StarTrek.com To Close Its Doors?

Is this the end of StarTrek.com? Tim Gaskill (Editorial Director) thinks it could be. In an open letter to the Tim Russ fan club, he calls on fans for testimonials to help keep the site alive...

Dear Tim Russ Fans,

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