Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back and better than ever.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returned to Paramount+ on June 15th, and it quickly soared up the charts, racking up the viewing minutes to an astounding 338 million, which is Nielsen’s metric for streaming. That put it squarely in the number seven spot on the Nielsen Top Ten Original Streaming Programs (via Trekmovie), and the only Paramount+ original to occupy the charts for the week of June 12-18.
The last time a Star Trek series appeared on the chart was back in May when the Star Trek: Picard finale placed ninth. So far, no other Star Trek series has made the chart since Nielsen began tracking streaming shows last year.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds making the chart is a good sign and not just for the series.
With all the recent upheaval of the Star Trek shows, including the cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Discovery and the change from a Section 31 series to a movie, the franchise needs some strong support. Viewer numbers like these are a positive way to show Paramount+ that the fans are still here.
Of course, we know that the production of any Star Trek series is expensive so that comes into play despite the number of viewers. While we may not have as many series going forward, it’s almost a sure bet we’re going to be seeing Strange New Worlds for a while as right now as it’s Paramount+’s flagship Star Trek franchise property. And besides Lower Decks, it’s the only property currently still on the channel’s radar, even though Starfleet Academy has been greenlit. With both the WGA and SAG strikes, there’s really no way of knowing when we’ll see that series come to fruition.
We’re down to only six episodes remaining of this new season of Strange New Worlds, but a lot can happen in six weeks, and we might just receive some good news before the season finale yet!