What was the reason for the low ratings of "Enterprise"?

[Truth_Seeker]

Or that they'd taken a break for a year in between VOY and ENT, to let us develop an appetite again.

That would have been a good idea. To quote Barry White:
"Too much of anything's not good for you, baby!".

 

[Mach5]

I'm going with an evil plot by our Lizard-men overlords, because Enterprise was used to transmit messages to the resistance.

Quoted for truth.

 

[pookha]

vanishing point was on the night before thanksgiving.
that may play a part in its downturn.

 

[Anji]

The writing just wasn't there.

 

[Voyagerian]

Given what I've been reading here, and at another thread, it looks like the series had quite a lot against it. Personally, I was one of those diehards, who watched it from start to finish, and would have been there all the way, so there you go. SF has never had an easy time of it on tv, with exceptions like the X-Files-another show I watched loyally. It really is a niche audience. It is heartening to see that tivo numbers and such were at the levels they were, if not a factor then. I agree with the op that one show does not kill a series, rather, maybe it's just a tipping point for those who already were growing dissilllusioned? Again, not me, and I have no regrets about being a Trek loyalist. I have long thought that UPN with respect is not exactly the easiest place to air any series-except the targeted younger folks demo(Which I am hardly)but will say I've watched shows like Roswell or Smallville and enjoyed them.It's a darn shame, that the people in power who were there to support Enterprise got shuffled out, and all thanks to them for their efforts while they were there.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I sometimes wish we were like England and had a tax for good programming rather than depend on advertising. Our PBS, our viewer-supported television station, makes very little and manages to bring mostly documentary programming. Ken Burns voice overs are a lot cheaper than high-quality actors and special effects.

As someone who lives in a post communist country I can assure you that the idea is not good. You may find out that your money is spent on bombs instead of Sci-Fi shows.

I dunno about the bombs but the one thing it will not be spent on is sci fi shows. Americans can hardly even agree to spend money on health care. Can you imagine the shitstorm if the government starts using tax dollars on "stupid shows about robots and aliens"? What a Christmas present for Fox News!

There's a good reason PBS only does stuff like operas and documentaries about the national parks - it's impossible to argue that those things are not "good for you," thus avoiding the shitstorm. Government would only make "good for you" TV which also would be paaaaainfully boring. Hey I like national parks, too, but we don't need every channel showing that stuff.

However, TV may be changing to give us even more venues for good genre shows - the broadcast stations may be finally giving up the ghost and switching to cable. The good news is that the only good stuff is on cable anyway, and with the added revenues, cable could afford to make pricey niche programming like space opera. The bad news is that free TV might vanish. To me, free TV is now wortheless, unwatchable TV anyway, so it's no great loss.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

I sometimes wish we were like England and had a tax for good programming rather than depend on advertising. Our PBS, our viewer-supported television station, makes very little and manages to bring mostly documentary programming. Ken Burns voice overs are a lot cheaper than high-quality actors and special effects.

As someone who lives in a post communist country I can assure you that the idea is not good. You may find out that your money is spent on bombs instead of Sci-Fi shows.

As someone who lives in England I say WTF? You're comparing the BBC to Communism? We pay a TV Licence to fund the BBC. The money only goes to the BBC, it can't be used to buy bombs! We buy bombs exactly the same way as any other country!