The problem with the competition discussion is that it doesn't address
the issues from an industry standpoint. It's not an issue of "Well, DS9
isn't sweating because they're getting better ratings than B5." It's not
per se a competition on that level. What worries Paramount is ANY other
show like B5 even existing, because it dilutes their monopoly on this
kind of space show, which has existed for 30 years. Also, over time, DS9's
ratings have gotten very soft; a number of their folks have drifted over
to B5. Given their huge expensive budget, even while they may stay way
ahead of us in the ratings, if they drop below a certain point it's going
to cause them problems.

jms