NOVEMBER 16, 2021 - International fans of Star Trek: Discovery found themselves facing big questions and palpable confusion as this week began when news started to emerge that Netflix, which has carried Discovery for international audiences since its first season, had not announced a premiere date for season four in the United Kingdom, despite the US premiere being just days away. Calls to Netflix UK yielded little news, as TrekCentral.com reported, but Tuesday afternoon the reason was made clear: Discovery was leaving Netflix internationally at midnight on November 16th. 

Deadline.com first broke the story Tuesday, revealing that Star Trek: Discovery would be exclusive to Paramount+ around the world, with the service rolling out in more and more countries over the next year. The official Star Trek Twitter account confirmed the news, adding, “We sincerely thank you for all your patience and support as we grow the Star Trek universe on Paramount+.”

As the day unfolded, it was clear this was a surprise to everyone, including the cast of Discovery. Anthony Rapp offered a sympathetic thread on Twitter, saying, “I don’t pretend to understand how these sorts of deals for international rights are made (or unmade). I will say I wish we all had been told that this was coming, so we could have braced ourselves, & then we could have helped spread the word to all of you.”

This decision follows on ViacomCBS’ announcement in August that Paramount+ would be coming to countries like Italy, Ireland, the UK, and the block known as GSA (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) in 2022 through entertainment network Sky. At the time it was speculated that existing deals for Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks would remain in place, but Tuesday’s announcement reveals another step in ViacomCBS’ plan to eventually bring all the franchise shows under their home banner. For now, Picard and Lower Decks remain on Amazon Prime outside of the US. No word yet about Star Trek: Prodigy, but it is reasonable to assume today’s announcement points to a Paramount+ release overseas as well.