Paramount Digital Entertainment to Close

[WxMurray 0]

As if we needed further reminding that the fate of Star Trek is a

tenuous one at best, it has been announced that Paramount Digital

Entertainment, the home to STARTREK.COM since 1996, is shutting its

doors as of 12/31/05.

 

As many of you now know, Viacom and CBS started trading as separate

companies today. The splitting of Viacom into two companies -- as

does any corporate maneuver -- comes at a great cost to personnel.

Needless to say, many here on the lot will be collecting their final

paycheck at the end of the year.

 

Oddly, one thing that hasn't been completely resolved is the

ownership of Star Trek. I know it sounds crazy, but it appears to be

true. We think CBS will be taking it over. (Even though it will be

forever identified as a Paramount product.) As a result of this lack

of clarification on the ownership of the franchise, the fate of

STARTREK.COM also hangs in the balance. As of this writing, we simply

do not know what is happening to the site, we just know that at the

end of the year we will be out of a job!

 

Rather than go quietly, we are in the midst of preparing a

presentation for the powers-that-be designed to show the vast scope

and depth to the site, and how it is a "go to" site for anyone in the

world in search of Star Trek information. STARTREK.COM is used not

only by fans of the show, but by licensees to promote their products,

various Paramount departments (including production), convention

organizers, news organizations, advertisers, etc. In other words, a

lot of people use the site, and it would be almost impossible to

assign it a monetary value.

 

Before we make our case, if you would like to write a testimonial

sentence or two that we can use in the presentation, it would be very

gratefully received.

 

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your support over the years.

This is a great franchise and it would be sad to see it sink into an

abyss of lost TV and movie franchises. I would like to think that we

could do better.

 

All the best,

 

Tg

 

 

Tim Gaskill

Editorial Director

Paramount Digital Entertainment

5555 Melrose Ave/MOB 1208

Hollywood, CA 90038

www.startrek.com

 

A comment from the people at STARTREK.com on their message boards:

The statement you quoted at the beginning of this topic is what we know at this time.

 

We haven't made any official announcement about the future of STARTREK.COM - because it's still up in the air. As soon as we have definitive information we'll share it with you.

 

We are grateful for your support, and hope you'll stick with us going forward.

 

If you have comments, please send them to [email protected]. :rolleyes:

 

The split of Viacom seems to be bringing about the end of Paramount Digital Entertainment, the arm the has put out Paramount DVDs and has run STARTREK.com. Will the site close? I doubt it. I suspect that once the split is complete and CBS takes control of Star Trek we will see a CBS Digital Entertainment that will handle things. I am not worried about this. Just optimistic.

[eagle 0]

Excellent report Murray..thanks .

[Joe Giliberti 0]

Eventually, we are going to be the only ones keeping it alive. The Communicator Magazine is stopping publication. God knows if Star Trek Online will ever see the light of day. This is a depressing time for Star Trek

[WxMurray 0]

Eventually, we are going to be the only ones keeping it alive. The Communicator Magazine is stopping publication. God knows if Star Trek Online will ever see the light of day. This is a depressing time for Star Trek

Keep in mind that Decipher halted publication of the magazine, not Viacom. Editor Larry Nemecek is working with the Lisencing department to find a new publisher. It will return.

[Elgor 0]

::Prays to whatever gods there are to save STARTREK.com and of course the rest of star trek::

I need to see a Star Trek: Enterprise movie i mean really how wlse will they fill the gaps

[Joe Mathews 0]

::Goes of crying to his new secert place::

[Captain Huff 0]

lol, oh ST will never die an easy death.

[Joe Mathews 0]

~from his secert place~you should read the mesage boards as of late the mods have been repeating them selves over and over again LOL

[Cadet Munro 0]

oh ST will never die an easy death.

Star Trek will never die with st fans on Star Trek Simulation Forum and other RPG's

[Guest Vulcan3324]

::nods::

 

It will definitely reduce the recruiting potential for STSF, however, and that's a shame.

 

::points at signature and coughs::

[WesleyMustDie 0]

Am I the only one who can't access ST.com? :rolleyes:

[WxMurray 0]

Am I the only one who can't access ST.com? :rolleyes:

I can get in. Their message boards have been insanely slow, though, and on their Ten Forward board you can't even get into topics.

[Atragon9 0]

Startrek.com will not go away, I heard this directly from the director of the site the other day.

 

It is true the Paramount Digital Entertainment is disappearing (in a typical, corporate, name thingy) but it is just a matter of which parent company will get the Star Trek brand and all accessories, such as the web site. It may be Viacom and it may be CBS, no one knows yet.

 

This may lead to a reworking of the site a little bit, when the change happens - but he and his staff are not out looking for new jobs.

 

 

[Joe Mathews 0]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT CBS ::cries:: had to find a way to hurt my ego

Edited December 11, 2005 by Joe Mathews

[Elgor 0]

Trek United will save it they saved Enterprise I mean really without them Archer and his crew would never get the glory of reruns like Jean-Luc Picard, James T. Kirk, and the rest did. So StarTrek.com will not die and hopefully it will have the same people.

TREK UNITED::Salutes to the invisible always present Trek United Admirals::

Edited December 11, 2005 by Elgor

[WesleyMustDie 0]

Nothing against the TUers among us, but people place far too much faith in Trek United. TU didn't save Enterprise by themselves; the non-TU fans did a lot too. And Trek United has NO CONTROL over what really happens to the Paramount-controlled Startrek.com site.

[eagle 0]

AGREED....there was as much from non-tu as there was from tu,it came

down ultimately to the basics..........a great PUBLIC outcry that in fact did

assist in the end results. :rolleyes:

[Connor 0]

AUGH! TREK CAN'T DIE! DON'T DIE! NOOOOO!!

[WxMurray 0]

Startrek.com will not go away, I heard this directly from the director of the site the other day.

 

It is true the Paramount Digital Entertainment is disappearing (in a typical, corporate, name thingy) but it is just a matter of which parent company will get the Star Trek brand and all accessories, such as the web site. It may be Viacom and it may be CBS, no one knows yet.

 

This may lead to a reworking of the site a little bit, when the change happens - but he and his staff are not out looking for new jobs.

 

 

That's what I keep trying to tell people on other message boards, yet no one seems to listen. No where did it say that STARTREK.com was going offline; just that it's current division, PDE, is being dissolved.

 

Nothing against the TUers among us, but people place far too much faith in Trek United. TU didn't save Enterprise by themselves; the non-TU fans did a lot too. And Trek United has NO CONTROL over what really happens to the Paramount-controlled Startrek.com site.

I am one of the TUers, and I completely agree with you. :rolleyes:

[FredM 0]

That's what I keep trying to tell people on other message boards, yet no one seems to listen. No where did it say that STARTREK.com was going offline; just that it's current division, PDE, is being dissolved.

Hey mates,

 

This is a critical point. Given the number of individuals online, plus the likely number of hits on the site itself, startrek.com will not vanish anytime soon. It's look may altar, it's design may change, features might shift and the people getting the paychecks may see a new letterhead...but this is like claiming that since the end of Star Wars III that starwars.com is going to vanish.

 

As for CBS or Viacom, I honestly don't know. I think it's interesting that Paramount Pictures just completed the purchase of Dreamworks. The Trek brand is still a very profitable one so I'm certain it is a top priority for those in the discussions.

 

People need to take a bloody minute and read what's actually online instead of making assumptions...something that happens far too often in this world.

[Atragon9 0]

Sorry to poke the embers of a fire almost completely cold, but there is new information on StarTrek.com

 

I spoke with STSF's contact today (the site's coordinating producer) and he pointed me to an announcement that may have slipped by some folks - their site is now a part of CBS Digital Media. Here is the information.

 

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news...icle/15237.html

 

Long Live StarTrek.Com!

 

[Cptn Corizon 0]

Actually I think this is awesome!

 

Maybe the next series will actually be on a network people watch...you know CBS. And since UPN isn't going to be around much longer anyway....

[Philip Carst 0]

Actually I think this is awesome!

 

Maybe the next series will actually be on a network people watch...you know CBS. And since UPN isn't going to be around much longer anyway....

I sure hope so. Some of us don't actually HAVE cable or satelite...