A new chapter in the “Star Trek” TV franchise has just been announced, with a premiere set for January 2017. CBS rolled out plans for the series today, revealing that the show will premiere on the broadcast network, with the series then settling in as a feature of the CBS All Access subscription service.
CBS Television Studios is producing the series, with Alex Kurtzman, co-writer and producer of the feature films “Star Trek” (2009) and “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013), to executive produce.
CBS Studios International will distribute the series globally to television and multiple platforms.
“The new program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, a cross-platform streaming service that brings viewers thousands of episodes from CBS’s current and past seasons on demand, plus the ability to stream their local CBS Television station live for $5.99 per month,” CBS announced. “CBS All Access already offers every episode of all previous ‘Star Trek’ television series.”
While the themes of the new show are likely to be familiar to fans who have kept up with “Star Trek” in its many incarnations since the Original TV Series bowed on NBC back in 1966, the new installment will introduce new characters.
Said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager of CBS Digital Media: “This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before — directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access. We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic ‘Star Trek,’ and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”
The announcement notes that the new TV series is not related to “Star Trek Beyond,” a feature film from Paramount Pictures that is due in summer 2016.
“The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series ‘Scorpion’ and ‘Limitless,’ along with Kadin and [Roberto] Orci, and for ‘Hawaii Five-0’ with Orci,” the announcement adds.
Sorry, but this means CBS is planning on switching programming to OTT only. If one always pays for cable or sattelite, and has access to CBS programming that way, this will not be an incentive to add this service as it is seen as corporate money grab more than providing a service. Call me old fashion but this approach seems to alienate the majority of CBS TV viewers.
Not going to happen with this ST fan.
I am a slave to star Trek, I know resistance is futile, I will watch.
CBS / Viacom / Paramount have always exploited STAR TREK. When Paramount was going to launch a network in the 70’s using the old Dumont stations as a base, the first series announced was STAR TREK II. They used ST:VOYAGER to launch UPN. Nobody should be surprised they want to use STAR TREK to anchor the new online operation. Just be glad we’ve got new TREK and when the time comes, use a vpn to watch it on a television net outside the country or download it via bit torrent but stop whining about it.