Paramount+ has been the "home" of Star Trek for several years now, but the home is starting to need a lot of work. Until Starfleet Academy makes its debut, probably some time in 2026, only one Star Trek series, Strange New Worlds, will be airing on the streaming channel after Paramount+ cancelled both Discovery and Lower Decks. Though the channel still houses all of the other series, including Star Trek: The Original Series, new Trek is looking a little scarce.
There is a new workplace comedy by Tawny Newsome and Justin Simbien in development, but that hasn't been picked up. And in 2023, Paramount+ cancelled one of its biggest fan-driven series, Star Trek: Prodigy which found another home at Netflix. By now, everyone knows that the reason we've lost some Star Trek shows is because of finances. Paramount+ hasn't been making any money so it doesn't have it to spend on Trek.
While Skydance will finalize its merger with Paramount Global in September of this year, there will still be a lot of loose ends to tie up before Star Trek will become a priority. Though David Ellison, who will head up what will be called New Paramount, says they are "committed to energizing the business," according to a statement posted by Careerhub, we probably won't have a clear outline what that means for Trek for quite a while. In the meantime, Star Trek is dwindling, especially if Paramount+ keeps to its tradition of cancelling shows after five seasons. That will leave only one left for Strange New Worlds.
An influx of money is a positive sign for Paramount; however, there's no guarantee how much of that will be used to finance future Trek shows. There are other streaming channels, though, that have the resources and know the fanbase of the Star Trek franchise. It just makes sense for Paramount to spread the wealth so to speak.
The first season of Star Trek: Discovery was partially financed by Netflix so that begs the question why can't Paramount consider partnering with other streaming channels again? Does it really matter if Paramount owns the name "home of Star Trek" as long as money is being made and new series are being brought to the fans?
Maybe Sundance will be able to put more resources toward Star Trek, or the executives could decide to branch out into new entertainment that has nothing to do with Trek. Whatever the case may be, it's beyond time for Star Trek, both new and old, to be in more than one place at more than one time. Paramount has proven that trying to keep a monopoly on the franchise hasn't worked. Hopefully, with Skydance coming on board, they'll see why the franchise needs to diversify.