The story
Ten years before Kirk's famous voyages, Starfleet officer Michael Burnham takes a drastic decision at a fateful moment and is blamed for igniting a war with the Klingons. Court-martialled and disgraced, she gets an unexpected second chance aboard the USS Discovery, a ship testing a radical new way to travel. As its crew push their technology to the limit, their missions eventually carry them far beyond the era they know.
Why it matters
The first Star Trek series built for streaming, Discovery was CBS's bet that a beloved franchise could sell subscriptions, and its premiere delivered record sign-ups for CBS All Access. It became the most-viewed original on both All Access and Paramount+, and launched a wider streaming revival including Strange New Worlds.
Born online
The series premiered on 24 September 2017 on both CBS and CBS All Access: the first episode aired as a "preview broadcast" on the CBS network and was released on CBS All Access the same day together with episode two. All later episodes were streaming releases, on CBS All Access and then Paramount+, as the service was renamed in 2021.
Notable facts
- It was the first series developed specifically for CBS All Access and the first new Star Trek series since Enterprise ended in 2005. (source)
- Its premiere gave CBS All Access its biggest day, week and month of sign-ups. (source)
- Outside the US and Canada, Netflix streamed each episode of the first three seasons within 24 hours of its US debut. (source)
- At US$8–8.5 million per episode, its first season was one of the most expensive TV series ever made. (source)