It’s been three months since CBS dropped the bombshell announcement that Star Trek would be heading back to television… and after we all caught our breath and looked closer, it became apparent that the new show would actually be debuting on the CBS television network — but then living exclusively on the studio’s online streaming video service, CBS All Access.

While viewers around the world are still waiting for news on how they’ll be able to watch the upcoming series — as CBS was clear to specify that international distribution plans are still being developed — Trek viewers in the United States were surprised to learn that while the dream of an on-demand Trek show was finally being answered, it would be only available through a service still in its relative infancy (when compared to Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu).

Fans were immediately divided into several camps, including those who are already clamoring to sign up for All Access, those who are waiting to hear if the show’s going to be worth their money… and of course, those who claim that they “will never pay” for another streaming service and (of course) immediately declared their plans to illegally pirate the show.

While we’re not going to spend time on that last topic here, a few gripes about the All Access services started to come up in discussions in many conversations, including claims that “nobody uses [All Access]” and that the programming has “too many ads” — and while he wasn’t willing to offer specific numbers, CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lanzone spoke on both viewership and advertisement in a new interview published today by Decider.

On who is using the streaming service, and how the network’s ratings compare to their over-the-air numbers:

The overall demographic of All Access is younger. Seventy percent are between 18 and 49, the average age is 42 years old, and about 60 percent of All Access subscribers are female.

‘Big Bang Theory’ and ‘NCIS’ are consistent across both [TV and online] platforms. ‘Supergirl’ outperforms [TV ratings] online. ‘Limitless’ is another one that does really well online.

We’re absolutely pleased with our subscriber numbers, but we’re not releasing [specific figures] at this point.

On the launch of CBS All Access in 2014, and the consideration of an ad-free payment tier:

All Access came out of our experience with CBS.com… within [that userbase] there was a subset of super-fans who wanted access to a deeper catalog of content. All Access was designed around those super-fans.

Those users pay $5.99 a month for the five trailing episodes within a current season of a show and a deep catalog of full seasons of our 24 current series and other things like local live streaming and a lower ad load.

People are willing to pay for that deeper level of service.

[An ad-free tier] is something we’re considering. Super-fans consume twice as much content as people who access it for free, and there’s a subset of that user base who would be willing to pay for an ad-free environment.

I wouldn’t look at it as something that would replace the overall business model or the overall way our platforms work.

Lastly, Lanzone also touched on whether the upcoming Star Trek series is going to be the first of many All Access-exclusive programs.

We have a dedicated audience online, and we’re looking at [the new ‘Star Trek’ series] as an opportunity. We think it’s a show that will match up really well with All Access’s audience.

‘Star Trek’ is the only scripted original that we have announced, but we’re obviously looking at whether it makes sense to do more.

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It’s clear that even though we are along way out from 2017’s Star Trek launch on All Access, there are still a lot of questions about the service that fans will need answered before many will open up their wallets for another streaming subscription, even before we start talking about the content of the new show itself.

Will their be an ad-free tier, and at what cost? Will the All Access service be available through more devices, perhaps through Amazon Video like the recent Showtime / Starz expansion? Will the show be released all-at-once a la Netflix — allowing subscribers to sign up, watch, and disconnect — or will it be a weekly event requiring a longer commitment?

There’s one question, however, that looms above all the rest: with Trek expected to leave Amazon Video this month, is Netflix or Hulu to follow — leaving All Access soon to be the only way to stream the franchise?

We’re all waiting for those answers, hopefully coming soon.

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