What was the reason for the US/Europe divide in popularity?

[moreorless]

I'v never seen any actual numbers but it seems to be the accepted wisdom that B5 was more popular in Europe than it was in the US, what does everyone think were the reasons for that?

Differences in the amount of choice on TV? more attactment to Trek in the US? more interest in the fantasy element in Europe?

[Dr Maturin]

The simple answer is probably availability.

[David Panzer]

True. Only the most loyal watchers will channel surf at 3AM to find their show. Everyone else would rather sleep

[AaronB]

I'v never seen any actual numbers but it seems to be the accepted wisdom that B5 was more popular in Europe than it was in the US, what does everyone think were the reasons for that?

Differences in the amount of choice on TV? more attactment to Trek in the US? more interest in the fantasy element in Europe?

I think it was Bush's fault.

[moreorless]

The simple answer is probably availability.

I'v always considered that the largest factor, I think you can add to that the relative lack of sci fi on UK(and I'd guess most european) TV at the time with really only The Next Gen, X Files and Quantum Leap for compeitision. Even though shows with an arc might be more common these days I'm not sure something as slow burning as B5 could get the same popularity here today.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

I think it was Bush's fault.

Hey ... someone has to make cheap TV sets.

[Dipper]

Don't know about rest of Europe, but here in northern europe for the most part it aired primetime (8pm - 10pm). One really tough competitor was left out: The Outer Limits. It was a huge success here.


-Dip

[Morden]

@ moreorless: What about LOST? That show is OK but quite "slow burning", as you said.

@ Dipper: Here in Germany, B5 didn't get any prime-time chances, but scifi-stuff generally seems to have it a bit hard in our TV (besides those everyone-compatible Stargate-Shows). On the other hand, B5 has always had a strong fanbase here, and on the DVD market B5 has been a great success even in our country.

So, at the moment unfortunately I can't add a new explanation to the topic.

[moreorless]

Don't know about rest of Europe, but here in nort-europe for the most part it aired primetime (8pm - 10pm). One really tough competitor was left out: The Outer Limits. It was a huge success here.


-Dip

I can't remember exactly but I think it started at 6pm in the UK(which was a popular sci fi spot at the time) then moved back to 7-8 pm.

The outer limates (re)started around 95-96 didnt it? By that time you had lots of sci fi on TV over here where as in 93 I'd guess many people watched everything. I know B5 took a few episodes to really grab me("and the sky full of stars") and perhaps I wouldnt give a show that long these days.

@ moreorless: What about LOST? That show is OK but quite "slow burning", as you said.

I'v not really watched lost, didnt see the early episodes and am waiting to get it on DVD cheap rather than join part way though.

Still the impression that I'v got is that like 24 or Battlestar Galactica you had some fairly major issues concluded within the first season. With B5 on the other hand season 1 didnt just avoid getting into the meat of the big story but actually avoided telling us what that story would be.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Not that I am a sad geek or anything ... ahem ... but in the UK, seasons 1-3 were shown at 6pm, season 4 was pushed back to 10:40pm (in order for it to be shown uncut), and season 5 (bizarrely) was aired over Sunday lunch.

Unlike the US, however, seasons aired as far as possible in a single block from ep1 to ep22. The only breaks came where it was occasionally pre-empted (not very often) and where WB insisted that Channel 4 didn't show the season finale before it had aired in the US.

I get the impression that there is also a greater history of ongoing serial-type shows in the UK (Blakes 7 for one) whereas USTV had generally been more episodic in nature, so the concept of a five year show with definite beginning, middle and end was not quite such an unfamiliar concept.

[Endymion]

Not that I am a sad geek or anything ... ahem ... but in the UK, seasons 1-3 were shown at 6pm, season 4 was pushed back to 10:40pm (in order for it to be shown uncut), and season 5 (bizarrely) was aired over Sunday lunch.

Hmm ... I clearly remember being up till nearly 2am trying to watch some eps of Season 5. I missed quite a few including "The Ragged Edge" because I was just so tired and fell asleep.

Maybe it was something to do with the local programming.

[Whyruss]

season 4 was pushed back to 10:40pm (in order for it to be shown uncut), and season 5 (bizarrely)

Hmm??? Why that? I can't thing of a thing which should be censured in Babylon 5...

[B5_Obsessed]

I'v never seen any actual numbers but it seems to be the accepted wisdom that B5 was more popular in Europe than it was in the US, what does everyone think were the reasons for that?

Differences in the amount of choice on TV? more attactment to Trek in the US? more interest in the fantasy element in Europe?

It's a common phenomena known as the "Hasselhoff Anomaly"

But seriously folks. Most straight on sci fi gets a bad rap in this country and Americans didn't seem to be ready for heavily serialized television except for daytime and primetime soaps - the latter of which declined in the late 80s. However, genius breeds imitation, and imitation breed acceptance, so it's no surprise that serialized prime time programming with fantasy or science fiction elements have become so popular. It's still a tricky propostion, though, as these elements often need to be grounded in a more realistic (i.e: real world) environment. It's an ongoing fear that if shows like LOST go too overtly sci-fi, they will lose their mainstream audience no one but old fans of "The Prisoner" will be watching.

[Dr Maturin]

Hmm??? Why that? I can't thing of a thing which should be censured in Babylon 5...

I don't know if the above post is a joke what with its possible misspelling, but stuff in the UK is usually heavily edited for "violence."

[moreorless]

This was back in the dark days when the Daily Mail still controled what we saw on TV in the UK and watch words like "kickboxing" and "Nunchucks" controled what was cut.