When DS9 first aired...

[DeepSpaceWine]

I don't know how successful this is going to be, but here it goes.

Back in the 1990s, what station was DS9 on in your television market? It'd be easier to make a list of bullet points. I'm just curious about when new episodes (new then) aired and what DS9 viewers had to originally deal with, like in the way of pre-emptions and such.

• What channel & tv market?
• What network were they affiliated with/came to be affiliated with?
• What day/time did it air? (always local time zone)
• Were there any sports pre-emptions?
• Anything else interesting about it?
• Oh yeah, I'll tack this on. In that same market, was Voyager on its standard UPN network time or was it bumped to another timeslot because UPN had only a secondary affiliation in that market?
• Was TNG syndicated on the same channel or a different one?

I'll start.
* WGN-9 Chicago
* Independent, then WB
* Seasons 1 & 2 were on Sundays, at 6 or 7PM, Seasons 4-7 were at 5PM on Saturdays, maybe 4PM from 97-99 (can't remember if Earth: Final Conflict aired before DS9 or after DS9). Not sure exactly about Season 3.
* Yeah, baseball often pre-empted it during the season (usually Cubs). Bulls, no, since those were usually in primetime.
* DS9 for many years was part of a Saturday afternoon syndication block: Hercules- Xena- DS9, and usually a 4th show, like Earth: Final Conflict, Adventures of Sinbad, and I think Beastmaster too.
* Voyager was on its usual time.
* TNG was on WPWR-50, which later became the UPN affiliate. No pre-emptions.

 

[tomalak301]

1. KBHK 44 - San Francisco Bay Area, back before the CW and UPN and that crap. I miss that channel greatly.

2. No affiliation

3. I know it was shifted a few times but I think it was mostly Thursdays at 8.

4. No

5. I don't know what you mean. I do know it was the same station that aired shows like Babylon 5, Kung Fu the Legend Continues, Time Tracks, and a show I vaguly remember (If anyone else does, let me know) that took place on a speed boat.

6. This station became UPN so all the Star Treks were on together.

7. Yes it was

 

[Harvey]

In western Washington, the show was shown on Q13 FOX, in the time slot after Star Trek: The Next Generation. I believe it aired on Friday nights, but I could be mistaken. I was only five or six years old when the series first premiered.

 

[Sykonee]

In western Washington, the show was shown on Q13 FOX, in the time slot after Star Trek: The Next Generation. I believe it aired on Friday nights, but I could be mistaken. I was only five or six years old when the series first premiered.

Same, although for a period I lived in Prince Rupert, which oddly got its Fox Network feed from Rochester, New York State, a 3-hour time difference. I also recall watching it on Saturdays during the Prime Time slot.

Living in Vancouver, we'd get the show on Global, which would air at the same time as Fox would.

No sports pre-empts (Global doesn't carry sports broadcasts), and I believe VOY and B5 also aired on the same station, at least for a short while.

 

[Reanok]

My Local CBS Station showed all seven seasons of Ds9. Originally at 6:00P.M. on Saturdays. They later moved it to Midnight during seasons 4 through 7.

 

[BillJ]

WXIX-TV (Fox19) here in Cincinnati.

I know it did not finish it's entire first run on WXIX though. And I lost interest somewhere around mid-season 2.

 

[TheGodBen]

It first aired on Sky One in the UK and Ireland, which is a satellite channel that most people didn't have. I think they showed the first two seasons at 19:00 or 20:00 on Sunday nights, then for the rest of the series it was broadcast on Monday nights at 20:00. It was almost never pre-empted for anything because Sky One is a pure entertainment channel. Unfortunately, back then TV stations on this side of the Atlantic were in no hurry to air US TV shows so it could air anywhere from 6 months to a year after it aired in the US. Part of the problem was that Voyager shared the same slot so they'd alternate the shows every six months, and Voyager was given priority for some reason; new seasons of Voyager began roughly six months after they began in the US and new seasons of DS9 started around a year later. But because it was a straight 6-month run with no breaks they used to catch up a little bit and air the final episodes of the season "only" 6 to 9 months after the US.

(One of the positive things about illegal downloads is that it finally forced stations here to air the shows only a few days after the US.)

I believe that BBC2 aired it about a year after Sky One did, so that allowed all the people that didn't have Sky watch the show, but almost 2 years after it aired in the US. I think they aired it on Wednesday nights at 18:45, usually after a repeat of TNG. I remember the night they first aired In the Pale Moonlight, TNG's The Defector aired before it. Now there was a night of awesome Romulan entertainment! Sadly, I think they used to edit it because it aired so early in the evening, so scenes like the one where Worf broke Weyoun's neck were edited to remove that shot.

In Ireland, I've read that our main station, RTÉ, used to air it, but I don't remember seeing it so if they did it was in the early hours of the morning.

 

[DevilEyes]

Well, here in Serbia they didn't show it in 1990s at all, as far as I am aware, unless there was some local station that aired it without license in the early 1990s, like all TV channels aired big studio movies and shows back then, during the sanctions (1992-1995). (The only films that were shown legally in the cinemas and later on TV and released on VHS were by smaller studios like Miramax and some non-US studios which choose to ignore the cultural sanctions - which lead to Tarantino's and Almodovar's movies and Ferrara "Bad Lieutenant" becoming major cinema hits in Belgrade. I don't know how it worked with TV shows, I know that some TV stations were showing The X-Files - which became incredibly popular, Quantum Leap, British shows like Cracker and Prime Suspect, and other, but I assume that it was illegal. And I watched little TV back then, and when I did it was for news and politics - I only started following TV shows again in the late 1990s.) But I don't believe that was the case, or else one of the many Trekkies I know would be aware of it. (BTW, I know that TOS was shown at some point in the late 1970s or early 1980s, because I've met people in their 40s and 50s who say that they loved Star Trek - Kirk, Spock, etc. - though they haven't followed Trek since. And I have vague recollections of seeing young Kirk and Spock on TV when I was too little to watch it, maybe 3 or 4 y.o.)

The first TV station that showed DS9 was TV Košava, which otherwise had very bad program, but it was one of the TV channels with national frequency. I think it was in 2002 or 2003. It was shown daily from Monday to Friday and there were two timeslots - the repeat was in the early afternoon, and I think the premiere was in the evening but I can't remember exactly what time. I do remember that the translation was horrible, I always laughed and ed reading the subtitles. It wasn't pre-empted for any sports events, because the channel didn't show any, as far as I remember. So far, it is one of the only 2 Serbian TV stations, AFAIK, that showed a Trek show since the late 1980s when season 1 of TNG was broadcast on the state TV. The other one is TV Avala, which aired Enterprise a few years ago. A couple of TV channels showed all the TOS and TNG movies a couple of times, though.

OTOH, in Croatia, the state TV, HRT (received by cable and very popular in Serbia, since it's better than almost all Serbian TV channels), has broadcast all the Trek shows except TOS (though I've heard one person claim that they showed it at some point), several times. They started another repeat a couple of years ago, and they have aired the entire TNG, DS9 and VOY, and are now showing ENT, daily, Monday to Friday, in the afternoon and repeated in the late evening. Timeslots are not the best, though - the evening slot is often pushed past 1 a.m. I only have cable TV since since 6-7 years ago, but I remember that VOY was already on a few years ago, and other people have told me that all the other modern Treks were shown on HRT several times before.

 

[TerokNor]

In Germany I think it aired first on SAT1, thats also were TNG run and later Voy... however it aired a bit later then the Original in America ( a year later?) because they first had to do the german syncronisation.
When my mind works correctly it was in the afternoon or early evening program... I was at least able to watch it after school.
TNG and Voy getting repeated now and then (on Kabel1 I think..or VOX), however not to the good times anymore... DS9 however I do not think got repeated again after the first airing..or I missed it.

TerokNor

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Back in the '90s the BBC used to air Trek at about 6:30 on some weekday evenings if I recall correctly. TNG, DS9 and Voyager. I don't think they bothered with Enterprise though. I think it was on BBC2, so I can't imagine it was pre-empted for sports much, except perhaps Wimbledon and possibly the cricket. Of course, there were no adverts, which was a massive bonus.

Babylon 5 was on Channel 4, but at that point I hadn't seen the light, so I stuck with Trek

 

[TheGodBen]

Back in the '90s the BBC used to air Trek at about 6:30 on some weekday evenings if I recall correctly. TNG, DS9 and Voyager. I don't think they bothered with Enterprise though.

I think they were going to air Enterprise, but that was around the time that Channel 4 started buying the rights to big American shows from the BBC (such as The Simpsons) and the BBC weren't willing to pay as much as Channel 4 offered. C4 aired it some weeknight at 18:00 so that it was in a similar slot to when BBC used to air Trek, and they actually gave the show a decent push in their advertising campaign. But just like in the US, the ratings were bad and after one season they pulled it from that slot and started airing it on Sunday afternoons on the horrendous T4. I tuned in a few times while they aired the third season to rewatch some of the good episodes, and the presenters actually used to insult Star Trek before and after the episode aired. Great timeslot you chose there, Channel 4.

I think it was on BBC2, so I can't imagine it was pre-empted for sports much, except perhaps Wimbledon and possibly the cricket.

And snooker. Apparently it is such a popular spectator sport that even Top Gear, BBC2's most popular program, gets pushed aside every year for the dozen or so people that love to watch snooker.

 

[DeVario]

• What channel & tv market?
  KTXL 40, Sacramento
  
• What network were they affiliated with/came to be affiliated with?
  FOX
  
• What day/time did it air? (always local time zone)
  Sundays at 6 p.m. for its entire run.
  
• Were there any sports pre-emptions?
  Not that I recall.
  
• Anything else interesting about it?
  ?
  
• Oh yeah, I'll tack this on. In that same market, was Voyager on its standard UPN network time or was it bumped to another timeslot because UPN had only a secondary affiliation in that market?
  Yes. When Voyager started in 1995, our UPN affiliate at the time was KQCA 58. Then in '98, KMAX 31 (former WB) switched affiliations with 58 and became the new UPN. Voyager was always at its regular time on both channels as far as I know.
  
• Was TNG syndicated on the same channel or a different one?
  TNG was also syndicated on channel 40 for its entire run. It was on Saturdays at 7 p.m.

1. KBHK 44 - San Francisco Bay Area, back before the CW and UPN and that crap. I miss that channel greatly.

I too miss the old KBHK.

 

[Mysterion]

In western Washington, the show was shown on Q13 FOX, in the time slot after Star Trek: The Next Generation. I believe it aired on Friday nights, but I could be mistaken. I was only five or six years old when the series first premiered.

It was Saturday evenings. IIRC, TNG at 6pm, DSN at 7pm.

 

[carlmarx]

I live in upstate NY, and though I cant say when it was on when it first came out, from at least seasons 4-7, it was on Saturday nights at 5PM on Fox 23, channel 8 here, then on the WB, channel 11 at 6PM.

Speaking of, the best Saturdays ever when I was young was during the summer, Fox would show TOS at 1PM, a two-part TNG at 2, the new Voyager at 4, the new DS9 at 5, and the WB would show the new DS9 at 6 and TNG at 7.

 

[RandyS]

• What channel & tv market?
  KTXL 40, Sacramento
• What network were they affiliated with/came to be affiliated with?
  FOX
• What day/time did it air? (always local time zone)
  Sundays at 6 p.m. for its entire run.
• Were there any sports pre-emptions?
  Not that I recall.
• Anything else interesting about it?
  ?
• Oh yeah, I'll tack this on. In that same market, was Voyager on its standard UPN network time or was it bumped to another timeslot because UPN had only a secondary affiliation in that market?
  Yes. When Voyager started in 1995, our UPN affiliate at the time was KQCA 58. Then in '98, KMAX 31 (former WB) switched affiliations with 58 and became the new UPN. Voyager was always at its regular time on both channels as far as I know.
• Was TNG syndicated on the same channel or a different one?
  TNG was also syndicated on channel 40 for its entire run. It was on Saturdays at 7 p.m.

1. KBHK 44 - San Francisco Bay Area, back before the CW and UPN and that crap. I miss that channel greatly.

I too miss the old KBHK.

Hey neighbor!

I remember all that, but there is one thing you missed. 40 ran TNG Saturdays at 7pm for it's entire run. DS9 started out it's first two years Sundays at 6pm, but for it's third season, when TNG was gone, 40 moved DS9 to the Saturday at 7pm timeslot. It returned to Sundays at 6pm for the fourth season, and stayed there for the remainder of it's run.

 

[DeVario]

^ Cool. I never knew DS9 briefly took TNG's old time slot. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Harvey]

In western Washington, the show was shown on Q13 FOX, in the time slot after Star Trek: The Next Generation. I believe it aired on Friday nights, but I could be mistaken. I was only five or six years old when the series first premiered.

It was Saturday evenings. IIRC, TNG at 6pm, DSN at 7pm.

Hey, that sounds right. And I believe (for a time, at least) classic Star Trek would air at 5pm.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

Wow, so it seems sports pre-emptions were rare. In my tv market growing up, they usually moved around 3-4 new episodes in April-June, either bumping it to Sunday afternoon or around noon or back to Saturday around noon. Anyone who watched WGN's syndicated Saturday griped about the frequent pre-emptions from April to September. At least WGN was good enough to not pre-empt the season finales for DS9. Each season it seemed to always be in its proper timeslot (can't say so much for the other June episode).

And I took it for granted that TNG & DS9 airing on different channels was rare. I suspect once TNG became a huge hit, WGN (which is a more prominent channel than WPWR) didn't want to miss out so managed to get DS9. WPWR, home of TNG tended to get more minor syndicated shows (besides Baywatch) while WGN got all the big names (DS9, Hercules, Xena, Earth Final Conflict, Andromeda). Showtime castoffs (The Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1, anyone remember Poltergeist The Legacy?) aired on the Fox affiliate. The really really cheap stuff (Conan, Flipper, Tarzan) aired on another independent station.

I figured DS9 aired on the weekends usually. It seemed the natural time for syndicated shows, though it's interesting how often Saturday/Sunday right before primetime (6PM) comes up. I wonder if WGN used Saturday afternoon to avoid the routine Sunday afternoon baseball games pre-empting their shows (as usually Sunday games start from 12-2PM local time), and a Saturday evening timeslot would face pre-emptions from the Bulls from November to April then occasionally Cubs from April-September, leaving 1 un-interrupted month and all 3 sweeps months interrupted (Sunday night would of had to face Murder She Wrote and X-Files, each ratings juggernauts, and The Simpsons too, so that wasn't really an option either). With the weekend afternoons, only 1 sweeps month got pre-empted. I do know from traveling and having saved some old newspapers from those places, that DS9 did occasionally air on weeknights in some markets out west, which seemed strange as weeknights are the hardest to challenge the networks on.


I asked the Voyager question because in some markets, UPN had only a secondary affiliation, and not all UPN shows aired (VOY usually did thanks to being the network's flagship show), resulting in a weekend late night airing. Of course, around that same time was the Voyager backup time slot (Saturday or Sunday at 7, 8, or 9PM).

 

[RandyS]

^ Cool. I never knew DS9 briefly took TNG's old time slot. Thanks for the heads up.

You're welcome friend.

Wait..you didn't know, or you don't remember? Or was it that you saw DS9 later in reruns?

 

[DeVario]

^ Cool. I never knew DS9 briefly took TNG's old time slot. Thanks for the heads up.

You're welcome friend.

Wait..you didn't know, or you don't remember? Or was it that you saw DS9 later in reruns?

I didn't remember. I saw it off and on during the early seasons, but started watching more often in the later ones.