The New ‘Star Trek’ Series Is Headed To Netflix, With One Major Catch

All the excitement around a new Star Trek finally coming to television has been tempered somewhat by the fact that it was going to be tied to CBS’s streaming service, CBS All Access. Fans were debating whether they’d shell out for another streaming service or cross their fingers and wait for Netflix. Turns out, some fans won’t have to wait long for Netflix to get the series, while others will have to hold out.

Netflix has announced that they’re the streaming home of new Star Trek episodes, with the catch being that the news applies everywhere but the U.S. and Canada. CBS All Access will remain the “exclusive” home of those episodes… for now, anyway. The good news is that CBS isn’t locking the whole thing behind a paywall, and plans to air the first episode sometime in January.

For fans, it’s a game of financial chicken. CBS hasn’t exactly made a secret of the fact that they want fans to pay $6 a month for CBS All Access, part of a broader experiment by broadcast networks to see if they can transition to a pay model. This isn’t the first time, of course, as Paramount launched UPN with Star Trek: Voyager as their flagship show, instead of putting it in syndication. But at the same time, Netflix’s announcement includes the news they’re getting exclusive worldwide rights to stream all of Star Trek’s TV series to its 188 countries, and it’s worth noting that in the U.S., Americans can easily stream vintage Star Trek through either Netflix or Amazon. We’ll just have to see whether CBS holds out come January 2017.

(Via Netflix)

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