Today, Star Trek fans have been given some amazing news. CBS Television Studios has announced today that a new Star Trek TV show will air in January 2017. The series will begin to air on CBS with a preview video, but all first-off episodes will be distributed via CBS All Access, CBS’s version of HBO Go. The CBS All Access service gives customers the ability to watch thousands of different CBS-owned franchises, including every episode of Star Trek.
Started in 1966 from the brain of Gene Roddenbery, the Star Trek franchise will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016, making the announcement of this new TV series all the more exciting. Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote and produced Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Into Darkness, is helping with the new TV series.
“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”
The new show will also be showing a new cast and crew and advertises towards getting back to the original Star Trek roots: exploring strange, new worlds, while seeking out new life and new civilizations. As well, the TV show will not be related to the next Star Trek film, Star Trek: Beyond, which is releasing in 2016.
“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run Star Trekseries has gone before – directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, Executive Vice President/General Manager at CBS Digital Media. “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.”
“Every day, an episode of the Star Trek franchise is seen in almost every country in the world,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO, CBS Global Distribution Group. “We can’t wait to introduce Star Trek’s next voyage on television to its vast global fan base.”