Paramount Pictures/History with Star Trek/Demise of franchise/prime universe

While Voyager was generally well received and considered successful by franchise management, its somewhat mixed reception already hinted at the writing on the wall of what Star Trek author and historian Larry Nemecek had referred to as "Franchise Fatigue". (Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise) And indeed, when Voyager premiered, Star Trek alumnus Robert Justman already observed, "I think the show has been flogged unmercifully and its going to rebound. The reaction is essentially going to be a negative reaction. If it is around in another 30 years, I don't think it's going to resemble what it has been in the past." It later turned out that even co-creator and executive producer Rick Berman himself had reservations about the inception of yet another Star Trek reincarnation, so hard in the heels of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, essentially for the same franchise fatigue reasons. Yet, since it had slated the production to serve as the flagship for the studio's own recently established UPN television network, the studio had overriding, commercial reasons to push ahead with Voyager nonetheless.
An aggravating contributor to the franchise fatigue, was the proliferation of Star Trek-related merchandise in that period of time, inundating and over-saturating the market. While profitable at first as related above, it has also caused William Shatner to exclaim, "What the hell are all of you people buying, anyway?" in his autobiography Get a Life!, having additionally observed that because of the merchandise proliferation Star Trek was no longer "special" by 1999. Shatner appeared to have a point then, as licensees were already starting to dial down their Star Trek merchandise; long standing Star Trek toy manufacturer Playmates Toys, for example, was already rumored to let its license expire without much further ado in December 1999, which turned out to be true even sooner than expected on 17 September 1999, when Playmates formally canceled all Star Trek lines (though it has acquired a new license in 2008). Likewise, Racing Champions, who had acquired Star Trek merchandise producing companies AMT, Ertl, and Playing Mantis, immediately ceased and desisted any and all Star Trek product lines upon their acquisition in 1999, the Johnny Lightning model toy line of the latter having been the sole exception. For AMT in particular, this was poignant, as it had been the oldest and truest known licensing partner of the franchise, courtesy the aforementioned Stephen Edward Poe, ever since it released the very first Star Trek model kit, that of the , back in 1966 (though it too, under new ownership, has rekindled the license a decade later).
However, the first clear-cut and unmistakable sign that the franchise was in trouble came in December the same year when was released; the movie was a flop, at that time the all-time worst performing movie in the franchise ever, and the first Star Trek film to turn in a net loss for the studio, and a substantial one at that. Even the hitherto most reviled one, The Final Frontier had managed to break even.
Still, franchise management decided to push the envelope even further, if only for the fact that Voyager had ended its run and that UPN was in need of another flagship. And so, yet another Star Trek live-action incarnation was ordered to premier in 2000. Having had reservations on Voyager already, this time around Berman was near skeptical, as was later revealed by his partner for the new project, Brannon Braga, in 2014, "Star Trek was wearing out its welcome. Rick Berman didn't want to make a show so soon but Paramount did. I think it was too soon for another show. It was a quality show, but the ratings weren't really what they should be. And I don't think the network – the new regime [at UPN] – I don’t think they treated the show with the tender loving care that it needed to thrive." Not only that, but outside voices started to chime in as well; when interviewed by TV Guide, Mark Altman, even though he was and is a life-long Star Trek fan, additionally expressed his great doubt and was not convinced of the viability of the franchise when a fifth, prequel series was announced, what eventually was to become Enterprise, being on record as having stated, "People are sick of Star Trek. But rather than give the franchise a rest and re-launch in a few years when fervor has built again, Paramount is going to run it into the ground until it's dead." 
Having been given his marching orders, Berman had little choice, other than resigning, but to obey his superiors and set to work with partner Braga. "Contrary to the people on the Internet who seem to think I never cared very much about the Star Trek franchise, I did and I do. I felt that if someone was going to keep it true to Gene Roddenberry's vision it would probably be better me than for me to bow out," Berman stated in this respect to . In order to set the new series apart from the others, Berman tried his hand at an entirely different approach, and it was exactly for these reasons that the series was simply called Enterprise, without the Star Trek prenom. Unfortunately, it did not work out as he had hoped. Debuting with a relatively large audience, Enterprise quickly lost viewership and inspired criticism of both the series and its creators, with fans – and as it turned out after-the-fact by production staffers as well – criticizing alleged violations in established continuity, causing a polarization in the apparently dwindling Star Trek fan base.
Enter in 2002, after the second season airing of Enterprise— and if the performance of Insurrection had been dismal, the box office take of Nemesis was even worse. The film only barely earned back its production budget – barely (see: Star Trek films: Gross vs Net profitability). Already up in arms over Enterprise, outspoken critics saw this as the straw that broke the camel's back and clamored for the removal of Berman in earnest. The most partisan ones were united in the "The Star Trek Fan Association" (STFA). A relatively small organization, it was at the time a very vocal one nonetheless, rapidly becoming the focal point for press and media alike, interested in reporting on what all the upheaval was about. (Star Trek and American Television, p. 40) Nationwide attention the STFA garnered, when it very shortly after the release of Nemesis organized an online petition to Viacom President Sumner Redstone and Paramount head Sherry Lansing, calling for sweeping changes within the Star Trek franchise leadership (not realizing that they by proxy also questioned the abilities of Redstone and Lansing as well) and creative direction with the goal of "restoring" the franchise to Gene Roddenberry's creative precedents. In full, the belligerent petition, worded in no uncertain terms, read as follows,
"TO: SUMNER REDSTONE (CEO OF VIACOM) & SHERRY LANSING (CEO OF PARAMOUNT)
We, the undersigned, do hereby issue this petition as a formal request to take immediate action with regards to the Star Trek franchise.
The Star Trek franchise has been a profitable asset of both Viacom and Paramount. Recent facts reveal the current failing trend in this once great legacy. After reviewing all possible sources, the only logical conclusion is that the legacy of Star Trek and its creator, Gene Roddenberry, is failing due to its current leadership.
What was once a billion dollar industry in Star Trek is now a waning interest field which the fan base may no longer wish to support because of the apparent direction (or lack of) of the franchise under its current leadership of Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.
As the collective fan base who has supported Viacom and Paramount over the many years through their stewardship of the Star Trek franchise, and who wish to continue our support of both entities, we do hereby make the following demands:
1) Remove the current leadership of the franchise from their positions, including Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and their entire staff. We are not asking that these individuals have their employment terminated from the company, merely that they are removed from control of the Star Trek franchise.
2) Place a Board of Star Trek Trustees in their place: a group of 5 individuals who can properly run the franchise in accordance with the ideals and vision of its creator, Gene Roddenberry. The identity of these 5 individuals will be determined at a later date and will be subject to the approval of both entities.
If the above stated demands are not met, the fan base will continue to grow unhappy with the productions of the Star Trek franchise, and could begin tuning it out. Products created and marketed by both Paramount and Viacom could be devalued, and millions of people could discontinue their support of both entities.
If the above stated demands are met, the Star Trek franchise will live on, and continue to make the entities of Viacom and Paramount money while at the same time keeping millions of fans happy.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned 
Unlike his subordinate Lansing, it is not known if Viacom CEO Redstone ever had had a personal hand in any decision making where Star Trek was concerned, but it was his co-CEO Les Moonves who ultimately gave the petitioners what they had asked for, and, in a most ironic "Be Careful What You Wish For" case, then some; In February 2005 Moonves personally cancelled Enterprise definitively, thereby terminating Star Trek prime all together as well for the time being. While the franchise usually ignored Trekdom entirely, this was media attention it could do well without, and it conceivably contributed to their internal decision to cancel Enterprise after its third season, which was at the time already in full pre-production. Therefore, while already indicating cancellation with the approach of the end of the third season of Enterprise (though better, not that well received either), so too did Paramount and UPN indicate the apparent end of Rick Berman's tenure as the overseer of Star Trek productions.
Berman himself divulged that, in the case of Enterprise, the relationship between UPN and Star Trek, which had been a warm one during the production of Voyager, had by then soured considerably and had taken a turn for the worst, "Our relationship with the network was distant. And it wasn't embracing and warm and… a sense of working together that had existed in all the years before." (ENT Season 3 Blu-ray-special feature, "In a Time of War") With the 2013-2014 releases of the Enterprise Blu-ray sets, several of his former subordinates, both cast and production staff, have subsequently corroborated Berman's assessment, coming forward with tales which also pointed at studio politics detrimental to Star Trek in general, and serious mismanagement of Enterprise in particular, especially where ratings and demographics interpretation, as well as air time scheduling were concerned. In the latter respect, it exhibited disturbing similarities with what had befallen between The Original Series and NBC back in the 1960s. Exemplary of studio politics was, according to Braga, their decree, if the series was to be renewed for a fourth season – the network actually already of a mind not to do so – the producers would get rid off Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, which Berman fought tooth and nail, successfully as it turned out (though he had not been able to counter their decree to add "Star Trek" to the series title which was originally just Enterprise, as explicitly intended). (Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise)
Whether or not influenced by the petition and though remaining credited, franchise management indeed virtually relegated both Berman and Braga to the role of figurehead at the end of the third season (admitted as such by Braga in 2007 ), and their places were de facto filled for, what turned out to be, the last season by Manny Coto and his second man Mike Sussman, under whose tenure much of the perceived continuity violation was redressed, aided by writers such as the Reeves-Stevens author couple, who, like them, had an equally thorough understanding of original Star Trek lore. That the series was renewed for a last season, was in no small part due to the fact that strong backing was received from an unexpected corner; Scott Bakula has unequivocally cited Garry Hart, the former UPN head and Star Trek supporter, who had just been promoted to another position within the conglomerate, as the driving force behind the renewal, thereby thwarting the cancellation intents of his successor(s) at UPN, conceivably an instance of "studio politics". (Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise)
How eager UPN was to get rid of Enterprise, despite the last season being considered a triumph by staffers and fans alike, was exemplified by the fact that the last season ended four episodes shy of a full season. At the time UPN made it known that it was changing its focus by targeting an African-American audience and produced urban-themed situation comedies with African-American casts, as well as professional wrestling and reality shows. This change in targeted demographics and programming was by contemporaries accepted as the reason for the cancellation of Enterprise after only four seasons of a projected seven season run. No matter what cancellation considerations were in play; prime universe Star Trek was finished, both literally and figuratively.
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