‘Star Trek: Discovery’ To Premiere in September – First Season To Be Split

CBS announced today that Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on Sunday, September 24th at 8:30pm ET/PT (7:30 CT) on CBS. The first episode of Discovery will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network in the U.S. The series premiere will also be available on-demand on CBS All Access and the second episode of the series will be available on the service that same night immediately following the broadcast premiere.

CBS announced the news in an official tweet:

In Canada Star Trek: Discovery will premiere  on Bell Media’s CTV and the Space Channel on the same night and time as CBS in the U.S. (Sunday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT). The second episode will follow immediately afterwards, only on Space. Episodes will also be available on the fairly new Space GO app, as well as Space.ca and participating On Demand channels. Discovery will also stream in Canada on CraveTV, Bell’s streaming service, with full scheduling details to be released in the coming weeks.

Netflix will launch Star Trek: Discovery on Monday, September 25 to countries outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Netflix also had their own animated announcement.

Season 1 to be split

The first eight episodes of Discovery’s 15-episode first season will be available on CBS All Access (and Space in Canada) every Sunday between September 24th and November 5th, and on Mondays between September 25th and November 6th on Netflix outside the U.S. and Canada. The season will then resume on CBS All Access, Space and Netflix beginning in January 2018.

Note that, as the broadcast premiere on CBS falls on a Sunday, Discovery could be pushed back slightly due to NFL coverage. Viewers are advised to set their DVRs to record a few hours after Discovery’s premiere is set to finish at 9:30pm to ensure that you record the entire episode.

Updated show description focuses on one Starfleet officer’s journey

CBS has updated their official description of the show:

Star Trek: Discovery will follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters and new missions, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

The “one Starfleet officer” referred to in the blurb is presumably Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, reiterating that even though she isn’t the captain, she still is the lead character.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in the Star Trek: Discovery trailer

New poster and closer look at Discovery

Along with the announcement comes a new poster for Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery premiere poster.

As we noted before, the U.S.S. Discovery was not seen in the Star Trek: Discovery trailer released last month. But there is a version of the ship on the new poster. This may not be the final design, but here’s a closer look at it.

Close-up of U.S.S. Discovery from poster

UPDATE: report from CBS News

Here is a short report on the announcement from CBS news.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.

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Nice

So they’re going with that ship design, eh?

Yes, they’re going with the design they’ve been showing off for the past year. A big surprise, I know.

All of the previous images you refer to were early teasers/concepts. Since today’s image is associated with official air-date announcement, it seems to confirm the design choice. Now go get your shine box.

Certainly looks a lot better than that horrific and ill-advised “teaser” they released last year.

Agreed – I personally think it’s still too much of a leap from the Federation aesthetic.

From what we’ve seen, but what about ships we haven’t seen from any era? Take First Contact, so many new ships introduced, and most of them vastly different from each other, the only commonalities they share design wise are primary hull, secondary hull, and nacelles. Who’s to say TOS era only had dull grey coloured ships simply because that all we were shown?

Looks slightly Egyptian and since I love ancient Egypt I’m sold on the way it looks in the promo.

And most of the new ships introduced in First Contact looked like garbage (in my opinion). Steamrunner Class? Ugh. Akira was the only exception.

Who’s to say? Common sense. Tell me all about the last saucer shaped bright red U.S. Navy ship you saw.

Please tell me how it is a big leap from the various Federation aesthetics we’ve seen. It has a big saucer, a secondary hull, and two nacelles. That’s consistent with the Trek/Federation design aesthetic, if you ask me.

The delta wing assembly makes it look like an airplane. I think they are trying to make the ship more accessible to the masses, which I get. I just don’t care for it.

Honestly, I bet it was a matter of Trek-fan Fuller wanting to use a design with some history to it. I doubt it was about a ship more appealing to the masses. Because what could be more assessable to a mass audience than a TOS-era Enterprise?

The design was one of the original designs for the Enterprise by Ralph McQuarrie

No they were early teasers and concepts in the sense that they wouldn’t change much which had been said by Fuller other producers on several occasions lol. Do you not keep up with Discovery news. They said it would be tweaked here, a minor change there, but the overall shape wasn’t really going to change.

To be fair, Chad, we’re actually seeing less than half the ship here, only the top view. So much we’re NOT seeing, the nacelles could very well be quite different.

But like the producers said about some changes, I don’t see why anyone would have expected any major redesign. I always took their comments to mean there might be some tweaks, some new lines, a couple of changes, contour, color, and fine detailing.

Generally I’ve been surprised by the dislike of the McQuarrie design. When the teaser was first shown my mouth dropped– I thought it was REALLY cool how they went back into Trek’s past to find this design. I thought it was a GREAT idea, and I really anticipated fans being impressed.

Goes to show you can’t predict fandom.

Not everyone likes this design. Just like not everyone liked the reboot design. People have their opinions, and always will. But it is possible to have an open conversation about it without being snarky and defensive.

Your initial comment was oozing with snark, so maybe you should take your own advice. The condescending “oh they’re going with THAT design, after all?”

But it wasn’t directed at YOU. Apparently you chose to take it personally.

Personally? Did not take it that way. Just trying to point out the ridiculousness of your initial comment, and responded with the same tone as yours.

All the previous teasers and concepts had the same basic design. They said they’d be “tweaking” it, so is it really a surprise that they are going with this basic design?

No, it sounds to me like you didn’t like it and were holding out hope they’d change it.

I don’t get your reference to a shine box. I’m guessing a condescending insult. Good for you.

My god, a trekkie pissing match. Can you guys cool your egos for a nanosecond and pretend to be fans of the same universe?

There, I gave it a nanosecond– can I get back to my pissing match please?

Watch Goodfellas

The ship they showed in the teaser, was confirmed to be a RUSH JOB. The supposed redesign had new nacelles among other things. The above poster looks identical to the one from the teaser.

I don’t know guys my guess this is the ship. I mean the show now officially premieres in 3 months. When they showed the original ship it was almost a year ago now. How can you go nearly a full year and in its big publicity shots show practically the same ship before premiere?

There are probably some differences of course but it does look like the same basic design.

Identical? That claim is laughable, considering we can barely see anything outside of the basic overall shape.

There was no guarantee that the initial design was the design that they were ultimately going to run with. Not sure why you had to get snarky with Arathorn.

Right?

It was clear from day one that was going to be the ship– maybe with some minor tweaks. I’m not sure why anyone would expect anything drastically different, and to be surprised by what’s shown is just silly.

I wasn’t surprised, just disappointed. You’re a real piece of work aren’t you?

Disappointed despite seeing the same design in the poster three weeks ago?

Your admission of being disappointed says it all really. It has more to do with your dislike of design and hoping unreasonably that the producers would scrap a design simply to make you happy.

You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you?

Ha! Why does my disappointment with a design (that you personally had no hand in creating) upset you so much? I’m just stating an opinion. I never expected anyone to change anything based on my preference. Why would I? That’s psychotic.

It’s getting pretty late in the game though. I was holding out hope they’d get away from that delta-wing look.

With the show debuting in just three months I’m guessing that this is it. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting for the final design but I was hoping for something a bit different.

Ya know… I didn’t like the Galaxy class design, but it grew on me. Now it’s my favorite design of all the starships that have been designed by Trek artists.

I hope so. Never liked the Stage II design influence though. Looks like a delta wing air liner combined with a TOS Klingon battlecruiser.

And maybe there’s significance in that. Everything we’ve seen suggests that there will be a persistent Klingon presence on the show, we know that the pilot episodes involves a major discovery involving ancient Klingons and we’ve not (as far as I recall) seen any interior shots from the Discovery. I still think that the design will be explained by it being a hybrid ship created for an off book clandestine mission co-funded by both the Federation and the Klingon empire. The top secret nature of such a premise would also allow the Romulan problem to bypassed.

Interesting idea, but given established canon (which may be irrelevant at this point), I find such a project far-fetched. That would be like the USSR and the US building a ship together during the Cold War.

Again, all we know of the TOS era is what we have been told/shown. Is there no leap of faith with people like you? With an organization as vast as the UFP and Starfleet which makes USSR and US looks like microbes, who’s to say Discovery isn’t some kind of Fed/Klingon hybrid? You?

Yes, me. Based on common sense and established history. I’m not against what you are saying, I just find it unlikely. Relax.

I totally get your point but Klingon society is based on houses so it’s not inconceivable that the Federation could have forged an alliance with a progressive house. It’s a stretch I’ll grant you but the complex nature of Klingon politics and the fragile nature of Federation-Klingon peace in subsequent generations could provide a plausible explanation of why such an initiative remained classified.

Perhaps – we shall see :)

Well, we *did* have Apollo-Soyuz. And during the Sino-Soviet conflict, the US licensed civilian B-707 production to China. That’s perhaps the more relevant comparison, since cooperation between the US and China was inspired by common opposition to the USSR.

USSR and US space program cooperation occurred throughout the Cold War:

https://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle–Mir_Program

I agree– I remember someone telling me it looked like a melted version of the TOS ship (I as a kid didn’t really care).

Personally, I can take or leave the ship designs. They’re fun, and cool for toys and such, but as an adult now, my focus is on a good show.

But if I’m pushed, I’ll say the design of the Discovery is cool; good not great. I like that they’ve harkened back to something from Trek’s roots, in the McQuarrie design. Shows a certain respect for the source material and history of the franchise.

I hope there is a reasonable explanation for all that extra space in the body of the ship.

I like the USS Grissom-ish saucer design.

Finally! I can’t wait…. super excited to see what the first new trek series in decades is like. I have a good feeling about the show though, the only question left for me is whether it will debut on Netflix at three same time…

Netflix in the UK next day!

Glad to finally have a date! Really getting excited!

Glad to finally have a date! Really getting excited about the show!

I’m excited about it too. At this point I’m interested in the big picture not the little details like ship and set design, I’m sure it’ll be great…

Split first season is good. That suggests enough confidence that viewers will want to return after the holidays. It also give the series a chance to gain good word of mouth, and allow new viewers to binge the first 8 episodes during the holidays when they have more free time to devote to it, maybe even with some free All Access passes during the holidays as a way to attract new customers to sign up in the new year for the rest of the season.

I was under the impression that the episodes will air (actually, stream) weekly, which would not allow for binging.

And thats exactly why its important for CBS to create a really good series. this isnt just rushing cheap Trek to cable and enjoying advertising dollars by targeting the small but desirable Trek audience.

They need to attract subs who dont care about advertising to each other. They care about liking a show or not liking a show. The pressure is on CBS to create a great show. Im not saying they will but I think they really want to.

I think thats why Fuller was pushed out. I think Moonves wanted more oversight. Better effects, more money spent, more episodes commissioned. Those are all good signs.

We shall see.

@TUP

I do agree that CBS likely was shocked at what they were getting into with Fuller. When you look at American Gods, or even Hannibal, you can tell that he’s a very visual storyteller, and that creates a large financial burden on things like sets, costumes, props, and the overall pace of the production. Fuller has been tweeting BTS tidbits during each episode of American Gods, and I’m astounded at the amount of detail that can go into the simplest scene.

Equally as important, I think, was Fuller’s commitment to American Gods. Discovery was originally supposed to start shooting last September, but Fuller was involved in show running and writing for American Gods until they wrapped the first season in late October. I’m sure Fuller loved the idea of doing both shows, but practically it wasn’t going to work if CBS wanted to meet their January release date. CBS had announced Discovery and they weren’t going to keep pushing it back to accommodate Fuller. The transition after Fuller left pushed production back even more, and May was always an optimistic date to premiere the show.

As it appears they’re only shooting episode six now, there’s absolutely no way they could finish all 15 episodes by September, or even November. They seem to be running at a pace of one episode per month, whereas most shows that run 10-13 episodes usually finish two per month.

Yeah it interesting. id like to more about the Fuller split. Because there was speculation that Moonves didnt like the quality coming out and actually changed SFX providers to a better group.

Yes it will STREAM weekly but like every streaming site once the episode streams it will be left up there so if people want to wait until November they can join then and just watch the first eight episodes.

I fully plan to do just that– on 11/6, get my 1-week trial. If the show is good, I’ll gladly spend $10 a month come January. I’ll probably cancel after Discovery ends, but who knows, maybe I like the rest of their content.

Originally, I got Netflix back in 2010 I think so I could binge-watch LOST before the final season (had never seen the show). Ended up really enjoying the service and content and figured for $7 a month it was worth it to entertain my family, kids, etc.

Exactly, thats what they want you to do….and then get you hooked lol.

For example I actually signed up for Netflix 3 times lol. I watched the site the first two times for free and then cancelled (had two different credit cards). Then Daredevil came on and I decided to stop being a cheap skate and subscribed paying for that month BUT with the intent I would just cancel it after DD again. Only this time I didn’t and that was over 2 years ago now. Before I would just watch the shows I signed up to watch and never bothered after that. But then once I just got use to having it full time I really loved it because I searched out movies and shows I normally wouldn’t watch without it.

But there is nothing wrong if people want to just binge watch Discovery and cancel. Thats the contract, CBS knows this. They ALL know this, but notice they all make it super easy to sign up again even after you cancel. I was sure that Netflix would at least charge me for reactivating but nope. Its like I had never left and it was about a year since I used it.

This is why there are more and more chord cutters today. Streaming just makes everything easier and more in control. I don’t have to talk to someone over the phone trying to convince me why cancelling a movie channel is wrong and will be a curse on my kids. Streaming is just more ease and if the service isn’t up to your liking, cancel it and move on.

Thats what I can’t get about all this whining? They give you a FREE week to try it out. NO ONE is even being forced to pay to watch it from the beginning. If you try it for free and its not working, you still got to see the show for free and not paid a dime for it, so relax.

The free week is worthless. (Not sure this needs to be said but… from my perspective) Not sure what you can learn from having the service for a week. Most should know what they are getting when they sign up. Why do you need a week to determine it? Usually those freebies require you to actively cancel your account else it automatically starts charging. I’ve always felt it should be the other way around. Automatically cut it off. If the service is a great as they think it is, customers will WANT to make the effort to start being charged.

There are cord cutters because cable rates have gone up and up. Many people realize they probably watch the over the air channels more than the cable channels. If there are things on cable they want to watch (perhaps The Americans or Fargo) iand they are patient they can catch it on Netflix in the form of discs or streaming. Which is all fine. Everyone has their breaking point. I have friends who have cut their cords. I still haven’t as I still think I get a far better deal from cable. It’s subjective. But cable providers have indeed felt it. I haven’t cut the cord because I still find cable to be easier and I get more control. Plus, there are still things I enjoy that can only be found through cable. That may change in the future however. But it’s how it is now.

What you learn in a week is whether you want to keep it for another week…or two weeks…or month…etc.

I mean, that’s pretty obvious…

Also, here we have a guy who complains repeatedly about how streaming technology is crap and there has never been a good stream for anything. Claims he would only consider watching All Access if a group of friends go in for a $9 membership and share it. And now saying the FREE week preview is “worthless”.

Well it’s free. Do you now want CBS to PAY you to watch it?

For crying out loud, this is getting ridiculous with some people.

Dude… Why are you taking this off topic? You really want to go down THAT road again? Where you look like someone who just can’t let things go? Really?

Why would you know that AFTER you sign up for the service? Don’t you know what you are getting into BEFORE you sign up?

I follow WWE pretty closely (as I am in the same industry) and the retention thing is really fascinating. They have a lot of success with the free trial period in retaining X amount of subscribers. The number swing wildly but if you offer free trial quarterly and at the end, you retain any of those people, you’re slowly expanding your subscriber base.

One of the things that made Netflix explode was the free trial included in purchase of new TV’s. That was a HUGE HUGE thing/

I suggest people read Netflixed (especially ML31).

Dude… We know why they do the free trial with automatic starting after. Because most people will just not make the effort to unsubscribe. That is why they will NEVER automatically cut the service off and have the people actively subscribe to keep it going. You retain more subscribers that way.

I think a lot of people already know that. You come across less arrogant when you give people the benefit of the doubt.

I could swear I read that CBS has said you wouldn’t be able to do that. You can only binge if you were a subscriber for the period in which the episodes originally streamed.

I’d be curious to read that statement, because frankly, I’ve never heard of any kind of restriction like that on any service, and wonder what kind of coding that would require to implement in the UI.

Exactly, Torch. Its hilarious hearing the people talk about how terrible this is and how worthless it is etc.

I remember when no one got HBO (unless you loved boxing) and then Sopranos hit and people would get it for 13 weeks and cancel. And then other shows came out…

When the content is there to make it worth keeping, people will keep it. If its not, they wont. People are failing to see that this set up is the best chance for long term Trek on TV since probably TNG was syndicated. Its really really good for Star Trek.

The fact people want high quality Trek and complain about $7 a month is hilarious.

That’s an odd time for a “one hour” drama.

So it is a 60 minute premiere followed by a second 60 minute episode (give or take a few minutes with it being made for streaming)?

And would that mean Netflix and us Canadians will get two episodes that very night?

The 8:30 pm start time is because it’s falling an NFL football double header, which usually creates some overrun into the primetime hours.

@TUP,

Per the official Trek site viewers in Canada will get two episodes on September 24 on Space Channel, after that one episode every week.

@Ahmed – excellent. Thank you!

I think its a bit silly to air the first episode on TV in America but then the second episode on AA the same night. I guess its smart in a way it will force people to watch AA that night but at least we don’t have to wait a week for the second episode. And its still cool it will be a 2 hour premiere for everyone! And then we get 13 episodes after that. Not bad.

I suspect the first episode airs on a major cliffhangar with information to immediately subscribe to AA to see the conclusion.

Imagine if this existed for Best of Both Worlds. Riker orders “fire” and the screen fades to black with instructions to watch the conclusion online. It will be something like that, probably the Shenzhou blowing up.

Yeah you’re probably right. Its just crazy its being done this way. Again smart. And actually now that I think about it, no one is being forced to pay for the second hour since the firs week is free anyway.

But I think it would annoy people if it was a cliffhanger and THEN they are forced to watch the second half.

I meant pay to watch the second half.

I worry the problem with this show will not be it’s quality but distribution. Sunday premiere during the NFL Season followed by episodes streamed on CBS Access in the United States.

Sundays where CBS has the late NFL games are always nights where it has higher ratings and viewership.

Good point!

So, no two-hours pilot?

@John Duchak

“Only if you have All Access.”

Or live in Canada!

@ Ahmed: Or live in the rest of the world and have NetFlix.

I live in Canada and I don’t have cable.

@General Kael
Then you need to subscribe to Bell’s CraveTV streaming service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CraveTV
http://www.lfpress.com/2016/01/14/cravetv-now-available-to-all-canadians

Unless you have Space in Canada then its not automatic you can watch the show either.

I hope they rethink the 1 episode per week idea going forward after season 1. Let your viewers binge. It’s part of the main appeal of most streaming services.

@John Duchak

“I’d argue that the main appeal of streaming services are premium original content.”

Not sure why are you discounting binge-watching, it’s basically the main reason why people watch shows on streaming services like Netflix.

I do find the idea that CBS not only will release ‘Discovery’ episodes on weekly basis but also split the season is rather ridiculous.

I would suspect binging is the minority. Certainly, Id agree most people would watch a series quicker than one episode a week. But the people who sit down on premiere day and watch 12-15 episodes have to be in the minority.

I like having the option. I think we took three days to watch OITNB a couple weeks ago. Im still working my way through House of Cards.

As a Trek fan, I’d “Binge” Discovery but not 15 straight episodes. Probably over a long weekend. But you’d still have people who’d watch it over the course of a couple weeks, couple months.

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for a long time and rarely binge watch. Even with a relentlessly suspenseful show like “Breaking Bad” I managed to limit my intake to one episode per week, on the theory that if I’m really enjoying something, why not spread that enjoyment out?

Or, maybe I’m just getting old.

I feel I like I can remember a lot more of the show, and to some degree enjoy it more when stretched across day or even a couple weeks.

The biggest factor though is whether the show is a single story across the entire season or individual stand-alone stories. Stand-alone stories are just fine spread across a few months, but I’ve really grown to despise the single season story when it’s artificially split into weekly episodes. I still blame LOST for making that popular. Once all the episodes are available though it’s not bad if you can watch them across a week or two max.

Also, the binging thing works for Netflix because that was one of the big appeals of their service. They use it as a hook. HBO doesnt let you binge and never has. Works for them.

I think CBSAA might go the binge route eventually. But in the early going they need to spread out their fans. Until they build up their library of original content, anyway.

And for us Canadians who get it on cable, I imagine BELL would not want it fully released online while they were doing a one per week release.

HBO Now certainly does let you binge.

I think there is a gap over the definition of binging. What TUP means is that not all episodes are released at once. But ALL streaming sites allow binging once the episodes are up. We are really talking about the release schedule of weekly vs a season all at once.

Actually, not ALL streaming sites allow binging once the episodes are up. Where I live, The Leftovers is shown on Sky Ticket. However, they only allow streaming of new episodes for 1 month after initial broadcast. Since the season has 8 episodes in total (one every other week) you cannot wait until all episodes are up because by that time the first half of the season will be gone. I think they will do something similar for Game of Thrones when it airs in July.

I get you but again thats a bit different because Sky doesn’t own The Leftovers. I’m really talking about the pay sites and/or where the shows are licensed to run for a long time if not outright owned.

Thats why you PAY for those sites in the first place. But I understand your point, not everyone automatically does it but yes it probably gets trickier with sites that license shows vs the ones that owns them.

Yes, exactly what I meant.

Who has the time to binge-watch? An out of work Trumpkin?

Binge watching isn’t exclusively watching an entire season in one go. When Daredevil was first released I watch 3-4 episodes after work that Friday night, and the rest over the next week. Consider a normal show would be one episode a week, i’d say that still qualifies as bing watching.

I watched season one of LEGION on Hulu over the course of about two weeks.

I have never watched a show in its entirety in one sitting. I dont think most people have unless we are talking one season. I think most people just mean they watch a few episodes a day until they are done. That could be a week or a few weeks but my guess is that is what the average person does.

The first show I ever ‘binged watched’ was BSG a few years ago. I saw the first episode and was hooked lol. I watched it every hour of the day I could. I stayed up late every night to watch it. The entire weekend I did nothing but watch it. And even then it took me a little over 2 weeks to watch it all and that was only a four season show.

What is that sound! :)

Tapered pylons instead of a solid triangle. Better. Now, just take the roulette slots off the saucer section.

I should say, the pylons look more tapered or streamlined, not as bulky as the teaser video and not the Aztecs in Space look of the 70’s design.

Although if u look u can clearly see the “Aztec designs” all over the ship similar to other ST ships. I would fall out of my chair if they put a ball-shaped laser cannon in the middle of the roulette and it slid around the saucer to shoot at targets……lol

I like the overall silhouette. Surface aztecing is a bit much, but this is still an “artist interpretation.” Very interesting…

Woo hoo! I’m very psyched for the new show!

The announcement on the Star Trek home page says that Star Trek Discovery will include a “Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.” I gotta say, that sounds as if it could be the thoughtful Trek I’ve been hoping for!

I’m curious about the show so I’ll fork out for the CBS All Access on this one but that ship is still ugly.

‘Discovery’ schedule for Canadians:

==========================

Space Channel will launch the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery on Sunday, September 24 at 8:30 PM ET. The first eight episodes will run from Sunday, September 24 through Sunday, November 5. The season will then resume with the second chapter in January 2018.

Every episode will also be available to Space subscribers on the newly launched Space GO app, in addition to being available on Space.ca and participating On Demand channels. Star Trek: Discovery will also stream exclusively in Canada on CraveTV, with full scheduling details to be released in the coming weeks.

http://www.startrek.com/article/star-trek-discovery-sets-premiere-date

Yay! I use CraveTV. Actually all I use is Netflix and CraveTV and iTunes. Who needs cable?

@General Kael,

How’s your experience with CraveTV? I was planning to get it because of ‘Discovery’ but heard some complaints about their service, UI and limited library content.

I haven’t signed up for it yet, but I have friends who use Crave more than Netflix. Their app works with Chromecast, so that’s their primary UI. Library content is actually impressive, if you accept their focus is ‘TV shows’ & not movies. 9 seasons of Doctor Who, all Trek, X-Files, Twin Peaks, Smallville, Dead Like Me, Agents of SHIELD, The Expanse, Orphan Black, Class… and that’s just from their Sci Fi section.

The only complaints I’ve heard is that they make it hard to cancel the service after the free trial.

With subscriptions to Netlfix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime I’m not willing to pay for CBS All Access just to watch a new Star Trek series – – and I’m a huge Star Trek fan. After waiting this long for a new series I can wait another year until it starts streaming elsewhere in the U.S. on a service I’m already subscribing to.

Yah. Let’s see you maintaining that resolve after the first few episodes air and the reviews turn out to be fantastic! :)

Let’s hope they don’t expire the episodes after 5 weeks (until just before season 2)
or something the way CW and other cable channels do.

Jeff thats apples and oranges. The ENTIRE reason for AA is the idea that their content will be up all the time forever. Thats reason why you pay in the first place. CBS is trying to keep a domain where ALL their shows can be viewed all in one place at any time, ala Netflix and Amazon.

The issue with CW for example is they have a deal with Netflix (and maybe others) in place and where most of their shows run after the season ends. Thats why so many of those expire because they have deals with other streaming companies to run those reruns. And you don’t pay for those streaming sites like you do AA, they are included free if you already have the channel and obviously everyone access to CW site if they live in America.

In Discovery’s case there will be nowhere else to watch it BUT All Access. Thats the point, it will be exclusive to that site only so it will have to be available to viewers all year, especially if you want to get new viewers throughout the year.

And just for reference, all episodes of The Good Fight have all 10 episodes up to watch anytime.

It is a Streaming service. CBS could easily flag your account that you can only watch one previously unviewed episode each week unless you were already a subscriber at the time the episode was released. I suspect they’ll do exactly that.

Based on what?? WHo does that now? Why are people so concerned CBS is trying to screw everyboday lol. Unless Netflix, Amazon or Hulu does anything like that, I have no idea why CBS would? Especially in tough competition. You want them to have all the access to all the shows. That is the ENTIRE point of paying. Who would subscribe to a streaming site but then have limits of how many times you can watch an episode? Whats the point?

Id be surprised if they did that. Its the same for other services. You can take the Netflix free month and binge your favorite shows and cancel.

You can get WWE Network for free for 3 months and watch WrestleMania and then cancel. But the numbers show that while X amount always cancel, they always retain some of the freebies so their over-all subscriber base slowly increases over time.

I think a lot of people who watch Netflix occasionally end up keeping it just because the price point is such that its easier to keep it then to cancel and re-subscribe over and over again.

I understand the people who say they already pay for 2 or 3 services. In that respect Streaming is becoming an expense rather then a way to save money by cable cutting. But this is the way its going.

It will all be delivered this way eventually and the prices will eventually work themselves out.

A lot of the regular cable channels were Pay TV channels when they launches years ago and eventually got transitioned into regular packages. Perhaps one day, an Internet Provider can offer a “streaming package” where for one fee, you get access to various streaming services.

This business model is the best chance Trek has had since TNG was syndicated. It has the opportunity to create a strongly budgeted, strongly supported premium-style TV show that lasts years and years.

” Perhaps one day, an Internet Provider can offer a β€œstreaming package” where for one fee, you get access to various streaming services.”

Color me stunned. You’ve just displayed the ability to understand something I’ve already said. I’ve been saying that for years now. For many months on this site in various threads. And here you are parroting back my concept.

I highly doubt they’ll make Discovery available on Hulu or Netflix or Amazon. It’ll surely be on DVD/BR, but I unless it flops I don’t see them flipping it onto another service.

But all three of those services, btw, are just $30/m. That’s still less than a quarter of the average cable bill!

Once an episode arrives on All Access does it stay there? Or… Can I wait until the entire season is there, pay for one month (or free trial) and binge it?

I can’t wait. All access or not. Just happy to have Trek back.

So basically, they passed on the opportunity to air the first episode on the 6th of September?
I guess that after the lacklustre celebration of the 50th anniversary last year, I shouldn’t be surprised. Still, it’s a shame.

It’s a shame. I do want to watch this show, but I’m not getting a streaming service for it. I have enough of them.

I’d wager your attitude, Bringback, is not unique. I’ve encountered a number of people who feel the same way. In my humble opinion, cbs is making a mistake with the streaming ONLY aspect of the show. The more I hear about this the more it reminds me of the DIVX fiasco from 20 years ago. But time will tell….

They should just give it away for free. If they really want lots of people to see it, give it away. Sure, it would be cancelled after one episode because it made no money, but hey, thats not important.

I’d be interested to find out how many hundreds and thousands of dollars some of these people have tied up in memorabilia, yet are unwilling to pay $6/month to watch the actual namesake show.

My lunch cost me $8-10 a day. Its amazing how much whining over a site that’s A. The price of a Starbucks frap B. Don’t have to sign up all year for and B. Can cancel any time.

And again, first world problems because if you are THAT bothered then just cancel Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or whatever you have for a month and sign up to AA. If your budget is THAT tight, this isn’t rocket science. I laugh at people who treats these streaming sites like its cable as if you have a 2 year contract with these channels. Its a month long agreement, thats IT!

And yet people act like they are suddenly taking on a whole new responsibility over it. This is probably the best way to put it. With cable, you are leasing to watch those channels. With streaming, you are renting it. Thats the difference. One requires a longer term contract, the other gives you more options how long you want to keep it but its a lot more temporary.

I’m sure they could get commercial advertisers to pay if the show is good and drew numbers on the broadcast side. That would still be free in as much as Scorpion and MacGyver are free.

Jeff there are now over 70 shows that are exclusively streaming shows and that number naturally gets higher every year. Probably within the next 5 years that number will double. This is the future. Actually its the present.

And sure they could do that, the issue isn’t JUST about commercial advertisers, its the way people watch the shows today and sadly most ads make the most of their money when a show is aired live but time delay viewing is becoming a bigger issue meaning that shows are making less and less money on networks….thanks to streaming. They are trying to think ahead of the curve. Network TV is not going away but in another decade it will look different than today.

@Jeff then why do Netflix and Amazon bother with their original shows? If they’re good and draw viewers, couldn’t they get advertisers and put them on broadcast TV?

Apples and oranges torch. Netflix is a streaming service. Not a broadcast network. The only way they can get their programming out there is on their own stream. CBS, on the other hand, has not only other cable channels that are readily available, but they have an over the air network in place. They have many options to get this thing out there and still turn a profit.

@ML31 and CBSAA is a streaming service, not a broadcast network.

Im flabbergasted that so many people fail to comprehend this. You just want a Trek TV show delivered in the way that is cheapest and easiest for you. Think!

AND… It’s part of the Columbia Broadcasting System. They have arms in a lot of media. Including Showtime networks as previously mentioned. CBSAA is not a standalone company not affiliated with anything else. I’m stunned anyone still thinks that.

(Notice I am not adding some childish put down here crying about what someone wants when the reality is I have no idea)

@Jeff – that’s not the business model. Im sure Netflix could get advertisers for OITNB too but thats not their model.

The future is streaming. CBS is trying to get on that train before its too late. This is a great thing for Star Trek

No one said anything about free, Henny Penny.

Same difference. Also, good work with the rhyming. You’re evolving.

So… Claiming they should give it away for free is the same thing as no one saying they should give it away for free….

OhhhhKaaaaayyyyy……

We should probably remember: CBS didn’t commit to a Star Trek show, and then decide to air it on their streaming service. CBS committed to their streaming service, and then decided a Star Trek show would be a good way to induce a huge existing fan base to subscribe.

Not surprising at all that they will split the season. Never considered that tactic on CBS’s part.

How is it a tactic? Its pretty common. Especially if the series airs on Sundays, they will be taking the football season off.

I realise you assume CBS is always out to get you but geez

@TUP,

‘How is it a tactic? Its pretty common.”

Nope. Neither Netflix nor Amazon split their original show. They didn’t do it with ‘House of Cards’ the Marvel shows or ‘The Man in the High Castle’. CBS is treating ‘Discovery’ as it is still a network TV, which it’s not.

Yes but all those shows are released at once so it is very different. CBS is treating this show more of a network show airing it weekly but I guess because it is a network. So in that sense it IS pretty common for CBS but that said The Good Fight and Big Brother were all released weekly without any breaks so it is odd.

AMC and HBO have split their seasons. Just because Netflix doesn’t, doesn’t mean it isn’t common.

@Trek fan 67,

Apples and oranges. Unlike Netflix and Amazon, AMC and HBO are TV cable channels and not streaming services.

Doesnt really matter. its common within the TV industry. They want the focus on their show not Football, not the Holidays. It creates hype (The Walking Dead really creates a sense of anticipation for both the season premier and mid season premier).

You all realize that if they didn’t split the season then we’d likely have to wait until January for them to release it in full, right?
Personally, I’d rather be watching in September…

Exactly nscartes!

I think what CBS isn’t telling us is that all the episodes simply won’t be ready in time so this what they are doing instead. Now that may not be the case but since we all know at this point this production has been pretty chaotic to say the least they might be afraid not everything will be ready or just give themselves some breathing room to finish up the remainder episodes.

But no at this point I wouldn’t be surprised. The show has already been delayed 9 months and its clear they didn’t want to delay a third time no matter what.

It also gives them the opportunity to milk a few more subscriptions. Most will not stop subscribing for the break. Fairly clever on their end.

It kinda does matter. Streaming product has always been treated differently than the over the air product. It’s quite common for there to be breaks in a season over the air. They also have 20-24 episodes a season. The cable series’ and streaming shows have much less and the streaming shows (as far as I can see among those few that have been released weekly) do not have in season breaks. Most cable series’ will not have in season breaks. There have been rare exceptions but it has not been the norm. In the cases I have seen they have officially said it was the 2nd half of a season but the break was so long it pretty much felt like the next season to the viewer. So in that respect, there is little difference I guess…

It’s pretty common for broadcast tv. Not for steaming shows. It is a tactic designed to minimize subscribers from joining just for Trek, then canceling. Most will probably not go through the hassle of canceling during the break only to join up again later.

You don’t realize anything of the sort. No one is saying cbs is out to get anyone. Only that this is a move designed to keep subscribers for a little longer. It suggests a fear that they will not have enough content or content of worth for the Trek subscribers to stick around. It’s really pretty obvious. Even for those who do not follow the industry that closely.

Exactly, its pretty common.

This is a CBS project and they likely see the benefit to not showing new episodes during a heavy TV period like Football season or a down period like the holidays. Makes sense.

People are free to cancel whenever they want so its not some nefarious plot to trick you into subscribing longer. You might fall for it, others wont. And yet even more might not get so antsy about the few bucks a month and keep the sub.

It is not indicative of fear at all. if they dont have content after 15 weeks to keep a sub, they dont have content after 8 weeks either. Whats the difference?

You really dont understand.

Did you even read what you were responding to?

“Exactly, its pretty common. ”

No, I said it was NOT common for streaming.

“This is a CBS project and they likely see the benefit to not showing new episodes during a heavy TV period like Football season ”

And yet the first batch of episodes will do exactly that.

“People are free to cancel whenever they want so its not some nefarious plot to trick you into subscribing longer.”

I wouldn’t call it nefarious. But it is a business tactic designed to retain more subscribers than they would have. It’s because most people are lazy. They won’t unsubscribe for the break. Some will. CBS know this. Go back to the days of over the air programming… They would schedule a show to premiere after a very popular one. Why? Because back then people were too lazy to change channels. There was an audience retention in doing so. Similar concept here. It’s the same reason companies offer freebies that automatically start charging. They get more money that way.

If you still don’t understand I can try to explain it in a different way…

This is common. Practically every TV show on the broadcast side takes the Christmas season off and returns in January. This probably also gives them more time to complete the final few episodes of the season.

@Jeff,

‘Discovery’ is NOT a broadcast show, it’s streaming show therefore it is not common at all to split a streaming show.

Netflix split The Getdown into two chunks.

β€˜The Get Down’ was an outlier and Netflix canceled it after just one season.

Really? Did not know that. And thats odd for Netflix since all their shows are released at once. So do they release one half of the season in one swoop and the other half later?

I’m not sure cancelling The Get Down can be attributed to splitting the season. The split also had a narrative reason, as the second half took place more than a year later within the story.

According to Deadline, one of the primary reasons for the cancelation was director Baz Lurhman’s unwillingness to commit to being full-time director on a second season, something both Netflix and Sony were adamant about.

@Ahmed,
AMC & HBO have split seasons too. Just because netflix doesn’t split their season doesn’t mean it isn’t common place.

Personally, I hate split seasons. On television it feels to me like a manufactured way to create buzz, as season premieres and finales tend to draw more viewers. So hey, create and market a “mid season finale” and “mid season premiere” and now we get FOUR instead of two!

For streaming, you might think that might not matter, but considering a LOT of people show up on day one to binge watch, the split season for Trek provides TWO opportunities (at the end of the 8th week, and end of the season) to pay for one month and binge watch the half seasons.

I think it’s more to avoid traditional downturn in TV viewership over the Holidays.

Or to combat the issue of diminishing returns when you inevitably play repeats. Its a new way to do that…by building to a mid season finale and then going away and coming back with hype.

Its always been this way, even when a season was 24+ episodes. They’d air a few, then repeats, then a few more, then pre-empted for something, then repeats, then a few more.

I have no issue with it.

There are series that are barely 8 or nine episodes long, especially in the world of premium series’. So in a way we’re almost getting two season’s in one.

“I think it’s more to avoid traditional downturn in TV viewership over the Holidays.”

It’s streaming. That sort of thing is not really an issue. I guess there is less watching over the holidays but people can still watch when convenient for them. Wasn’t that part of the beauty of streaming? So there is no reason to break the season for holidays or the NFL or whatever. Just keep ’em coming. Subscribers will watch when and where they like. The main reason for the break is to retain subscribers for a bit longer. There are other reasons sure. But that is certainly an important reason.

BTw.. Just because you are incapable of explaining your twisted views doesn’t mean other people aren’t capable of explaining how they think to me. Most of the time, I get where the other person is coming from. If not, I ask questions. And am civil to them.

Dont try to explain anything to ML31. He doesnt get it.

It’s not a broadcast show, but it’s being released on a weekly basis like one, instead of all at once. It’s common for weekly released shows to take the Christmas season off when they are following the Fall premiere schedule. Unless of course they actually run out of episodes or fail.

The thing that nobody has mentioned is that splitting a season allows the production to ‘get ahead’ of the broadcast schedule.

It’s been widely covered that they only have about 6 shows in the can at the moment. If they didn’t break in November, they would run out of finished episodes to show. The break gives them time to finish post on the remaining batch of shows. The Netflix model would require them to complete the whole thing before anything is seen.

Plus, I doubt CBS wants to wait that long to see if they have a hot property or a dud on their hands. If it’s an abysmal failure, they could scale back the remaining episodes, cutting post budgets, etc, so that they could get out as cheaply as possible. Hopefully that’s not how this plays out, but I’m sure the CBS board of directors would like that option.

Also lets not forget they added two additional episodes that weren’t planned until later. They are clearly taking their time with this show and thats a GOOD thing people. CBS wants it done right because they know if they blow this both AA and the future of Trek in general could be in trouble. Let’s just be happy that they are trying to turn out the best product they can and based on the trailer for ME anyway it looks like they are headed in the right direction even if I don’t love it all.

I like how they incorporated tiny delta shields in the gold inset at the sides of the uniform top (Kind of like the tiny deltas included on the uniform tunics on the
Kelvin timeline reboot). Not crazy about rank “pips” on the actual delta badge worn on the uniform – probably better to denote rank on the sleeve if this is a TOS prequel …

“… learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.”

Okay… OKAY! Now we’re cooking. That line is Star Trek in a nutshell.
Can’t friggin wait.

Excited for the show. The skin of the ship looks cool, but that shape. Good night that’s fugly.

Yeah its sadly still very ugly. I guess we’re stuck with it.

Enterprise D is one ugly ship. Always has been. Too top heavy. Hated the design when it came out, so did a lot of people.

OK? That still doesn’t change the fact many think this ship is ugly as sin.

Yea I dislike the silly triangle too. At least its similar to traditional designs with the saucer and nacelles. Maybe it will grow on us.

It brings perspective, though, I’ll admit. While many (like me) love the Enterprise D, this goes to show that many ships throughout Trek are not beloved.

And to me this says “get over it, it’s not some travesty and doesn’t mean the show will be bad.”

At best it could also be interpreted as “even the worst designs will grow on you.”

I was not a fan of the Enterprise D. I thought the rounded nacelles looked like the back end of an ’87 Ford Taurus. Not a good aesthetic.
This ship looks a little better IMO, but is no where near as pretty as the Enterprise Refit/Enterprise A. That ship was gorgeous!

Probably no need to set the DVR or pay attention to the broadcast premiere if it’s streaming online also.

I mean there’s really only two view points I can think of:
1. you are fine paying their monthly fee for streaming, in which case why bother with the commercial filled recording.
2. you do mind paying, in which case why get interested in the first episode if you aren’t going to watch the rest.

People still use DVR?

Yeah. For OTA and some live shows.

Yeah. The DVR is awesome. The only thing I ever watch “live” anymore are sporting events. All non sporting events are recorded. It’s great zipping past commercials and watching stuff when it’s easy and convenient for me.

So wait? CBS might delay the first new Star Trek episode in over a decade to show a football game? Football’s on all the time. Football fans can miss one game for the premiere of Discovery.

The right s to air football games costs more than making Discovery

Their football ratings are huge though. And this is a tactic networks do all the time, air their big football premieres with a new high profile show in the hope the audience who watches football stay for the show. They do that with the Superbowl every year. So this is CBS way of trying to get huge viewership, especially when Sundays are generally a big night of TV watching in general. If they aired it Friday at 9, that wouldn’t be a great sign lol.

Yeah, but they could end the game early for Star Trek.

LOL I don’t think you work in TV. ;)

Them airing it after a big nationally televised game on a Sunday is a big deal, and shows they have confidence in the show– or at least they are placing a lot of importance on it being seen. It’s a highly coveted prime time spot, so devoting it to Trek is actually pretty cool if you ask me.

Exactly! This is a big positive not a negative. It shows CBS is pulling out all the stops. And lets not forget they are going to advertise this thing to death. Star Trek and football, two great American institutions. ;)

A lot of younger people like myself tend to watch shows on catch up or record for later. I myself quite rarely watch tv live anymore. I hate the adverts as much as anything else!

the ship looks more like a pizza cutter lol

I hope that’s not the final design because it’s awful. Doesn’t fit with other ships in that era.

And that’s a good thing!

For f***’s sake, couldn’t they just NOT? The whole “promise them a prequel and then totally shaft them on that” thing wasn’t enough when they did it with Enterprise? Wasn’t enough when they did it with JJTrek? They’re gonna do it AGAIN?

Can’t wait 😊 I was a teenager when Srar Trek first came on TV never missed it . And all the shows that came in between now I am going to be watching a new show with my Grandkids how cool is that. Always a Fan!!!