Fans, why did the ratings slide?

[Whoa Nellie]

i could be wrong here but i think the OP data isnt correct. this is from Treknation:

First off, here's a rundown of the approximate number of homes tuned into Trek every year since TNG premiered in 1987 (these numbers compensate for the changes in the Nielsen system):

• Fall 1987 - Spring 1988: 8.55 Million
• Fall 1988 - Spring 1989: 9.14 Million
• Fall 1989 - Spring 1990: 9.77 Million
• Fall 1990 - Spring 1991: 10.58 Million
• Fall 1991 - Spring 1992: 11.50 Million
• Fall 1992 - Spring 1993: 10.83 Million
• Fall 1993 - Spring 1994: 9.78 Million

actually seems like TNG held viewership steady throughout the course of its run.

This was a very impressive job on citing reference material from an easily verifiable source. Bravo!

from Wikipedia:

The Next Generation (1987–1994)
Main article: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation, also known as "TNG", is set approximately 70 years after The Original Series. It features a new starship, the Enterprise-D, and a new crew led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). The series introduced alien races new to the Federation as crew members, including Deanna Troi, a half-Betazoid counselor played by Marina Sirtis, and Worf as the first Klingon officer in Starfleet, played by Michael Dorn. It also featured Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, LeVar Burton as chief engineer Geordi La Forge, and the android Data portrayed by Brent Spiner. The show premiered on September 28, 1987 and ran for seven seasons, ending on May 23, 1994.[14] Unlike the previous television outings, the program was syndicated instead of airing on network television. It had the highest ratings of any of the Star Trek series and was the #1 syndicated show during the last few years of its original run, allowing it to act as a springboard for ideas in other series. Many relationships and races introduced in TNG became the basis of episodes in DS9 and Voyager. [15] It was nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series during its final season. It also received a Peabody Award for Outstanding Television Programming for the episode "The Big Goodbye".[16]

Bonus points for citing corresponding evidence from a second source.

The buzz over TNG appeared to peak in the early '90s and then seemed to taper off. I was under the impression this was reflected in ratings.

Warped9, do you have a reference source or was your initial statement concerning a downward slide in TNG's ratings merely an assumption based on your impression of the buzz?

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[thedude]

This was posted by Dennis once (IIRC). I don't know where he got it, though.

Wow! Look at that DS9 premier... those numbers are ridiculous, even compared to the TNG finale.

 

[Jaespol]

The OP was clearly assuming TNG's ratings declined like the rest, it was wrong.
End of story.

 

[Falcor5]

^^ That's not verification. You're citing the same source.

Again why do we have to find a source since you are the one who made the claim to begin with? Where is your source?

 

[Magisterfrodo]

Personally, I felt like the series peaked in seasons 3 and 4, while season 5 was also pretty good. Seasons 6 and 7 had good episodes, but the series was definitely on the decline, from my POV.

 

[RAMA]

This is something of a companion thread to "Fans, why do you like..." I just don't want to derail that thread and risk it getting too far afield because I'm finding it informative.

But as devoted fans: After TNG's peak in the early '90s why couldn't TNG reverse the slipping ratings? Why do you think the ratings slide continued downward and never reversed?

Was the mainstream audience turning its back and why?

You are very mistaken, STNG's ratings never went down. They were higher in season 7 than in season 1.

RAMA

 

[RAMA]

The buzz over TNG appeared to peak in the early '90s and then seemed to taper off. I was under the impression this was reflected in ratings. Warped9, do you have a reference source or was your initial statement concerning a downward slide in TNG's ratings merely an assumption based on your impression of the buzz?

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

There are none, because he is delusional.

RAMA

 

[Daneel]

Yeah, I don't know where Warped9 got this idea from, but unlike the subsequent series, TNG's popularity never waned. It ended as the #1 syndicated program on the air, a position it had held for much of its run. Really, if there had been a significant drop-off in ratings, as the OP suggests, it's very unlikely that Paramount would have been willing to produce four feature films based on the series.

 

[tomalak301]

Wasn't Season 7 the highest rated season of the show?

That's what I heard but perhaps I heard wrong.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yes, TNG's ratings were remarkably consistent - they flagged a little in the later years, but recovered and actually rose in the final season.

It was with DS9 that Trek's ratings slide began; it started out with an opener that actually got higher ratings than any TNG episode and then declined steadily.

 

[DWF]

As it's been already said TNG's ratings never slid over their seven years.

http://www.geocities.com/hblur/cyrus/trekratings.html

 

[CaptainStoner]

This is something of a companion thread to "Fans, why do you like..." I just don't want to derail that thread and risk it getting too far afield because I'm finding it informative.

But as devoted fans: After TNG's peak in the early '90s why couldn't TNG reverse the slipping ratings? Why do you think the ratings slide continued downward and never reversed?

Was the mainstream audience turning its back and why?

Well here are the ratings:
http://www.treknation.com/articles/ratings_history.shtml

• Fall 1987 - Spring 1988: 8.55 Million
• Fall 1988 - Spring 1989: 9.14 Million
• Fall 1989 - Spring 1990: 9.77 Million
• Fall 1990 - Spring 1991: 10.58 Million
• Fall 1991 - Spring 1992: 11.50 Million
• Fall 1992 - Spring 1993: 10.83 Million
• Fall 1993 - Spring 1994: 9.78 Million
• Fall 1994 - Spring 1995: 7.05 Million
• Fall 1995 - Spring 1996: 6.42 Million
• Fall 1996 - Spring 1997: 5.03 Million
• Fall 1997 - Spring 1998: 4.53 Million
• Fall 1998 - Spring 1999: 4.00 Million

1. Why couldn't TNG reverse the slipping ratings? You could also ask why TOS couldn't reverse them, as both shows were by then out of production and not broadcast in prime time. Since you're a TOS centrist, is there a hidden question here? Because didn't TOS get better ratings after its run, as it built the original Trek fanbase? (Which is also the TNG fanbase btw ) I really don't understand the question.
2.Why do you think the ratings slide continued downward and never reversed? Saturation upon saturation. I really don't understand what happened with DS9. It's a damned good show right straight through. I didn't watch it, though, when it ran, beyond the first season. I don't know what was going on with other people, but I was just too busy with other things to be bothered with TV at all.
3. Was the mainstream audience turning its back and why? Yes and no. TNG was often then run before the new DS9. I seem to recall 2 TNG eps before the DS9. TNG's continued popularity among the family viewers meant that by the time DS9 came on, it was now later in the night, they'd already watched a bunch of Star Trek...then DS9 got bumped even later, while TNG stayed in the 3-6pm area for many years.

 

[RAMA]

This is something of a companion thread to "Fans, why do you like..." I just don't want to derail that thread and risk it getting too far afield because I'm finding it informative.

But as devoted fans: After TNG's peak in the early '90s why couldn't TNG reverse the slipping ratings? Why do you think the ratings slide continued downward and never reversed?

Was the mainstream audience turning its back and why?

Well here are the ratings:
http://www.treknation.com/articles/ratings_history.shtml

• Fall 1987 - Spring 1988: 8.55 Million
• Fall 1988 - Spring 1989: 9.14 Million
• Fall 1989 - Spring 1990: 9.77 Million
• Fall 1990 - Spring 1991: 10.58 Million
• Fall 1991 - Spring 1992: 11.50 Million
• Fall 1992 - Spring 1993: 10.83 Million
• Fall 1993 - Spring 1994: 9.78 Million
• Fall 1994 - Spring 1995: 7.05 Million
• Fall 1995 - Spring 1996: 6.42 Million
• Fall 1996 - Spring 1997: 5.03 Million
• Fall 1997 - Spring 1998: 4.53 Million
• Fall 1998 - Spring 1999: 4.00 Million

1. Why couldn't TNG reverse the slipping ratings? You could also ask why TOS couldn't reverse them, as both shows were by then out of production and not broadcast in prime time. Since you're a TOS centrist, is there a hidden question here? Because didn't TOS get better ratings after its run, as it built the original Trek fanbase? (Which is also the TNG fanbase btw ) I really don't understand the question.
2.Why do you think the ratings slide continued downward and never reversed? Saturation upon saturation. I really don't understand what happened with DS9. It's a damned good show right straight through. I didn't watch it, though, when it ran, beyond the first season. I don't know what was going on with other people, but I was just too busy with other things to be bothered with TV at all.
3. Was the mainstream audience turning its back and why? Yes and no. TNG was often then run before the new DS9. I seem to recall 2 TNG eps before the DS9. TNG's continued popularity among the family viewers meant that by the time DS9 came on, it was now later in the night, they'd already watched a bunch of Star Trek...then DS9 got bumped even later, while TNG stayed in the 3-6pm area for many years.

These are not ratings, they are households. The ratings for STNG in its final 3 seasons were over 12!!! TNG's most watched episodes were in the 25-27 million viewer range. It averaged 17 million viewers per episode. Enough said.

RAMA

 

[RAMA]

As it's been already said TNG's ratings never slid over their seven years.

http://www.geocities.com/hblur/cyrus/trekratings.html

This is the list I was looking for! Its more accurate.



Star Trek
The Next Generation
1987-1994
syndicated Season Rating Households Viewers Share A18-49
Rating GAA
Rating GAA
Households # of
Eps 1 (1987-1988) 10.90 9.66 million
-
26 2 (1988-1989) 10.10 9.13 million
-
22 3 (1989-1990) 10.41 9.59 million
-
26 4 (1990-1991) 11.32 10.54 million
-
26 5 (1991-1992) 12.50 11.51 million
-
26 6 (1992-1993) 12.66 11.79 million
- 10.65
26 7 (1993-1994) 12.28 11.57 million
- 13.41 12.63 million 26 Total Episodes Aired 178

The GAA total attempted to compensate for multiple airings. Also its is well known the syndication ratings did not really accurately count a lot of the viewership, the ratings were probably much higher.

 

[CaptainStoner]

These are not ratings, they are households. The ratings for STNG in its final 2 seasons were over 12!!! TNG's most watched episodes were in the 25-27 million viewer range. It averaged 17 million viewers per episode. Enough said.

RAMA

Whoops. But I think the dynamics applied to my responses in a similar way..TNG was huge. I really think it was TNG that overshadowed DS9. For so many years there would be 2 TNG eps on during family hours, then the new DS9 at 9 or 10pm. Even when Voyager launched, there was still a lot of TNG broadcasting on non-cable.
I think this was even a factor in the later films, quality debates aside.

 

[RAMA]

These are not ratings, they are households. The ratings for STNG in its final 2 seasons were over 12!!! TNG's most watched episodes were in the 25-27 million viewer range. It averaged 17 million viewers per episode. Enough said.

RAMA

Whoops. But I think the dynamics applied to my responses in a similar way..TNG was huge. I really think it was TNG that overshadowed DS9. For so many years there would be 2 TNG eps on during family hours, then the new DS9 at 9 or 10pm. Even when Voyager launched, there was still a lot of TNG broadcasting on non-cable.
I think this was even a factor in the later films, quality debates aside.

It was gigantic. TOS's final season had a viewership on network TV lower than STNG in syndication! This was at a time when TOS was basically on one of only 3 channels available, and no VCRs or video games, etc.

 

[Too Much Fun]

TNG's decline in terms of popularity refers to the movies spun off from it between 1998 and 2002, not in the ratings of the television series. It's as simple as that.

 

[Warped9]

It was on these very boards some years ago that this was being discussed and I recall seeing a graph that showed a ratings decline, marginal mind you but definitely there. It’s possible I misremember what I saw. At this stage I hadn’t yet looked up the ratings figures for all the shows yet or I would have noted that my recall of a more distinct drop in ratings was incorrect.

I'll look up all the ratings myself. Sorry for the mistake.

 

[RAMA]

TNG's decline in terms of popularity refers to the movies spun off from it between 1998 and 2002, not in the ratings of the television series. It's as simple as that.

Movies don't get ratings and there was no mention of movies.

 

[Cyrus]

TOS's final season had a viewership on network TV lower than STNG in syndication! This was at a time when TOS was basically on one of only 3 channels available, and no VCRs or video games, etc.

You can't directly compare TOS and TNG ratings. Yes, TNG was seen by more households/viewers but the number of households in the US had almost doubled since TOS time. TOS had better ratings but as you say it aired in the 3 network era. So comparing their ratings is never going to be apples to apples.

But there is no doubt that TNG achieved more success as evidenced by its 7 year run that could have been much longer if not for the movie series and creation of UPN.