Moonves: Netflix Wanted New ‘Star Trek’

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CBS CEO Les Moonves said Netflix and other streaming services were willing to spend at warp speed for the new Star Trek series, which CBS is planning to put on its own over-the-top service, CBS All Access.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco Monday (Feb. 29), Moonves called Star Trek the CBS family jewels and said a lot of thought went into what to do with the new iteration of the sci-fi classic.

“Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, they all offered us a lot of money,” Moonves said. “They all wanted it very badly. We could have taken the quick bucks from Netflix but it shows we’re investing in a property we really believe in for the future.”

Putting Star Trek on CBS All Access could be the beginning of a long-term strategy to have more original programming on All Access, he added.

Read more, including Moonves' comments about GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, at broadcastingcable.com.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.