Netflix Just Axed Most of Its 'Star Trek' Catalog
This month, Star Trek fans may find that their favorite fictional universe looks a little bit smaller when they log onto Netflix. The streaming service lost most of its Star Trek content at the end of September, with licenses expiring and not being renewed. Fortunately, most of that content will immediately be available on Paramount+ instead.
As of Thursday, Sept. 30, Netflix no longer has Star Trek: The Original Series Seasons 1 through 3, Star Trek: Enterprise Seasons 1 through 5, Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 1 through 7 or the first installment of the recent movie adaptation trilogy, titled simply Star Trek (2009), For now, the outlet still has Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but with more and more companies calling their biggest intellectual properties home to their in-house streaming services, it may not last forever.
All these departures are a big loss for fans, of course, and for Netflix as well. It's most likely that the licensing deals on these titles are simply running out this month, and Netflix did not renew them. This has become more and more common lately as rights-holders develop their own in-house streaming services and then decide not to license their intellectual properties to platforms like Netflix.
In the case of Star Trek, that would be ViacomCBS, which now puts most of its own content on Paramount+ when possible. At the time of this writing, Paramount+ has its four recent original Star Trek series, Discovery and Picard, as well as the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy. It also has all of the original series, the animated series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, as well as several of the movies from throughout the years, including the recent Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond.
Star Trek is one of the most beloved American media franchises of all time — in or out of the science fiction genre. It depicts a future in the 23rd Century where humanity has become mostly peaceful and united and has begun dedicating vast resources to space exploration. It has often been lauded for its focus on curiosity and acceptance rather than conquest or even colonization.
By now, most Star Trek fans have likely found their way to Paramount+, but if not this may be the time. The streaming service has the largest collection of Star Trek content available via subscription. Otherwise, there are DVD collections or digital stores where you can find your favorite space-faring adventure.
Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.