurtzman sees that very potential.
He’s said:
The key is not to homogenize Star Trek. The way to do that is to make sure each show is carried by a different voice. I think about the crayon analogy. There’s a bunch of different colors in the box, but it’s all in the same box. That’s how I look at Star Trek, each show has to be a unique proposition, it can’t be like another show.
That’s not only a solid creative approach to the franchise, but also sets up Star Trek as unique value proposition for long-term growth.
Indeed, that appeared to be the strategy Paramount was executing before a variety of factors began to financially batter the company and it began moving to shrink the franchise once more.
A new owner — one who is more future-focused and better capitalized — could really grow Star Trek as a prosperous profit center in their portfolio.
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