Longtime fans keep putting forward the inference, based on their knowledge of the franchise, that Lower Decks won’t work for those who don’t get the references.
But the data keeps squashing that hypothesis.
There is a significant group of younger millennials and Zs that got into the franchise via Lower Decks. They’re the target market of viewers of ‘adult animated comedy’ and the format/media rather than the Easter eggs are the hook for them.
On other platforms, you hear a lot from them, as well as from Trek fans who say they got their housemates, BF/GF or siblings into the franchise by watching Lower Decks with them.
If the show weren’t limited to a platform that’s otherwise offering little for their niche, it would have had more success. But Paramount+ just doesn’t have enough in that niche to make it worth subscribing to for them.