This year should be a big one for Star Trek fans everywhere. It’s the franchise’s 50th Anniversary and CBS is celebrating by releasing a brand new series on its very own streaming service. Unfortunately, while there is plenty of good Star Trek news left and right, it looks as if there is some bad news on the horizon for some Star Trek fans, specifically those who subscribe to Amazon Prime. CBS’ 2-year deal with Prime is coming to a close, and now it looks as if all Star Trek content will be pulled from the streaming service this month.
In fact, the episodes, which include five live-action programs, are scheduled to disappear from Amazon Prime on February 15, 2016. There’s already a countdown to the end of the episodes on Amazon Prime, and while a last minute deal could still be made, that doesn’t seem to be CBS’ goal. CBS’s own streaming site, called CBS All Access, is already pushing Star Trek: The Original Series and others pretty hard--likely in the hopes that more subscribers will pay for All Access if they have a hardcore franchise that people will engage with. That’s why all episodes of the upcoming Star Trek series are exclusively going to be available on CBS All Access. Eventually, if you are wanting episodes of Star Trek without the hassle of DVD’s, CBS All Access will probably be the place.
You can check out which programs are leaving Amazon Prime, as noted by Trek Core, below:
Star Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: VoyagerStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: Enterprise
On the bright side, currently, the episodes don't seem to be going anywhere on Netflix, as CBS still has a streaming deal with that service. However, Netflix has been losing a lot of other TV shows in recent months and it seems clear that CBS is looking to bring its content home when possible. News on the street says that Netflix could very well eventually lose all rights to some other big properties, including The CW’s The Flash and Arrow, as The CW mulls its own streaming platform. That’s right, if The CW gets its own CW All Access-type of service, Netflix and other services could have another problem on its hands.
The con for fans is that CBS All Access is yet another streaming service fans will need to subscribe to. Some of us already pay for some combination of cable, Netflix, Prime and Hulu, not to mention other services and while CBS All Access won’t break the bank—it currently only costs $5.99 a month—it’s still yet another TV service that needs to be paid for. Eventually, if all Star Trek programs are house only on All Access, it’s one that a lot of fans might feel they need to subscribe to. That’s the idea anyway.
Currently, Prime has a ton of great TV available, and the subscription streaming service recently worked out deals to house separate subscriptions for Showtime and Starz, so fans who don’t have cable can now get those subscription cable channel’s programming. At least, if they are willing to cough up a little extra dough. There's still plenty going on, but if you want to stream episodes of Star Trek, including the upcoming series, need to be prepared to invest in CBS All Access.
