While CBS deserves credit for bringing an excellent new Star Trek series to the world, its online streaming service leaves much to be desired.
First off, at $5.99 a month, "CBS All Access" doesn't come cheap. Because while the $5.99 gets you access to a range of good CBS shows such as "Blue Bloods," it does not give you freedom from commercials. On the contrary, the commercials come regularly and long unless you're willing to pay $9.99 a month for the commercial-free option. HBO might be able to charge in that region, but the range of its highly rated, big budget content gives it maneuverability. For CBS, however, 10 bucks is a lot of money for one network to charge each customer each month.
In turn, while CBS can probably sustain some good subscriber levels as long as Star Trek is running, I expect its numbers will drop off when that show concludes. We're already seeing that consumers expect more for less when it comes to their viewing choices. In recent years, ESPN has suffered a major challenge as increasing numbers of Americans choose to forgo its bloviating overpriced coverage.
That said, as more viewers choose to use streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix, we should expect other networks to copy CBS and shift content to only-online platforms. Doing so reduces costs and offers the prospect for higher returns. The question is, how much will the other networks charge?
As competition grows and consumers seek out the best possible option, I expect we'll find options (without commercials) at less than $5.99 a month.
