Three years after Star Trek Discovery finished its first season as the least watched Star Trek series ever Viacom CBS will be putting the first season on TV for free. This is not so much a capitulation of the part of CBS to fan demands to see it as much as it is a realization that because the network does not have a full slate of new fall content, it has to roll out something else. Still, it’s a win for fans.
Star Trek Discovery has been a strong performer for CBS All-Access but because the streaming service has such a limited reach it has not translated into big viewership in the way a top ranked show on the free traditional network would. Now CBS gets to double dip and sell normal commercial time with the series which will be able to both occupy a slot every week and act as a commercial for the $5.99 streaming service that has plans to very much expand its scope in the next year.
This is not the first time CBS has put the jewel of its streaming service out there for free. When the series launched CBS ran the first episode on television while reserving the rest of them for streaming only. The question is, will it turn out to be so successful that the network will decide to catch fans up on the entire series albeit a few seasons behind at a time. It is almost as though the network is showing their own product in syndication. ViacomCBS have gone all in on Star Trek since the launch of CBS All-Access. Discovery is actually only one of 4 shows that take place in the Star Trek Universe, specifically what would be considered the original Star Trek timeline. Along with Discovery CBS All Access also produces Picard, a continuation of the life of Captain Picard of the Next Generation series in retirement, Star Trek Strange New Worlds, which is a spinoff of Discovery concentrating on the crew of the Enterprise prior to Captain Kirk joining the crew and Star Trek Lower Decks, an animated office comedy style series.
