CBS today has announced a brand new dedicated Star Trek division, a global franchise group “that will manage and maximize the expansion of the “Star Trek” brand beyond the traditional boundaries of linear broadcasting and streaming.”

This is something that we at TrekMovie been expecting for a while, with the relaunch of the official StarTrek.com website a few months ago, jobs posted at CBS about helping to build the Trek brand, and key people like (Trek merchandise boss) John Van Citters getting promotions, it was clear something big was brewing.

Leading the new team is Veronica Hart, Executive Vice President, “Star Trek” Global Franchise Management, who will manage the “Star Trek” global brand strategy to support the content development plans being developed within CBS and under the stewardship of Alex Kurtzman. The new business unit reports to David Stapf, President of CBS Television Studios.

The unit’s goal is to invigorate and broaden the “Star Trek” fan community through additional branding opportunities, such as podcasts, a reinvigorated StarTrek.com and new digital spaces, consumer products and gaming, as well as live experiential events and global attractions. These endeavors to further grow the brand are designed to complement the Studio’s expansion of the “Star Trek” universe, which now includes two live-action series, two animated projects and multiple “shorts.”

“Veronica and her team are not only gifted brand strategists and veteran consumer products executives, they are also experts on the ‘Star Trek’ canon,” said Stapf. “We are excited to launch this new business unit because the brand has an enormously rabid fan base, and we look forward to expanding its reach even further.”

“As we expand the Trekverse, Veronica’s team and Secret Hideout are dedicated to broadening ‘Star Trek’s’ brand reach by amplifying its core values globally: empowerment, inclusion, imagination, and above all, the exceptional storytelling that’s inspired generations of fans,” said Alex Kurtzman.

The new franchise group will be based out of Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout Productions in Santa Monica, Calif. Kurtzman, who is under an overall deal at the studio, is the executive producer of the various “Star Trek” series.