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B5 is Going on Haitus After Friday/Star Trek also

K

kingfish

Beyond the rim
Hi,
B5 is being removed from the Sci-Fi Channel this Friday. Star Trek the original series is GONE from the line up as well to make room for Johnathan Frakes Beyond belief.

Paul
 
It's sad, but it makes sense. B5 has had declining ratings - after all, it's been stripped on a prime-time timeslot for over... hmm... a year now?

*sniff* unfair...
 
This may not be permanent. Next week is Thanksgiving, and then begins the run-up to Christmas and the New Year. Normal viewing patterns are disrupted, especially non-prime time habits as people take time off from work, kids are home from school and folks get home later because they go shopping after work. Cable networks especially change their schedules at such times. Both shows may very well be back come January. We'll just have to look at the schedulebot when it is updated in December.

Since Sci-Fi is coming up on the end of S1 in the schedule, they could well reap a ratings windfall by starting S2 in January, when lots of fans will be primed to watch it again because they got the S1 DVDs for Christmas. If they started S2 in November or December they could lose a lot of those potential viewers.

Regards,

Joe
 
I would imagine Trek was taken off for the same reason that B5 likely was - its the holidays and the regular viewers won't be tuning in. The other possibility is that Sci-Fi's exclusive contract has expired and the show is moving to TNN to join ST:TNG. I know that is going to happen at some point, I just have no idea when.

Regards,

Joe
 
Since Sci-Fi is coming up on the end of S1 in the schedule, they could well reap a ratings windfall by starting S2 in January, when lots of fans will be primed to watch it again because they got the S1 DVDs for Christmas. If they started S2 in November or December they could lose a lot of those potential viewers.
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Define "windfall". It takes 78,000 households to make ratings go up 0.1 in SciFi households.

How many DVD's are you visualizing that will be sold and what percentage of those do you figure will be driven from not watching to watching every day?

I'm always curious about sales figures. Do you know something about them you aren't saying?

BTW--My bet is that when B5 comes back it may be in an even earlier time period, maybe 3PM or 4PM.
 
Useless speculation at least IMHO we won't know anything at the earliest is December.Even then I take there schedule with a grain of salt they could change their minds long before then.It is just a wait and see game .

EDIT The last time I looked at the schedule it showed B5 for a brief period of time at about the middle of December but don't remember the exact dates.Unless it was changed.
 
Hi,
I do know that TNN has bought the rights to Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager. I never heard that they bought the rights to TOS though.

Paul
 
Season 2 Is starting up again on scifi in Mid December sometime. I remember seeing i on there site somewhere

capt
 
Sci fi's programming is not going to be the same at all in december.


I dont think Sliders, EFC and First Wave and all those will be on either.


Sci fi is having like 150 hours worth of some Taken Miniseries plus specials and related movies or something.


Im sure B5 will be back.


As far as it being moved earlier, it airs at 2pm here, so it doesn't matter as I haven't been able tow atch it since they moved it to 2 pm last January. DirecTV should have a Sci Fi West feed, it bugs me.

Anyone remember when TNT aired 2 b5 episodes every Saturday morning for about 6 months? Wasnt that horrible?
TJ
 
The only thing I know about sales figures is the rankings information from Video Business that I listed in another thread. However, based on reported sales numbers for some of the other titles on that list, and B5's position on the lists, I wouldn't be suprised if B5 S1 sold a couple of hundred thousand copies domestically. Along with the increased visibility for the show that the advertising and reviews for the set provide (and the increased discussion among consumers) this could bring more viewers to Sci-Fi. Add in the fact that some people will also be renting the series to check it out, and that many fans will lend their sets out to introduce others to the show, and Sic-Fi may get a visible bump out of this when/if B5 returns.

I do know that TNN has bought the rights to Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager. I never heard that they bought the rights to TOS though.
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They bought the rights to all the shows in the same deal. They had to wait to start broadcasting Voyager, DS9 and TOS until existing syndication/cable deals expired.

Regards,

Joe
 
Joseph, you are actually wrong for once. You are a really knowledgeable guy (from RASTB5M), but TNN does NOT have the rights to the origianl series.


TNG started last year, DS9 starts in fall of 04 and voyager starts in Early 06. There has not been a purchase of TOS, at least not in the original contract. It is possible they will go after it when Scifi's deal is up which I believe is '07. But then again it might go back to syndication, who knows.


And whoever said 2 hours of b5 on the weekend in the morning is good, true it is better than nothing but I much prefered 5 hours a week. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Especially since I was trying to tape the show.
 
My guess would be that the brain trust that is Sci Fi Channel will wait until early January when all those season 1 DVD purchasers, hungry for season 2 and too impatient to wait until April are watching, and belatedly run Sleeping In Light. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
...but TNN does NOT have the rights to the origianl series.
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Yup, you're right. (But then, you already knew that. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) TNN got the three most recent (completed) series and the first five (original series cast) feature films. I think I crossed up the feature films with the original series in what's left of my mind. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Regards,

Joe
 
How can the sci-fi channel call itself the sci-fi network, and not have TNG???? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Good GRIEF!!! But then again, look what they did to Farscape, Rangers and what not.
 
Because in sci fi's mind, SPECULATIVE fiction is SCIENCE fiction.


Meaning fantasy and horror still counts as sci fi even though it is not true sci fi, it is speculative fiction.


But thats okay, I enjoy fantasy like Quantum Leap, Sliders, Hercules, Highlander etc. But I absolutely cannot stand horror. So when Halloween comes aroudn and they decide its horror programming time, that turns me away.

Although I did enjoy Poltergeist The Legacy, that was probalby the only horror series I enjoyed, I hate outer limits, tales of the crypt, x files...


TJ
 
Anyone remember when TNT aired 2 b5 episodes every Saturday morning for about 6 months? Wasnt that horrible?
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Oh man, that takes me back. I remember taping them (I still hadn't seen about half at that time), missing some episodes, trying to re-copy them without commercials, etc. Uch, what a pain.
 
How can the sci-fi channel call itself the sci-fi network, and not have TNG???? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
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By getting outbid for it. Sci-Fi tried, hard, to get those three series and the films, but TNN (which is owned by Viacom, which also owns Paramount) came up with more money. (Around $364 million if memory serves.) Sci-Fi's pockets just weren't that deep.

Regards,

Joe
 
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