After months of speculation, the cliffhanger question of where future Star Trek television series will air moved closer to an answer Thursday.
Viacom, which owns the Star Trek franchise and all its permutations -- original series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager -- through its subsidiary Paramount, gave TV-partner Chris-Craft an ultimatum: buy us out of our stake in the UPN network for the token sum of $5 million, or sell us your half.
Under the companies' joint venture agreement, Chris-Craft has 45 days to respond to either offer.
UPN has been the home of Voyager throughout its five-year run.
Industry watchers have often pointed to the show as the network's solitary crown jewel, leading some to speculate that UPN could collapse if Viacom moves Trek to another network.
This speculation, in turn, came to a head in September, when Viacom bought venerable broadcast empire CBS for $3.5 billion.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations currently prohibit a company from owning two broadcast networks, meaning that Viacom would have to change its relationship with UPN in order to win government approval for the CBS merger.
It's not over yet
For Viacom, with annual revenue of more than $12 billion, the $5 million offer is just this side of discarding UPN outright.
Should Chris-Craft take over full ownership of the network, Paramount will then be free to distribute Star Trek through CBS or other Viacom channels like Showtime, or even fledgling science fiction venture Showtime Beyond.
Even if Chris-Craft sells its UPN stake to Viacom, the future of Star Trek on that network remains cloudy at best.
Although FCC Chairman Bill Kennard has said he is looking into the prohibition on the same company owning multiple networks, the fact that Viacom values UPN as low as $5 million indicates that it might not even want to keep the network if it could.
Viacom spokesmen remain confident that the CBS merger will win FCC clearance by June.
Meanwhile, Viacom also denied discussing that it is in talks to buy Chris-Craft or any of its non-UPN assets. Chris-Craft said Thursday it is still exploring "a possible sale or combination" with unnamed parties.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that CBS had offered to buy Chris-Craft's ten metropolitan TV stations for $3.5 billion, but this report has yet to be widely confirmed.
Investors voted with their wallets, pushing Chris-Craft shares down nearly $6 per share, more than 7 percent, to $72.06 in Friday morning trading. Viacom edged up nearly $2 to $60.62 and CBS gained $1.50 to $63.81.
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