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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is breaking the streaming world

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Dan Leckie du be a Star Trek since the fan hit a 1991 VHS tape on the original TV show to hit it. Leckie, from Aberdeen, Scotland, immediately connected with the science fiction TV series and later versions, and regularly attends conventions to meet fans. . But on November 16, he noticed something strange: Netflix stopped promoting the first three seasons Star Trek: Discovery—And the forecasts for the fourth season also disappeared, with a launch on November 18th.

What Leckie saw would soon become a point of anger for fans of Star Trek around the world: Netflix lost its rights to the fourth season. Discovery Outside the US, and in previous seasons as well. They will now appear on Paramount +, formerly known as CBS All Access and a streaming service owned by ViacomCBS, but not until 2022, and even then, not anywhere. (In the US, Star Trek: Discovery It has always only played on Paramount + / CBS All Access.) And Star Trek is just the beginning. What bad news Discovery fans now have another view of the increasingly confusing future of streaming.

Until recently, most intellectual property (IP) owners sold their rights to television and movies through pay-TV, home physical video, and film. The concept of online streaming was not seen as a priority. Then everything changed quickly. As Netflix’s popularity skyrocketed, Disney regained the playback rights to its extensive catalog and launched Disney + in November 2019. 118 million subscribers so far. Others are fast following: from Discovery + to HBO Max and Britbox. And as streaming services make efforts to produce more original content, anyone who wants to watch their favorite TV shows is left with a headache. Instead of subscribing to a single streaming service, it is required to allow more and more people year after year to access rival platforms.

“Many fans, across the UK and around the world, are angry to see that they will have to pay for another subscription service Discovery, and finally the rest of the Star Trek TV series, ”says Leckie. Glenn van t’Hof, Dutch Star Trek the fan, is sharper. “A what kind of move to announce this move two days before the supposed European release date,” he says. “This is not a fan service.” Leckie believes the move, which prevents people from outside the United States and Canada from watching the fourth season Discovery Until 2022— it will push a lot to pirate versions of the show. The rights deal with Netflix for Star Trek covered 190 countries and territories, but Paramount will only be available in 45 countries by the end of 2022. “That can’t see three-quarters of their market without piracy,” Leckie says.

Analysts are also skeptical of the benefits to Star Trek fans of their move to Paramount +. Andrew A. Rosen, former director of digital media at Viacom and founder of a streaming service analyst firm at Parqor, believes it is very difficult for Paramount + to replicate the economy, scale or sophistication of Netflix’s marketing model like Star Trek around big franchises. ViacomCBS and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

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