CBS has widened the offerings for their All Access subscription streaming service, which will be home to their upcoming show Star Trek: Discovery. They have started to add movies to what was previously a library of TV content.
The initial list of films is very limited with only 16 titles. Notably five of the titles are Star Trek films: The Motion Picture, The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country, Generations and First Contact. None of those titles are currently available for streaming on Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime in the US.
Five Star Trek films now included with CBS All Access
Building a ‘well-rounded’ service for Star Trek fans
The other titles that CBS All Access is starting with are a mix of recent and classic films, also licensed from Paramount. The inclusion of the Star Trek films is of course no accident, as evidenced by this comment to TechCrunch from CBS Interactive President Marc DeBevoise:
“We’ve begun to expand CBS All Access’s content offering to include a selection of film titles relevant to our audience, such as a number of films from the Star Trek franchise. Our goal for CBS All Access is to provide and continually build a well-rounded service for our subscribers.”
So it appears that CBS is especially keen to cater to Star Trek fans, which is no surprise as the CEO of CBS recently said he expects the launch of Star Trek: Discovery to bring the subscriber numbers up from the current estimate of around 1.5 million to their goal of 4 million.
CBS says it will continue to expand its offering of films, but of course the library is likely to be dominated by TV content. CBS All Access now offers around 8,500 episodes from current CBS series and shows from the CBS archive, including the entire Star Trek television library.
The first two original shows for CBS All Access
Star Trek: Discovery will be the second original show for CBS All Access, following The Good Fight, which just wrapped up its first season and a second has already announced. CBS is also committed to launching additional original programming for All Access.
CBS All Access is available for $5.99 per month with limited commercials or $9.99 without commercials. It is available on your computer, iOS, Android and other streaming devices. There is a 1-week free trial available. More information at cbs.com/all-access.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.
Thus far, I do not see a need to subscribe to CBS All Access.
Me neither. I’m looking to cut some streaming channels, not add any.
My guess, Danpaine, is that most are in the same boat in that they would not be too interested in adding yet another streaming service.
What do you mean by most?
Ok two questions
1.) Is TMP the Director’s Edition?
2.) Do the movies have commercials, too?
The TMP DE has never been made available for streaming. It exists only as a DVD from 2001.
It’s never been made available for cable TV airings either, although the cable grid listed “The Director’s Edition” when “TMP” played on Epix last year. Also, the DVD is long out of print.
Re: Do the movies have commercials, too?
According to the article the $9.99 subscription is without commercials.
It’s not the Director’s Edition. I have the commercial version of CAA, but it doesn’t look like the movies have commercials.
All I can tell you is I’m watching The Undiscovered Country on AA right now and nope, no commercials in site and yes I have the commercial option. I’m going to play around with the other films when I’m done watching TUC and see if this applies across the board. I was only going to watch the first 10 minutes of that movie and got sucked in lol. I love the internet!!
You can find the entire list of ALL ACCESS movies here:
https://www.cbs.com/movies/
You know what would be cool? A streaming service that provides access to all of the Trek television shows. Now THAT would be something.
Uhh…This is that. Also Netflix.
Now way. Put the bottle of kanar down, Damar. You’re clearly drunk.
I cant tell if this is a joke or not but Star Trek shows are practically on every major streaming site in America at this point. All shows (although TAS I’m not sure about) are on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and All Access. They been there for years. I thought once All Access became bigger they would start to end their run on those others but so far doesn’t look like it. I think they made a deal for them to stay on Netflix indefinitely with the Discovery deal as well. Netflix is the only one that has them all worldwide as far as I know.
I was watching TAS on Netflix. So yes, its there. And thats the Canadian version of Netflix which is significantly smaller than the US.
If only someone would event streaming technology that works…
I knew TAS was on Netflix I meant I didn’t know if it included all the others although I assume its on AA.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and CBS-AA have TAS in the US.
Stop trying to make fetch happen. It’s not going to happen.
I think CBS All Access has improved in the last few months. I was worried when I first subscribed, but they seem to have boosted the quality lately. I’ve been watching “Superior Donuts” and the streaming quality is now very good. Also, watching old episodes of “Cheers” and “Wings”, which (albeit standard def) look very clear, not lossy at all.
Cheers exists in HD. Are you sure the version on CBS AA is “only” SD?
Wings is only available in SD
Is the quality of DS9 and Voyager better looking on All Access???
I’m going to say nope, AFAIK the streaming copy that CBS has is for any/all providers :-/
While I may be guilty of wishful thinking, I believe Discovery will be an enormous success. CBS’s production of the show began slowly, but as the daily’s came in the powers that be became sold on the concept, and now the production is on-par with The Next Generation’s- possibly even exceeding it’s starting resources when adjusted for inflation.
Star Trek is CBS’s number one property, and like it was in the early day’s of TNG’s “Encounter at Farpoint”, viewers will see the look of an all-new Star Trek series, with all new sets and their grand color schemes, new props, new characters, new aliens, new worlds, etc.
CBS knows this show MUST succeed. It’s not like starting a new conceptual drama, and gambling on it’s success. This is Star Trek. It does not have the luxury of failing. So you can imagine how big this production is, and what is at stake for CBS, and it’s “All Access” platform. That fact alone gives me comfort. That, and the fact that I have the first 2 novels already on pre-order.
Peace and long life.
The Good Fight bought in over 1 million subscribers with no hype or advertising. Discovery has been talked about for nearly a year and a half now. The show is going to have to truly suck if not at least equal what The Good FIght did (and that show got renewed after episode 4). My guess is its going to easily double subscriptions. CBS knows they have to get it right and why all the delays but the first season is going to be big no matter what. Its season 2 on thats going to be the real test…if they can get the people back. Every Trek fan will at least check out the first few episodes of season 1 and only being 13 episodes its not too hard to get them for the whole season if the first few episodes are decent.
This is what so many people dont understand. They think if they dont immediately get 5 million viewers then it will be cancelled. They think it HAS to be on CBS network. If it was on CBS main network it would be cancelled before the second commercial break.
If you listen to CBS owns words they said they expect Discovery to help get the site to 4 million views….by 2020! And the site is over 2 million now (although I’m guessing it was under that number at least when that statement was made).
In other words they are realistic and know its not going to happen over night NOR do they expect Discovery and Discovery alone to bring them all those subs in one season. It sounds like they expect a big boot upfront with a million or so but then give themselves 3 additional years to get the rest if not more. And obviously there will be more original shows and new films added in that time. So I think they know exactly what they are doing. And my guess is Discovery probably will get the additional 2 million subs its first year if The Good Fight is any indication.
And lets face it, ALL the moaning about all these streaming sites, not one has went out of business yet. CBS sees that, see what they did and following a similar model so as long as what they put on is actually good it will probably do fine.
They also have to consider their ability to support X number of viewers. This might dovetail into the catalog they upload as well. They will do it over time. They will probably include some Netflix-like free month preview etc.
When WWE launched their network they used the highly reputable MLBAM and still had lots of issues with the amount of traffic early. And we’re talking under 2 million total subs NOW let alone back when it launched which was considerably less.
Now this is more like it! I always said AA needs to get movies if it wants to be a real streaming site. I think honestly its TV shows that really keeps people on them (having so much content and all) but the movies are the shiny toy that gets people interested, especially newer releases. Now that they started this phase this bodes so much better for them.
And yes having Trek films is just a no brainer. I mean come on???? I dont get how they can get every show and episode on these sites but yet only manage to get 2 or 3 of the films? If AA wants to be ALL ACCESS to all things Trek well here is where they can get a step above Netflix and Amazon by having ALL the films as part of the service. The KT films should eventually show up there too. I mean Disney now has a deal with Netflix where their biggest films now bypass cable and go to that site. CBS OWNS Star Trek, this should be a no-brainer that Beyond should be on their site first before Amazon or Netflix gets it at least.
But still this is a good turn. It means they are serious and by the time Discovery airs (before 2019 hopefully ;)) they should have a decent movie list.
This is not a slam, I’m just curious why they didn’t pad it out with their TV movies to make their movie offering catalog appear more impressive than it does? And CBS has a motion picture wing making under $50 million movies for theatrical distribution, why isn’t that entire catalog in there?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_Films
https://www.cbs.com/movies/
Just spitballing but it’s possible there are other rights fees in place from some time ago with those… Maybe they will take them back when current contracts run out?
I agree with what ML31 said, they probably have a lot of those tied up with other licensing fees. Obviously not all though so it is weird a few hasn’t made it there. My guess is more will come in time but yeah seem like they would throw all of that up unless there is some contract issue thats stopping them.
Given the extremely transient nature of the licensing of streaming content subscribing to any streaming service, not just CBSAA for access to specific content like the Trek movies is a fools errand.
The transient nature of licensing is NOT exclusive to streaming content.
Remember when Paramount’s negotiations with CBS’ Showtime broke down and they made Epix to handle their content?
Actually, I was unaware of what it was that prompted the creation of Epix. It just showed up as yet another premium service I was not subscribing to.
Disinvited is correct. Showtime had long-term deals with Paramount, MGM and LionsGate. Epix came into being around 2008 when those contracts expired, and renewal talks broke down. FIOS was the first to sign with Epix; Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum) started carrying it in 2014.
Still no word on making the service available on smart TVs it seems.
All I can suggest there, besides you purchasing a separate device to access the channel (which I know from previous threads you’re not interested in), is to keep checking for updates to your television software, ML. You never know, you might get lucky and the manufacturer will add it.
I found three others interested in sharing an account with me. So if they get on smart TV’s by the time the show is released it’s probable I will buy in. Just for the duration of the show. Once the season ends, so does the CBSAA account. They did not have the commercial free option for a while, then added it. The hope is they will add smart TV’s to the viewing options like they added that commercial free option.
Good lord. Sharing an account. And if CBSAA restricts users to one?
Have you tried asking CBS? If you look at some other OTT services, the Smart TV apps came eventually. Just relax.
I mean, we’re still waiting for someone to invent streaming technology so SmartTV apps are probably coming down the line.
I still don’t know if your poor attitude is something you have to work at or if it just comes naturally.
Its not a poor attitude. I dont steal content or “group buy” which violates the spirit of an OTT service allowing multiple log ins. Some crack down on it more than others. Its a shame you dont want to just pay to watch the show.
But to each their own. Im not dumping on you, just giving my opinion. Werent you against this because you said you cannot stream at your location?
Call it whatever you want if it makes you feel better. It’s your M.O. But we both know it was just another baiting comment that shows off your poor attitude towards people who say things that contradict your narrow view of how you think things should be. As was this one I am responding to.
Good day.
@ML31 – I have a narrow view of people who whine about content they steal. Sorry. Did you talk to your Internet provider yet? You spread a lot of disinformation here that other people (as well as myself) tried to correct. This is important. Since you want to share a CBSAA account I assume you did. You’re welcome.
Well, if it’s not on TiVo or on LG WebOS, then that saves me some $$. I’ll pick it up from iTunes or VuDu, assuming they sell the season.
If they don’t make it available on smart TV’s then my hope is they will make the discs available to Netflix some time after the season is over.
Nope. Sorry CBS. Not doing it. Sadly, I’ll have to pass on Discovery. I’ll not be one to feed your greed.
What greed? The “expects to be paid for their work” greed?
There’s always Axanar!
So CBS is holding Star Trek fans hostage in order to fund their new streaming service. I don’t like it, and I won’t subscribe. If this doesn’t fail, then all the networks will try it, and viewers will be expected to subscribe to dozens of streaming services every month. I’m sorry to wish for the Death of ST:Discovery, but I’m not having it.
Arthur,
Melodramatic much? If CBS is holding all us STAR TREK fans hostage, to whom did they send their subscription demands ransom notes? Our moms?
Oh, and, by the way, CBS ALL ACCESS is solely aimed at US fans. The rest of the world is getting this new series through the fairly conventionally available and “successful” NETFLIX subscription service and Bell Media.
BTW, what about Paramount’s demands that we buy a ticket for every viewing of a new Trek film in theaters, and their Epix subscription channel to view them after that?
STAR TREK fans have known from the beginning that OTA advertising sponsored Treks were crippled and caged by Standards and Practices’, and advertiser’s phobic nonsensical censorships, and that it would cost us to free it from that yoke.
My father was rather fond of a saying he attributed to W.C. Fields, “There’s no such thing as a FREE lunch.”
Hmmm…of all the Paramount distributed films listed in CBS’ ALL ACCESS only 2 are post split. I wonder if that says something about whatever hooks CBS has as the renamed old Paramount in the New Paramount’s movie archives?
Remember, Paramount and CBS had a big row over what CBS was willing to pay for Paramount film exhibitions on Showtime that led to the creation of Epix. It seems unlikely Moonves would pay the disputed higher rate for ALL ACCESS, but if he did, why aren’t the Bad Robot Trek flicks in ALL ACCESS’ offerings?
http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/04/21/paramount_set_to_end_movie_sales_to_showtime/