Paramount Plus is grabbing back its Star Trek: Discovery series from Netflix, where it’s been streaming to international viewers for three seasons.
The series lived on Paramount Plus (fka CBS All Access) for US viewers and on Canada’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel, but the move will bring old and future seasons of the series under a single streaming umbrella for folks outside of those regions. Season 4 of Discovery had previously been set to debut on Paramount Plus in the US, CTV Sci-Fi Channel, and on Netflix elsewhere on November 18th.
The show will leave Netflix at 12AM PT in regions where it had previously been available to stream. (It will remain on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and stream on the Crave in Canada.) All seasons of the show will become available to international viewers in 2022, the company confirmed to The Verge. Deadline earlier reported the news.
The plan to grab back some of its IP comes as the company focuses on a wider international expansion heading into next year.
“As we rapidly expand our global streaming footprint, we are bringing more of our top titles home to ViacomCBS for Paramount+ markets around the world,” Kelly Day, president of streaming for ViacomCBS Networks International, said in a statement. “We have a strong global and local content pipeline that positions us for success across our regions, and repatriating beloved series like Star Trek: Discovery for Paramount+ is another step forward as we bring fans more must-watch series worldwide.”
According to the company, Star Trek: Discovery will become available internationally to Paramount Plus subscribers in 2022 in regions where the service is currently available. Paramount Plus is currently available in 25 countries but says it plans to expand to 45 markets by the end of next year.
Uniting — for the most part — its Discovery series in a single hub for international audiences doesn’t quite fix the fractured state of the sprawling Star Trek library, however. Star Trek: Picard will still be on Amazon for streamers outside Canada and the US. As stated, Star Trek: Discovery will continue to stream on non-Paramount Plus channels in Canada. And lastly, Star Trek: Lower Decks will stay on Amazon outside of Latin America, Canada, and the US.
