Episode airdates vary depending on where you check

[Cap'n Calhoun]

I've noticed different sources list different air dates for the same episodes of Deep Space Nine. I'm using "Little Green Men" as an example because it's particularly noticeable:

• According to Wikipedia, "Little Green Men" aired on Saturday, November 11, 1995. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine_episodes
• According to IMDb and the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 720) "Little Green Men" aired on Monday, November 6, 1995. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708565/
• According to Memory Alpha and IMDb, "Little Green Men" aired on Wednesday, November 15, 1995, two days after "Starship Down". As a result, Memory Alpha treats "Little Green Men" as having aired after "Starship Down" despite other sources saying "Starship Down" came first. (This has to be a mistake, right?) https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Little_Green_Men_(episode) https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/DS9_Season_4

"The Magnificent Ferengi" has four different air dates between those sources.

• Memory Alpha: Wednesday, December 17, 1997 https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Magnificent_Ferengi_(episode)
• DS9 Companion: Monday, December 29, 1997 (p. 720)
• Wikipedia: Saturday, December 27, 1997 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine_episodes
• IMDb: Thursday, January 1, 1998 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708628/

Setting aside a few specific episodes with wide differences, checking the weekday most episodes would have aired according to the dates listed by these sources gives strange results:

• Wikipedia lists different episodes as airing Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, or Sundays.
• The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion lists episodes as airing on Mondays, except for "You Are Cordially Invited" (Tuesday) and "Prodigal Daughter" (Thursday). (The listing for "The Die Is Cast" is a Wednesday but this appears to be a typo; changing it from May 10 to May 1 puts it back to Monday and places it before "Explorers".)
• Memory Alpha lists episodes as airing on Mondays, Wednesday, Saturdays, and Sundays. Additionally a few episodes are listed for Tuesdays ("Life Support", "Soldiers of the Empire") or Thursday ("Sons and Daughters").

Additionally, the Star Trek Chronology listing, which ostensibly goes by release order for DS9 and overlapping shows, is often strange when you compare the airdates, seemingly randomly switching whether DS9 is "before" or "after" the episode of TNG/VGR that aired the same week. (Also "Second Skin" is after "The Abandoned" for reasons that aren't clear.)

Any thoughts on why all the discrepancies?

(Placing this under the DS9 section since it affect DS9 the most, though for TNG seasons 6-7 IMDb usually lists Saturdays and Wikipedia usually lists the following Monday, with Memory Alpha seemingly randomly going back and forth between the two. [I haven't checked seasons 1-5.] Voyager is generally consistent, though the IMDb dates for "Parturition" and "Vis À Vis" are a week off from other sources. I haven't checked the Companions for either of those shows.)

 

[Bad Thoughts]

syndication, pure and simple. The earliest air date is probably relative to the date local stations received the episode via aiwaves.

 

[Lord Garth]

When I watched DS9 in the Boston area, it was on Saturdays at 6:00pm and new episodes of TNG were on at 7:00pm. Once TNG ended, DS9 moved into the 7:00 slot. So, whatever week the official airdate is, I go with the Saturday because that's when I would've first seen it.

If I need a second source to back me up for the week, I look at Jammer's Reviews. He reviewed the episodes as they were airing. At least Seasons 3-7; he reviewed the first two seasons retrospectively.

 

[Tuskin38]

Regarding LGM and SD, I saw this on the Talk Page

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

syndication, pure and simple. The earliest air date is probably relative to the date local stations received the episode via aiwaves.

That's the explanation I've always heard, but I feel like it's a partial explanation at best.

What are the sources each list uses that results in them obtaining different dates? Was anyone actually airing these shows on weekdays for their first run? Why are the Memory Alpha dates sometimes significantly earlier than other lists and sometimes significantly later? Generally speaking "syndication" doesn't result in the same episode having a two-week difference according to different sources or episodes being listed in different orders on general-use lists, and if that did happen it feels like it would be well worth documenting somewhere. (At least as much as anything is on a fan wiki.)

This is a mystery I've looked into a few times, and I don't feel like I've ever managed to find a more specific answer than "syndication dates are weird."


Interestingly, the Wikipedia page for "The Magnificent Ferengi" matches the Companion (December 29) rather than the Wikipedia episode list (December 27).

The Magnificent Ferengi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think this is Wikipedia's source for the episode-specific page:

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE - 6th Season (1997-1998)

 

[James Cole]

https://www.vidiot.com/st-ds9/

Air Dates Listed in the ST DS9 DVD Set are Incorrect
The date listed is one day too soon. The syndicated air dates officially started on a Monday. The date listed is a Sunday. The correct air dates are listed on the air schedules.

The website I always went to for the latest DS9 and VGR press releases back in the 1990s is still up. And yeah, I do remember a few last minute DS9 episode swaps.

TNG and DS9 became available on a Monday, so many had to wait until the weekend to watch. Had to dodge spoilers back in the AOL days.

I remember my local station airing "Pre-emptive Strike" on the usual Sunday, and turning around and airing AGT on Monday.

KNTV in San Jose during DS9 seasons 6 and 7 aired DS9 on a Tuesday(?) night so I was able to catch it "early" if the reception was good.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Was anyone actually airing these shows on weekdays for their first run?

KCOP, which I assume was the UPN flagship station, always showed the first airing on a weekday for all the series of the era.

 

[Cap'n Calhoun]

https://www.vidiot.com/st-ds9/

Oh, it does my heart good to know this site is still around. Thanks for pointing toward it for this question! I'll parse the data and see how it compares to the others.

Additionally, the Star Trek Chronology listing, which ostensibly goes by release order for DS9 and overlapping shows, is often strange when you compare the airdates, seemingly randomly switching whether DS9 is "before" or "after" the episode of TNG/VGR that aired the same week. (Also "Second Skin" is after "The Abandoned" for reasons that aren't clear.)

Once I went through the "syndication bible" archives that Wikipedia used as a source for the episode page, the Chronology/Voyages of Imagination order started making more sense. (Other than from Insurrection through the end of DS9, but that's more a "chronology" logic question than an "airdate" question, I think.)