Star Trek Saga Bringing Galaxy of Profit to Paramount: Sci-Fi Series and Films Provide Steady Income. (Media & Technology).

As the universe continues to expand, Paramount Pictures' Star Trek franchise is expanding right along with it.

Led by a new television series and a motion picture due out later this year, a slew of Trek-related programs and products are slated to hit the market in 2002 -- the latest offerings from a marketing machine that has made Star Trek one of Hollywood's most lucrative properties.

Few could have predicted as much when the original science-fiction series created by writer Gene Roddenberry was canceled in 1969, just three years after making its debut. But Roddenberry, before he died a decade ago, and Paramount, which controls the Star Trek name, deftly built off that series' core audience. The result has been a business bonanza for Viacom Inc., which owns Paramount Pictures and the UPN Network. Consider:

* Television: "Enterprise," the new Star Trek series on UPN, is the fifth show under the Star Trek banner (not counting a short-lived animated series in the 1970s). Together, Star Trek shows have aired in primetime for 23 out of the past 35 years -- and that does not take into account syndication, where every previous series is still on the air.

* Movies: When "Nemesis" is released later this year, it will be the 10th movie in a series that has generated more than $712 million in domestic box office alone, trailing only the "Star Wars" and "James Bond" franchises as the all-time serial movie leaders.

* Licensing: Since 1990, scores of Star Trek licensing deals for everything from action figures to credit cards have grossed more than $3.5 billion. And after tremendous success in the VHS market, Paramount is realizing a new windfall with Star Trek titles on DVD.

"More than 98 percent of the public has seen an episode of "Star Trek" or is aware of it. It's very steady, solid business," said Andrea Hein, president of Viacom Consumer Products. "For example, about every minute, 10 Star Trek books are being sold."

Permeating Paramount

Besides producing the Star Trek television series and movies, which are then distributed through the company's film studio and television network, Viacom's Simon & Schuster Inc. publishes an average of two Star Trek fiction hooks a month through its Pocket Books division. And with CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and other television networks under its umbrella, as well as major radio and advertising networks, Viacom has taken advantage of ample cross-marketing opportunities.

Hein said Viacom has more than 100 licensing deals for Star Trek products, a number that was even higher a couple of years ago. "When we knew that 'Enterprise' was coming, we pared back. We've tried to manage the program to keep it fresh," she said.

The major growth area is books and video games. In 1998, Paramount signed a 10-year deal with Santa Monica-based Activision Inc. that currently publishes six Star Trek titles and will introduce a new game, "Star Trek Bridge Commander," by the end of March.

The Star Trek label is so large that just about every marketing and publicity employee at Paramount's movie and television divisions and the UPN network have worked on Trek projects at one time or another.

"It's a franchise that's worth X billions of dollars to the studio, so everybody handles it very carefully," said Rachel Clark, Paramount's senior vice president of marketing -- media and operations.

New frontiers 

Although it's blessed with a dedicated fan base, Paramount officials realized long ago the importance of keeping the Star Trek brand up to date to draw a wider audience. One example: "Enterprise" jettisoned the traditional Star Trek orchestral music in its inaugural episode for a more contemporary soundtrack led by a song from the popular alternative rock band Creed.

"Enterprise," which is set in time before the original Star Trek series, got off to a strong start when it debuted in September, drawing in 12.5 million viewers -- UPN's highest number since the premiere of "Star Trek: Voyager" in 1995. Since then, viewership has tapered off. "Enterprise" drew roughly 4 million viewers when it aired Jan. 2, finishing 80th among all primetime shows.

"I think it's doing exactly what we expected it to do. It came out with a blast and it's settling into a normal number," said Stacey Lynn Korner, a senior vice president at Initiative Media. "(Star Trek) is valuable for advertisers because it's a great vehicle to reach young men, and older men too. The male audience is one of the hardest to reach if you don't have sports programming."

On the film side, Paramount has scored steady, if unspectacular, successes. Although 1986's "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," was the only one of the series to gross more than $100 million in domestic box office, all but one of the films brought in at least $75 million.

The trick for Paramount will be to keep making Star Trek compelling to a new audience without turning off its core fans.

"You had a period where a lot of the fans felt they were overdoing (the marketing) and the stories weren't as good," said Christian Sparborth, whose Amsterdam, Holland-based Star Trek Web site, TrekNation, draws about 25,000 visitors a day. "Over the past few years, it seems they've listened more to the fans, which has been really appreciated."