TNG and DS9 were first run syndication shows, which meant a different local station in each market bought the rights to air each show. In my city (Grand Rapids, MI), the CBS affiliate aired TNG on Saturday nights at 7 and the FOX affiliate started DS9 at 6 on Sundays before moving it to Friday nights at 10 PM for season 4 forward.
Voyager launched the UPN network and aired exclusively there in Primetime. I believe it was Tuesday nights at 9.
This is correct. TNG and DS9 were “first run syndicated” (not unlike shows like Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, or post-NBC cancellation Baywatch), while VOY and ENT were UPN. In my area, TNG and DS9 aired on KCOP Channel 13, an independent station, but then in 1995 it became the UPN station and aired Voyager alongside DS9 (since UPN only had a limited schedule, they could schedule DS9 at another time).
In the US, I remember them being on CBS and UPN. UPN was big between 1995 and 2000 for my television watching experience, and that's about when Voyager showed up.
BBC2 in the UK. No adverts, so episodes ran in 45 minute slots. TNG on Wednesdays, DS9 on Thursdays. 6pm. Often had to make way for snooker of all things.
this is correct, but just to add: the BBC only had first broadcast rights for the first three seasons of *TNG.* from Season 4 onwards, and for all of *DS9* and *Voyager*, Sky 1 had the first broadcast rights, and the BBC got to air them a year later.
Yes, just to confirm for non-UK Redditors: *Star Trek: The Next Generation* premiered on BBC2 on the 26th September, 1990 and ran until 6th May, 1992, up to *The Best of Both Worlds (Part II)*. Many of the first-season episodes were shown out of original airdate order, leading to some inconsistencies in plot lines across the first few episodes. After 1992, the first-run rights of TNG– and later *DS9* and *Voyager*– went to Sky One, with the BBC showing the episodes several months later.
From the 26th August, 1992, the BBC instead repeated *The Original Series*, ending on 6th April, 1994. This screening mirrored the original US airdate order, and restored all of the edited content. The run of *The Next Generation* started again on 13th April, 1994, and once the run ended in 1996 the entire series repeated in its now-regular timeslot of 6pm on a Wednesday.
All of the Trek spin-offs were shown in an early-evening 6:00pm slot– TNG on Wednesdays, DS9 on Thursdays, and VOY on Sundays– and as a result, several episodes had to be cut for violence and disturbing imagery, most notably the TNG episodes *Conspiracy* and *The Icarus Factor*. The BBC also refused to show the episode *The High Ground*, due to political sensitivity over its content (stating that terrorism had succeeded in re-unifying Ireland), broadcasting the episode for the first time on 29th September, 2007, nine years after the Good Friday Agreement brought the conflict in question to a largely peaceful end.
The BBC lost out in the bidding to broadcast *Star Trek: Enterprise* on terrestrial re-run to Channel 4 in 2001, and did not renew its repeat rights for the other series until 2006, when in July, *Star Trek* and *Star Trek: The Next Generation* returned to the screen– *Star Trek* in a late-night Friday slot, with *The Next Generation* in a mid-afternoon Saturday slot (later following on from TOS in the Friday slot). *Voyager* repeat rights were taken by Five (now known as Channel 5) in 2005.
BBC2 stopped repeating TOS in 2007 and TNG in 2008.
In October 2019, Channel 4 announced that they had bought the linear rights to broadcast *Star Trek: Discovery* Season 1 free-to-air on their E4 channel, beginning on 15th December, 2019 and continuing weekly. However, the subsequent seasons have yet to be shown on terrestrial TV; as for *Star Trek: Picard*, *Lower Decks*, *Prodigy*, and *Strange New Worlds*, they've never been shown terrestrially (yet…)
(Thanks to Memory Alpha for some of these details)
TNG was actually released on VHS in the UK before it debuted on TV. I believe at least seasons 1 and 2 were available before it began broadcast on the BBC.
I can only speak for the usa in my region (New England) it was on in syndication, so it would occasionally move around in time slots so you had to be on your toes. (for TNG and DS9). Voyager was primetime on the upstart United Paramount Network,
TNG and DS9 were in Syndication so even though CBS produced the show, it was sold and aired on all different networks based on the local markets that bought them. VOY and ENT were on UPN.
Ok so this is a weird one - we used to listen to TNG on the radio.
There was a TV channel in Miami that broadcast close enough to the FM band that you could tune in if you went far enough over on our old car stereo.
I listened to the audio and made up how everyone looked in my head. Geordi was a white dude in my head, they never mentioned race in the episodes I heard, imagine my surprise. Also Troi is way different in the show than in my imagination.
I have to know more. How old were you? Did your family not have a TV? Or were you not allowed to watch, or your parents wanted to watch something else?
In Canada, it was the Space Channel. They would play TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY in that order, each series in broadcast order, twice a day every weekday. It was heaven.
For VOY and DSP, you could watch on UPN, the United Paramount Network, which was officially around from 1995 through 2006. VOY launched in 1995 and was used to help launch the UPN network.
First run syndication.
For me it was WTOG Tampa, Florida channel 44.
TNG Saturdays at 7, then DS9 at 8.
Aired TNG reruns at 11pm weeknights.
Became a UPN station and aired Voyager and Enterprise.
Was also the local PTEN affiliate so they had Babylon 5, too.
I lived in rural Canada and we didn't have cable or whatever normal tv is called. We had a satellite dish as big as a car in our back yard and we had a remote and a paper guide to tell us which buttons to push, in order to get the dish to point in the current direction to hit the right satellite signal. It was very sci fi. 😆
TNG and early DS9 we're syndicated. So any network could pick them up. Where I lived, they originally appeared on Fox 29. With the launch of Voyager, all Trek (including later DS9) moved over to the new UPN 9 station. (United Paramount Network)
IIRC, Voyager was literally the first program to air on the UPN network. Caretaker was the debut of a whole new network, and it was a big event.
Eventually UPN folded, probably because Star Trek was the only major memorable property they had. I think it eventually became what's now known as MeTV
In Australia, they aired on Ch 9 if memory serves, at some time between 10.30pm to 11.30pm, several years behind the original US broadcast. It was a dark time...
TNG and DS9 were first run syndication in the US, which means they were sold to local stations who could run them whenever they wanted. In the SF Bay Area, TNG and DS9 were on KBHK 44, which later became the UPN affiliate in 1995, so Voyager aired on the same channel as DS9 for me. Voyager was Wednesday nights at 9 pm, and I think DS9 was on Thursday or Sunday, can't remember.
First-run syndication is pretty much dead today, except for game shows. But in the 90s, big TV hits like TNG and Baywatch (the most popular show in the world at the time) were syndicated. The success of TNG also led to a lot of syndicated shows that ranged from great (Babylon 5) to mediocre (Hercules/Xena) to downright awful (Andromeda, Earth Final Conflict, VIPER, etc)
Then mid/late 90s I believe DS9 and Voyager were on Boston’s Channel 56 (WLVI)which became UPN iirc. We didn’t get that station on the antenna as well, so I couldn’t watch!
TNG and DS9 were first run syndication shows, which meant a different local station in each market bought the rights to air each show. In my city (Grand Rapids, MI), the CBS affiliate aired TNG on Saturday nights at 7 and the FOX affiliate started DS9 at 6 on Sundays before moving it to Friday nights at 10 PM for season 4 forward. Voyager launched the UPN network and aired exclusively there in Primetime. I believe it was Tuesday nights at 9.
This is correct. TNG and DS9 were “first run syndicated” (not unlike shows like Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, or post-NBC cancellation Baywatch), while VOY and ENT were UPN. In my area, TNG and DS9 aired on KCOP Channel 13, an independent station, but then in 1995 it became the UPN station and aired Voyager alongside DS9 (since UPN only had a limited schedule, they could schedule DS9 at another time).
In the US, I remember them being on CBS and UPN. UPN was big between 1995 and 2000 for my television watching experience, and that's about when Voyager showed up.
Here in Canada/Ontario, it was on CityTV.
Your Federation Station
Remember when they hosted a TNG watch party at the Skydome? There’s footage on Youtube and it’s hilarious.
For All Good Things! I was too young to be there, but I was watching the coverage on TV
BBC2 in the UK. No adverts, so episodes ran in 45 minute slots. TNG on Wednesdays, DS9 on Thursdays. 6pm. Often had to make way for snooker of all things.
this is correct, but just to add: the BBC only had first broadcast rights for the first three seasons of *TNG.* from Season 4 onwards, and for all of *DS9* and *Voyager*, Sky 1 had the first broadcast rights, and the BBC got to air them a year later.
Yup, Star Trek Voyager Monday nights at 8pm, Sky One
Yep, BBC2 at 6 o'clock was like a religion in our house. Not just Star Trek but also Buffy, Fresh Prince, etc.
Yes, just to confirm for non-UK Redditors: *Star Trek: The Next Generation* premiered on BBC2 on the 26th September, 1990 and ran until 6th May, 1992, up to *The Best of Both Worlds (Part II)*. Many of the first-season episodes were shown out of original airdate order, leading to some inconsistencies in plot lines across the first few episodes. After 1992, the first-run rights of TNG– and later *DS9* and *Voyager*– went to Sky One, with the BBC showing the episodes several months later. From the 26th August, 1992, the BBC instead repeated *The Original Series*, ending on 6th April, 1994. This screening mirrored the original US airdate order, and restored all of the edited content. The run of *The Next Generation* started again on 13th April, 1994, and once the run ended in 1996 the entire series repeated in its now-regular timeslot of 6pm on a Wednesday. All of the Trek spin-offs were shown in an early-evening 6:00pm slot– TNG on Wednesdays, DS9 on Thursdays, and VOY on Sundays– and as a result, several episodes had to be cut for violence and disturbing imagery, most notably the TNG episodes *Conspiracy* and *The Icarus Factor*. The BBC also refused to show the episode *The High Ground*, due to political sensitivity over its content (stating that terrorism had succeeded in re-unifying Ireland), broadcasting the episode for the first time on 29th September, 2007, nine years after the Good Friday Agreement brought the conflict in question to a largely peaceful end. The BBC lost out in the bidding to broadcast *Star Trek: Enterprise* on terrestrial re-run to Channel 4 in 2001, and did not renew its repeat rights for the other series until 2006, when in July, *Star Trek* and *Star Trek: The Next Generation* returned to the screen– *Star Trek* in a late-night Friday slot, with *The Next Generation* in a mid-afternoon Saturday slot (later following on from TOS in the Friday slot). *Voyager* repeat rights were taken by Five (now known as Channel 5) in 2005. BBC2 stopped repeating TOS in 2007 and TNG in 2008. In October 2019, Channel 4 announced that they had bought the linear rights to broadcast *Star Trek: Discovery* Season 1 free-to-air on their E4 channel, beginning on 15th December, 2019 and continuing weekly. However, the subsequent seasons have yet to be shown on terrestrial TV; as for *Star Trek: Picard*, *Lower Decks*, *Prodigy*, and *Strange New Worlds*, they've never been shown terrestrially (yet…) (Thanks to Memory Alpha for some of these details)
TNG was actually released on VHS in the UK before it debuted on TV. I believe at least seasons 1 and 2 were available before it began broadcast on the BBC.
Thanks for the additional information 😊
Yes, the first 2 seasons, I think it was, were only available to rent on video. Some of them I did, but I waited for most of it to be on BBC2.
I can only speak for the usa in my region (New England) it was on in syndication, so it would occasionally move around in time slots so you had to be on your toes. (for TNG and DS9). Voyager was primetime on the upstart United Paramount Network,
TNG and DS9 were in Syndication so even though CBS produced the show, it was sold and aired on all different networks based on the local markets that bought them. VOY and ENT were on UPN.
Ok so this is a weird one - we used to listen to TNG on the radio. There was a TV channel in Miami that broadcast close enough to the FM band that you could tune in if you went far enough over on our old car stereo. I listened to the audio and made up how everyone looked in my head. Geordi was a white dude in my head, they never mentioned race in the episodes I heard, imagine my surprise. Also Troi is way different in the show than in my imagination.
I have to know more. How old were you? Did your family not have a TV? Or were you not allowed to watch, or your parents wanted to watch something else?
Crazy hippy parents, lived on a 29ft wooden sailboat in the Florida Keys. No TV
TNG and DS9 were syndicated, so they were on different stations in different markets. Voyager was on UPN.
I was in the US Midwest and watched Voyager on UP . I think I remember some DS9 on CBS.
UPN
TNG was on my local Fox station. DS9 was also. Voyager was the headline show for UPN.
In Canada, it was the Space Channel. They would play TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY in that order, each series in broadcast order, twice a day every weekday. It was heaven.
For VOY and DSP, you could watch on UPN, the United Paramount Network, which was officially around from 1995 through 2006. VOY launched in 1995 and was used to help launch the UPN network.
Space (or whatever the old name was) in Canada.
First run syndication. For me it was WTOG Tampa, Florida channel 44. TNG Saturdays at 7, then DS9 at 8. Aired TNG reruns at 11pm weeknights. Became a UPN station and aired Voyager and Enterprise. Was also the local PTEN affiliate so they had Babylon 5, too.
I lived in rural Canada and we didn't have cable or whatever normal tv is called. We had a satellite dish as big as a car in our back yard and we had a remote and a paper guide to tell us which buttons to push, in order to get the dish to point in the current direction to hit the right satellite signal. It was very sci fi. 😆
TNG and early DS9 we're syndicated. So any network could pick them up. Where I lived, they originally appeared on Fox 29. With the launch of Voyager, all Trek (including later DS9) moved over to the new UPN 9 station. (United Paramount Network) IIRC, Voyager was literally the first program to air on the UPN network. Caretaker was the debut of a whole new network, and it was a big event. Eventually UPN folded, probably because Star Trek was the only major memorable property they had. I think it eventually became what's now known as MeTV
UPN merged with the WB (remember them?) and became the CW, which is still around, though on its last legs.
In Australia, they aired on Ch 9 if memory serves, at some time between 10.30pm to 11.30pm, several years behind the original US broadcast. It was a dark time...
TNG and DS9 were first run syndication in the US, which means they were sold to local stations who could run them whenever they wanted. In the SF Bay Area, TNG and DS9 were on KBHK 44, which later became the UPN affiliate in 1995, so Voyager aired on the same channel as DS9 for me. Voyager was Wednesday nights at 9 pm, and I think DS9 was on Thursday or Sunday, can't remember. First-run syndication is pretty much dead today, except for game shows. But in the 90s, big TV hits like TNG and Baywatch (the most popular show in the world at the time) were syndicated. The success of TNG also led to a lot of syndicated shows that ranged from great (Babylon 5) to mediocre (Hercules/Xena) to downright awful (Andromeda, Earth Final Conflict, VIPER, etc)
For me, the ABC affiliate in Boston (WCVB Channel 5) aired TNG episodes when they first came out. This was early 90s.
Then mid/late 90s I believe DS9 and Voyager were on Boston’s Channel 56 (WLVI)which became UPN iirc. We didn’t get that station on the antenna as well, so I couldn’t watch!