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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BrooklynKnight" data-source="post: 2121745" data-attributes="member: 4490">Many many people have opinions and reasons for why Startrek has declined.10 years ago Startrek still pulled in high ratings, in fact it still does today. TNG and DS9 on Spike TV have drawn more viewers then episodes of Enterprise (at least during the marathon runs). Factoring in the fact that most of TNG was available on DVD and half of DS9 was as well, thats pretty impressive. (Or pathetic depending on how you see it).Here are my "reasons" for why Enterprises ratings are so low.Inconsistent writingInconsistent production valuesFluxuating formatTime SlotNetwork Aired on.To be more specific, TNG and DS9 (and even VOY) had much more consistent quality in terms of the storyboards and direction of the series. The production values of their episodes were higher and there were fewer "shifts" in the direction of the series along their careers. TNG was always an episode to episode type series. DS9 had one major shift in direction, which worked (the Dominion War, the change is highlighed by the return of Worf) , and one minor change (season 7 with the departure of the actress who played Jadzia) which worked less, though the series was on its way out anyway. Voyager had a consistent theme the entire series, which was hard to keep up. There are only so many ways to tease them with ways home before it became stale. The shows primary problem was overuse of time travel, more so then any other Trek series before it. However it returned to the roots of Trek, exploration, and thus it held its ratings till Season 7. ENT however changed its focus and direction EVERY SEASON. Not to mention it soured fans Right out of the gate with a bad themesong, and basically spitting in the face of trek continuity. So, Ent started by shooting itself in the foot, but what really killed it?Enterprise aired on UPN. UPN a fairly new network (compared to NBC, ABC, CBS, and even FOX) had more trouble finding its niche then the WB. There were various attempts at Sci-fi shows over the years from Seven Days, Special Unit 2, and Jake 2.0, however none of these shows were really given time to shine. UPN slowly became a "network" BET. In many places here in NYC you can find HUGE billboards with an all black cast advertising "UPN, RATED NUMBER 1 AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS". Obviously UPN cared more about getting ratings (and revenue) from its "target" crowd then from an established entity like startrek. Because of this Startrek was often shafted and placed in bad time slots competing against shows which drew on the same ratings pool.According to various sources (mine are my Broadcast Textbooks, all published within 2 years ago, and these facts should be easily verified on the net) 98% of homes in the US have TV's and 92-95% have Cable (or Satelite, or Digital TV or some sort of service which delivers more then what they can receive in their local broadcast area). Today, Enterprise competes with Stargate and Battlestar Galactica....two extremly well done SCI FI series. Done better then Enterprise. Its no guess to see why Enterprise has crappy ratings.Unfortunatly UPN (and their parent company Paramount, which i beleive is owned by Viacom) and Brennan/Braga dont care enough about the Trek Franchise, or its potential to give it the proper treatment. "Whats the proper treatment?"The 4th season of ENT was finally getting on Track in terms of Production Values and Writing, though ratings werent rising due to competition.  ENT, or any startrek show, needs to be coupled with another sci-fi series, on a friendly network, at a timeslot that does not compete for the same ratings pool. For example, if Enterprise were coupled with The SG1/Atlantis/Galactica block on Sci-fi its ratings would surge. What geek could resist a 4 hour block of Sci-fi at its best?Alternativly, moving to Spike TV and coupling with re-runs of another trek series, or a new/fresh sci-fi show would do wonders too.Paramounts/UPN's attitude has killed 2 incredible shows, 7 days, and Jake 2.0 (one of which has found a home on Spike TV), due to their unwillingless decide what their true audience was.  Now its killing a 3rd...(4th if you count Special Unit 2, 5th if you count Nowhere Man).This whole "rant" was brought on in my Broadcast Management class at college. It got me an A+ too.</blockquote>

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