CBS All Access has decided to put the first episode of Picard onto YouTube. So, view and judge for yourself. Offer may not be valid in countries other than the US of A. Also seems to disable viewing anywhere but YouTube, so click the link…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PPm5l3o2zw
UPDATE: I’ve watched it. It… was ok, I guess. It’s a weird mishmash of Canon Trek and Fake Trek… there is “Romulus destroyed by supernova” from the JJTrek flicks, and the lameass STD ships. But there were also a bucket of visual references to canonical ships such as the Ent-D, Ent-E, Stargazer, Cousteau; there was a still image showing Picard alongside Canonical Worf, who is distinctly *not* a JJTrek mutant Klingon nor an STD Klingork. The production values, apart from the use of STD digital assets, are top-notch. But at least so far it didn’t really seem very much like Star Trek, just generic modern sci-fi.
As to why CBS posted this for free… shrug. Seems likely that viewership numbers may not have been what CBS would’ve wanted, so they’re trying whatever they can to get people to watch. Example:
Google Trends Show Star Trek: Picard Interest Plummeting After Premiere Episode
Sadly it appears that the best hope for the future of Star Trek may have faded.