Site Columns

Hello World!

I unfortunately have some sad news to report. As some of you have already noticed, the Star Trek Nielsen Ratings Information Database, which used to be located at www.trektoday.com/nielsens/, has been closed down.

The Nielsen Ratings Database was originally founded by Greg Fuller, who due to time constraints had to stop updating halfway through last season, after which we took over. The site was without a doubt the most comprehensive resource for Trek ratings, containing every single first-run and repeat episode rating for all seasons of TNG, DS9 and Voyager.

Unfortunately, last week we were contacted by Nielsens Media Research, the company who do research on and publish television ratings. They told us that publishing such comprehensive listings violated their copyright and hurt the market value of the ratings, and could not continue in its current form. The only way in which it would be able to continue (in a modified form) would have been if we would enter into a license agreement with them, which would unfortunately not have been something that we could have afforded.

So for that reason, rather than face the possibility of legal action by Nielsens, we unfortunately had to decide to take the Database down. It's certainly a great shame to see Greg Fuller's work of so many years vanish, and of course having to do without this resource will be a great loss. Thanks go out to all of you who visited the Nielsen Ratings Database over the past years, of course.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-When Viacom restarts the Trek action figure line, who would you like to see get the license?

-How do you feel about Rick Berman wanting to be more involved in writing for Enterprise.

-In Science Fiction & Fantasy: What was the name Bastian gave to the Empress in the 'Neverending Story'?

More topics can be found at the Trek BBS!

Trek Two Years Ago

Below are some of the most important headlines that appeared on TrekToday on Tuesday the 20th of July, 1999:

• The Franchise's Future
  We published the fourth installment in our 'The Franchise's Future' article series, written by Julia Houston. "Let us all stare into the unknowable future without putting on our blinders or lamenting things before they've actually left us. Let's anticipate new surprises as possible sources of future joys and be happy in the knowledge that Star Trek currently makes a honkin' mountain of cool cash. And let's remember that our personal views of Star Trek cannot be taken from us, nor, thanks to syndication, can they ever be made to disappear...even if that Paris/Neelix love child turns out to be none other than Wesley Crusher!"

• UPN News - Viacom chairman Summer Redstone correctly predicted a turnaround for UPN the next season, mostly because of WWF Smackdown! Meanwhile, UPN president Dean Valentine got into an argument with reporters who criticised the network for airing wrestling, saying that there was a "disconnect between you guys and the people who watch" wrestling.

Today's Television Listings

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing The Original Series's 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing The Original Series's 'Shore Leave' at 10:00am Eastern Time, with a repeat at 4:00pm, TNG's 'Violations' at 12:00pm, DS9's 'Through The Looking Glass' at 5:00pm, and Voyager's 'Hope And Fear' at 10:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing TNG's 'Family' at 17:00 GMT, with a repeat at 00:00, and Voyager's 'Bliss' at 22:00. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Galavorstellung' ('Peak Performance') at 16:00 ECT, with a repeat at 03:00.

• In the Netherlands, RTL5 will be showing DS9's 'The Reckoning'at 18:00 ECT. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!

• In Australia, Channel 9 will be showing Voyager's 'Think Tank' at 12:00am. Thanks go out to the Australian Babylon 5 & Star Trek air schedule

Tomorrow's Television Listings

• The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series' 'The Naked Time' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

• In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series' 'Galileo Seven' at 10:00am Eastern Time, TNG's 'The Masterpiece Society' at 12:00pm, 'Galileo Seven' again at 4:00pm, DS9's 'Improbable Cause' at 5:00pm, and Voyager's 'Night' at 10:00pm.

• In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing TNG's 'Brothers' at 17:00 and at midnight CET. Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

• In Germany, Sat.1 will be showing TNG's 'Kraft der Träume' (Shades of Grey) at 16:00 CET.

• In the Netherlands, RTL 5 will be showing DS9's 'The Valiant' at 18:00 CET. Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!

• In Australia, TV1 will be showing TNG's 'The Hunted' at 7:30pm. Thanks go out to the Australian Babylon 5 & Star Trek air schedule

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!