Babylon 5 - Broadcast History

Broadcast History

The pilot film, The Gathering, premiered on February 22, 1993, and the regular series initially aired from January 26, 1994 through November 25, 1998, first on the short-lived Prime Time Entertainment Network, then on cable network TNT. The show aired every week in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 without a break; as a result the last four or five episodes of the early seasons were shown in the UK before the US. The pilot film debuted in the United States with strong viewing figures, achieving a 9.7 in the Nielsen national syndication rankings. The series proper debuted with a 6.8 rating/10 share. Figures dipped in its second week, and while it posted a solid 5.0 rating/8 share, with an increase in several major markets, ratings for the first season continued to fall, to a low of 3.4 during reruns, and then increasing again when new episodes were broadcast in July.

Ratings continued to remain low-to-middling throughout the first four seasons, but Babylon 5 scored well with the demographics required to attract the leading national sponsors and saved up to $300,000 per episode by shooting off the studio lot, therefore remaining profitable for the network. The fifth season, shown on cable network TNT, had ratings about 1.0% lower than seasons two through four.

In the United Kingdom, Babylon 5 was one of the better-rated US television shows on Channel 4, and achieved high audience Appreciation Indexes, with season 4's "Endgame" achieving the rare feat of beating the prime-time soap operas for first position.

On November 25, 1998, after five seasons and 109 aired episodes, Babylon 5 successfully completed its five year story arc when TNT aired the 110th (epilogue) episode "Sleeping in Light".