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'Star Trek: Voyager' gets an unofficial 4K remaster thanks to AI
As with Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager is unlikely to ever get an official high-resolution remaster. The effects were shot on video rather than added to film after the fact, making it much harder to upgrade the quality than it was for The Next Generation. However, an unofficial project might get relatively close. Series fan Billy Reichard has started processing Voyager with a machine learning program that upgrades that '90s era image quality as much as possible. You won't forget that the show was made for tube TVs given the aspect ratio, but the AI is surprisingly effective -- it produces something you probably wouldn't mind watching on an idle afternoon if you're a Star Trek devotee.
CBS offers a free month of All Access so you can binge-watch 'Picard'
If you've been meaning to check out Star Trek: Picard or The Good Fight, but already perhaps have one streaming subscription too many, you can check out CBS All Access for free until April 23rd in the US. Jean-Luc Picard himself (okay, Partick Stewart) revealed ViacomCBS would make it so ahead of his show's season finale dropping later this week.
NWSL soccer matches will stream on CBS All Access and Twitch
You might have an easy time watching National Women's Soccer League matches online this season. The league has struck deals that give CBS Sports and Twitch the rights to stream games for the next three years. CBS will stream 87 matches, 71 of them available solely through All Access and its various portals through CBS' apps and website. However, the Twitch team-up may be the real highlight. Amazon's livestreaming service will air 24 "select" matches for free in the US on its channel, and it'll offer every game to viewers outside the US.
March Madness app streams two games side-by-side on Android TV and Fire TV
It's nearly time for the best weekend in sports all year: the start of March Madness. Ahead of the 2020 NCAA basketball tournament, Turner is updating its arsenal of streaming apps for this year's action on the hardwood. And the most notable change is one I've been waiting on for a long time: multiview streaming is no longer exclusive to Apple TV.
After Math: The rule of threes
While the Sonic movie was busy running rings around its box office competition last week, a mysterious triplicating pattern began to emerge across the internet among seemingly innocuous and unrelated events. Uber resumed operations in Columbia after a three-week ban, Westworld is returning to HBO for Season 3 in the third week of the third month, and Amazon listed the PS4 for -- you guessed it -- $300. Whether it's coincidence or conspiracy, only you can decide.
CBS will massively expand All Access’ streaming library in 2020
ViacomCBS' rumored new streaming service isn't a new service, it's a massive expansion of CBS All Access instead. In the company's most recent earnings presentation, CEO Bob Bakish outlined his plan to conquer the streaming market. Essentially, his plan is to throw the weight of ViacomCBS' content library onto CBS All Access to create a true streaming heavyweight.
ViacomCBS is working on yet another streaming service
After Disney+, HBO Max and Peacock, were you hoping to see another puffed-up media company launch a streaming TV service? Because according to CNBC, that's what you're about to get. Apparently ViacomCBS isn't satisfied with only offering things like CBS All Access, BET+ or Nickelodeon's multiyear partnership with Netflix, and is planning to launch some kind of mega-offering that combines its many properties. Apparently the plan is to keep existing services operating, while marketing the larger umbrella subscription as an upgrade that doesn't cost additional money. Similar to AT&T's HBO Max, NBCUniversal's Peacock or the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle, the idea is that a combination of live sports, Paramount movies and kids programming will pull customers in -- no matter how fatigued they may be. Other content that could be a part of its includes PlutoTV, Comedy Central and MTV, with a base price of under $10 per month and options for ad-free access or the ability to tack Showtime onto the package. The rumor indicates we'll hear more about this around the time of its earnings call on February 20th.
'Picard’ is the Star Trek show we’ve been waiting for
This article contains spoilers for the first episode of 'Star Trek: Picard'. Star Trek: Picard, a brand-new drama that brings back fan-favorite character Jean-Luc Picard in an entirely new way, premiered yesterday on CBS All Access. The show is set two decades after the end of the last The Next Generation movie, the critically panned Nemesis, and follows threads set up in that film -- the centrality of the Romulans, the marriage of Deanna Troi and William Riker and the death of Data, the beloved android played by Brent Spiner. The new series, which has already been renewed for a second season, opens with Jean-Luc Picard living a very different life than he used to. He's retired from Starfleet and returned to his family vineyards in La Barre, France. He lives a quiet life, but from the beginning, it's clear it's a little too contemplative. He has too much time to think about the past, about his regrets and the life he misses.
Stephen Colbert is producing an animated news spoof for CBS All Access
CBS thinks it has a clever way to draw more people to All Access besides more Star Trek: have one of its best-known personalities produce a show with a unique format. The talk show host is executive producing Tooning Out the News, an animated series that will both riff on current events and interview real guests. There will be weekly episodes like you'd expect, but there will also be daily segments that ridicule the news from mere hours earlier. The magic of "computers" will help get that done, as the trope-heavy announcement video makes clear.
'Star Trek: Picard' has already been renewed for a second season
CBS clearly has a lot of confidence in Star Trek: Picard. The broadcaster has already renewed the sci-fi series for a second season, suggesting that it expects a hit when the show premieres on January 23rd. There's no mention of when that season will premiere (we're certainly not expecting plot details), but it's safe to presume Patrick Stewart will be back as the titular star.
CBS All Access welcomes new kids' shows ahead of Nickelodeon deal
Parents looking for a streaming service with content for their children to watch have a new option. CBS's on-demand service, CBS All Access, now hosts a whole raft of kids' shows, with more to come next year.
UEFA Champions League is coming to CBS All Access in 2021
The giants of European soccer are headed to CBS All Access starting in 2021, when CBS snatches the rights to one of the sport's biggest competitions away from Turner. While CBS will broadcast some UEFA Champions League games on its eponymous network (perhaps including the final), all of them will be available to stream in the US on All Access, which starts at $6/month.
ESPN will create a daily sports show for Quibi's streaming service
Quibi's upcoming mobile video service is so far focused on short-form shows from celebrities like Chrissy Teigen, Idris Elba and Steven Spielberg, but sports are now set to be part of the package as well. ESPN has agreed to create a daily sports show for Quibi that will recap the "biggest moments" and deliver breaking news. While the finer points of the show haven't been mentioned, it will be the exclusive US multi-sport provider for Quibi's curated news programming and should be ready when Quibi itself debuts in April 2020.
'Star Trek: Picard' debuts January 23rd, 2020
New York Comic Con has proven kind to Star Trek fans this year. To begin with, CBS has confirmed that its All Access series Star Trek: Picard will premiere on January 23rd, 2020. You won't have to wait too much longer to see what has happened with Starfleet's best-known captain since his last outing. CBS will dribble out one episode every Thursday until the 10-episode first season is complete. Thankfully, you'll have some fresh material to watch before then.
HBO Max will be the only place to stream ‘Big Bang Theory’
HBO Max is snatching up content ahead of its launch in the spring of 2020. After announcing that Friends -- one of Netflix's most-streamed shows -- would become an HBO Max exclusive, the Warner-owned service announced that it would be home to The Big Bang Theory as well. This is the first streaming contract for the show, and it'll last for five years.
Comcast sues Maine over a law requiring a-la-carte cable offerings
Cord cutting may seem like the new norm, but plenty of people still pay for cable TV. That doesn't mean they're happy with it though. This summer, in response to complaints that customers had to purchase an entire cable package just to watch one or two channels, Maine passed a law requiring cable companies to offer channels a-la-carte. Now, Comcast and a handful of cable operators, including Fox, CBS and Disney, are suing Maine and 17 municipalities to prevent the law from going into effect.
FCC wants to fine CBS for using fake emergency alert in 'Young Sheldon'
The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on the use of emergency alerts unless there's a legitimate crisis. Its latest target is a Young Sheldon episode broadcast in April 2018. CBS said "sound producers modified a version of the EAS [emergency alert system] codes and Attention Signal downloaded from YouTube," which the FCC claims "resembled actual EAS tones."
CBS will air the Nintendo World Championships starting August 25th
CBS is set to air the Nintendo World Championships later this month. The trio of esports tournaments -- in which Super Mario Maker 2, Splatoon 2 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players duked it out -- will debut on August 25th at 1 PM ET. The network will broadcast two more episodes on September 7th at 2 PM and September 14th at 1:30 PM.
CBS and Viacom agree to sign $30 billion merger deal
CBS and Viacom have reached a long-rumored merger agreement. The two companies announced today that they will reunite as ViacomCBS. According to The Wall Street Journal, CBS and Viacom hope that, together, they'll be better positioned to fight against cable TV competition and streaming services.
'Star Trek: Picard' will have its own prequel comic and novel
Streaming shows have had literary tie-ins before, but not quite like this. CBS All Access' upcoming Star Trek: Picard will have two works that serve as lead-ins to the series -- you'll want to read them if you intend to be fully informed before the show's debut. A three-part IDW comic book series, Star Trek: Picard--Countdown, will kick off in November 2019 and center on a mission that will "change the life" of the legendary Starfleet captain. You'll have a better sense of the situation he's in as the online show begins.