‘Star Trek’ may have done fairly well for itself at the box office over the decades, but few would argue that its first, best destiny has always been on television. And this weekend, twelve years after the final episode of ‘Enterprise‘ aired, ‘Star Trek’ is finally coming home.
But as you probably know by now, ‘Star Trek’ isn’t returning to television in the most conventional manner. CBS is eschewing a traditional broadcast approach in favor of distributing this latest entry, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, as a streaming exclusive. This, naturally, makes things a little more complicated than just tuning in at 8:00 every Monday night. So how exactly can you keep up with ‘Star Trek: Discovery’? Well, that depends on where you are…
United States
The American distribution has been the most heavily publicized by far, as CBS is hoping to use ‘Discovery’ to drive interest in the CBS All Access streaming service, much the same way ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ served as a lynchpin of UPN’s prime time lineup when it debuted.
Simply put, the show will premiere with a conventional broadcast on CBS before moving to CBS All Access. Of course, even this isn’t that straightforward. ‘Discovery’ will be kicking off with a two-part premiere on September 24. The first hour of the series premiere will be broadcast on CBS at 8:30pm ET, with the second part going live on CBS All Access at 9:30pm ET that night. The remainder of the fifteen episode season will be released exclusively via CBS All Access, with new episodes dropping Sundays at 8:30pm ET.
Canada
The Canadian release model for ‘Discovery’ is more convention than its American counterpart, but only slightly. As in the United States, the each part of the premiere will air through a different venue. The first part will be broadcast on CTV at 8:30pm ET on September 24. Beyond that, you’ll need a cable package that includes The Space Channel. Both parts of the premiere will air on Space beginning at 8:30 ET on September 24, with further episodes airing in that time slot every week.
‘Discovery’ episodes will also be available to Space subscribers via the Space GO app, as well as through the network’s website and On Demand. They will also be available the day after their initial broadcast through the CraveTV streaming service. This will begin on September 25 at 8:30 ET.
Finally, French-speaking Canadians will be able to find the show on Z. These broadcasts will begin at 9:00pm ET on September 24, with subsequent episodes running in that time slot each week.
Everywhere Else
This is easily the least complicated part of the show’s distribution model. Outside of the US and Canada, ‘Discovery’ will be carried by Netflix. Easy peasy. While it remains to be seen exactly how the Netflix releases will be timed, the streaming behemoth has promised that new episodes will be uploaded and available to stream within 24 hours of their American premiere.
Following its September debut, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ will continue to air new episodes through November, at which point it will go on hiatus. The show will return for the rest of its first season in January 2018.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is due to make its long-awaited debut on September 24, 2017. The show will premiere on CBS before moving to the CBS All Access streaming service for the remainder of its run. The series cast includes Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Rapp, James Frain, Michelle Yeoh, Terry Serpico, Maulik Pancholy, Sam Vatholomeos, Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, Mary Chieffo, Rainn Wilson, Rekha Sharma, Kenneth Mitchell, Clare McConnell, and Damon Runyan.
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more great ‘Star Trek’ content, including more news on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ as it becomes available.
