Carl Cantarella <105030.3700@compuserve.com> asks:
> (The militant Trekker agitators over there are out to milk this
> one for whatever mileage they can get out of it.) While I've had
> the good sense not to get involved in their ongoing scuffle
> concerning this, I find myself wondering about one thing with
> respect to B5's ratings now that it's being shown on cable: are
> the two separate airings of the season 5 episodes tabulated
> cumulatively, or separately?

No, the ratings are added for the two showings in a week.

As for the ratings...we are TNT's second-highest rated show.
Where does it say we have to be in the top 15 of everything on cable or
it's not a success? Voyager's and DS9's ratings would put it at the
bottom of the network pile, but it's closer to the high-middles in
syndication. The only ratings figure that matters is this: have the
ratings been high enough for the show to stay on the air, and let me
tell the story that I wanted to tell? And the answer to that is yes.
And now the show is out there; nobody cares 10 years from now if it was
in the top 15, or 5, or 50...the show is the show is the show.

And those who come in from the Trek camp to badmouth B5 because
of the ratings should be reminded that the original Star Trek was
canceled in its third year because of poor ratings...and was considered
a failure by the networks and the studio. But the show was the show
was the show, and now it has grown.

As will B5.

jms