Paramount+ takes ‘Star Trek’ streaming rights in Canada

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The Star Trek franchise has found a new streaming home in Canada, moving from Bell Media to Paramount+, with more than 800 episodes and 12 films now available on the service.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds joined the platform yesterday, alongside existing shows Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks and the franchise’s feature films.

The entireties of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Animated Series will join the service, with a new show landing each week during August and September, beginning 8 August.

Paramount+ will also stream upcoming entries in the franchise, such as the recently commissioned Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Section 31, both from CBS Studios.

Bell Media previously carried the Star Trek franchise exclusively for both streaming and linear in Canada under a long-running licensing deal. Going forwards, Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel will remain the exclusive linear home for Star Trek shows in Canada, while it’s streamer Crave will retain only Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

The move to Paramount+ makes sense for the franchise, which is created by Paramount and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

The streamer has struck previous co-exclusivity deals, such as with Amazon’s Prime Video in February, to ensure that it becomes the “home of Star Trek” in various markets.

However, children’s animation Star Trek: Prodigy was among the shows that Paramount+ dropped from its service as a tax write-off in June, with its planned second season cancelled, making the streamer’s franchise set incomplete without it.

In Canada, Star Trek: Prodigy will no longer be available on Crave, but the series is currently available on CTV.ca and the CTV app.

“Star Trek is one of the most iconic TV brands in the world,” said Katrina Kowalski, VP of content, Paramount+ and Pluto TV Canada. “In the decades since the first series premiered in 1966, the franchise has evolved, growing and inspiring its audience with expansive storytelling and a diverse cast of characters. We are so thrilled Paramount+ is now the Canadian streaming destination for the catalogue.”