I’ve wondered if and when this was coming, but Paramount+ is going global next year. As a result of this Star Trek: Discovery leaves Netflix for good and European fan will have longer to wait for Season 4. Yep, Paramount are going to try and compete with the likes of Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime as global streaming brand. As reported by Deadline:

The UK, Germany, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland will be among the first markets to stream Discovery on Paramount+ of the more than 20 countries the platform is available in outside of North America. ViacomCBS has said that as part of an accelerated expansion, it anticipates being in about 45 markets within the next year or so – and, of course, a high-profile brand like Star Trek will lead that charge.

Given that Star Trek: Discovery was partly funded by Netflix to acquire those overseas rights, a deal had to be agreed.

In a just-closed deal between ViacomCBS and Netflix, the Shari Redstone-controlled company has ended the lucrative financial arrangement that launched Discovery back in 2017. In broad strokes, the bargain that then-CBS head honcho Les Moonves made with Netflix saw the latter paying the vast majority of Discovery‘s hefty budget for the overseas rights. With the top-tier IP fully back in the fold, the plan is for Discovery to take flight on Paramount+ around the globe starting next year.

However Season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery premieres on Paramount+ un the U.S. on November 18th. Yeah, tomorrow. It could be months before Paramount+ is available legally in Europe and elsewhere and you know what that means? Piracy for everyone!

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This was similar to the launch of The Mandalorian on Disney+ before the platform was available in Europe. That was a brand new show and still it was heavily pirated because fans had no access. All those European fans of Discovery are not just going to stop talking on social media about the show for six months. Remove themselves from fans groups that love the show and theorize on it. They’re all either going to illegally pirate the show or illegally subscribe to the American version of Paramount+.

I get it’s tricky to go global, but I wish a company would for once not make their European fan base suffer. Why not just delay the show till global launch, or keep the show on Netflix until the day Paramount+ is launching? If Paramount thinks this will make people rush out and subscribe, I’m not so sure?

I’ve certainly no intention of subscribing to a fourth different streaming service full time. I’ll probably pick it up for a month, binge watch any shows and then drop it again. Unless of course, in the future Paramount + can compete with the other three consistently. Out of those big three, I have to say the first one getting dropped, if I need to, will be Netflix. I watch around 3-4 shows a year on Netflix, slightly more on Amazon and a lot more on Disney+. However it’s also the whole family, not just me to account for.

What do you think of the news Paramount+ is going global next year and that Star Trek: Discovery leaves Netflix for good? As always, leave any thoughts below.

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