Paramount acquired the
Star Trek franchise in
1967 when
Desilu, the company producing
Star Trek: The Original Series, was purchased by
Gulf+Western, which owned Paramount at the time. Paramount, which came under ownership of
the former Viacom when that company took over Gulf+Western in
1994, produced and distributed all
Star Trek films and television shows from
1977 (when they were working on the abandoned
Star Trek: Phase II) through
2005 (the
final season of
Star Trek: Enterprise).
Paramount Pictures formerly owned the television production company
Paramount Television, through which it produced and owned the
Star Trek television series. In
2006, the former Viacom was split into two separate companies:
CBS Corporation and a
new Viacom. CBS Corporation was given ownership of Paramount Television, which was renamed CBS Paramount Television, currently known as
CBS Television Studios, and thus gained ownership of the
Star Trek franchise and TV series, while Paramount Pictures retained the rights to the
Star Trek films through a license from CBS Television Studios.