As I overheard a fan saying at this year’s Italian Global Series television festival in Rimini, Star Trek was one of the first TV franchises that you had to own physically in order to see the entire thing.
With so many different iterations of the overarching IP — from the classic 1960s series to Star Trek: Voyager, and more recent additions such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — it’s not surprising that this has been the case for almost 60 years.
But the rise and dominance of streaming services is leading to an increasing reliance on digital services. After all, why spend more of your hard-earned money on discs when so much of Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+ at the click of a button?
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However, with season 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy still not having a confirmed release date for Blu-ray, 4K and DVD formats, we’re reminded of the reason why physical media is still important.
There’s often no guarantee that a show or movie will always be available on a streaming service or in a digital format, meaning the only way to guarantee access to content you want to watch time and time again is buying a physical copy.
But if the studios behind shows such as Starfleet Academy don’t confirm physical-media release dates, what then? Should Star Trek fans be worried that the opportunity to invest will be taken away from them?
According to Jeri Ryan, who played former Borg drone Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Picard, it’s unlikely that this will be the case — even if the ‘tech bros’ are intent on taking over mainstream studios.
‘There’s a sheer number of collectors who want to have the physical thing’
“I haven’t actually heard about this, but I can’t imagine that physical media will go away entirely, because there are too many collectors,” Ryan replies when she’s asked about Star Trek’s physical media presence potentially disappearing.
“These studios are primarily IP companies. More so than ever now that all of the studios have basically been taken over by tech bros as opposed to creatives. It’s about dollars, and numbers, and if there’s money to be made. I think there probably always will be just by the sheer number of collectors who want to have physical things in their possession.
“I can’t imagine that it would get entirely done away with. Maybe I’m wrong… I hope I’m not.”
This isn’t the first time that Ryan has been outspoken about the entertainment industry’s relationship with technology. In April 2026, she testified in support of California Senate Bill 1050, which would “target false advertising by requiring clear and conspicuous consumer disclosures whenever a synthetic digital performer is used in state advertisements.”
Ryan’s certainly right in thinking that many factors, from over-reliance on streaming services to the increased use of AI, could affect the future of the Star Trek franchise in ways we haven’t even imagined yet.
But for physical collections, I’ve got a feeling that Ryan’s optimism when it comes to demand means these releases won’t be going anywhere. But if Paramount could hurry up and announce a disc release date for Starfleet Academy to put our minds at ease, that would be great.
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jasmine.valentine@futurenet.com (Jasmine Valentine)
