Spike VS SciFi Chanel

[*RA]

I Few years ago my tv always seemed to be on the SciFi Channel, Now it always seems to be on Spike Tv, I started off watching DS9 reruns and even some TNG, Now they even have Voyager. They don't aim to be a science fiction channel, but seem to be doing a better job at it than the Scifi Channel. Now if they could only steel away the gates.

[Exiled Master]

Indeed, it would be like Deus Ex Machina, sweeping away the embattled series from the jaws of incompetent self-destruction.

[TheGreatLordGeorge]

Spike is smart, they know there audience. They provide quality programming. they have action, comedy, babes, and Sci Fi what more can a man need?


Sci Fi on the other hand offers z- level movies with bad plots. They also have poor programming on the whole and have created only one good show (Sci-Fi claims the gates as original programming but that is a crock, they just sweped up the winnings and took over in season 6)

[Starbase]

Spike has gone down hill ever since the WWE left and especially since they canceled Blade:The Series, that show was the best scifi show to hit the air in years!, idiots!.

[yaaayoubetcha]

i'm not big on either of them, really.

i think they both mostly broadcast crap and 2nd rate movies. or at best...really old first rate movies.

[Forseti]

SciFi's movies are a joke... They'd be better off showing reruns of BSG, SG-1, SGA, Eureka, The 4400, ect. And how can you call yourself a science-fiction channel without any Star Trek? If they're going to show movies, they should at least show some good ones, like Stargate and the Star Trek movies...

I prefer Spike, only because they have Star Trek (Voyager all this week) and CSI.

[MediaSavant]

Both SciFi and Spike bid for the rights to the Trek shows. SciFi got out bid.

Not coincidentally, Spike is owned by Viacom, who was selling the rights.

Ironically, despite the fact that they bid the most money, the Trek shows have been a ratings disappointment for the channel. That's why none of the shows are running in Primetime and only in the Daytime ghetto.

[Starbase]

That's why none of the shows are running in Primetime and only in the Daytime ghetto.

The Trek shows TNG and DS9 were shown in primetime when Spike originally bought the rights to air them a few years back. After they ran in primetime for about a year they were delegated to daytime. Judging by how many episodes they show daily and the fact it has been running continuously for years, the ratings can't be all that bad.

the Trek shows have been a ratings disappointment for the channel

You think the ratings are bad now, wait till Voyager has been on for a couple months.

[jds1982]

SciFi's movies are a joke... They'd be better off showing reruns of BSG, SG-1, SGA, Eureka, The 4400, ect. And how can you call yourself a science-fiction channel without any Star Trek? If they're going to show movies, they should at least show some good ones, like Stargate and the Star Trek movies...

I prefer Spike, only because they have Star Trek (Voyager all this week) and CSI.

Well Sci Fi is going to air Enterprise in April.

[Trek_Girl42]

Well Sci Fi is going to air Enterprise in April.

It will be interesting to see how that does- because I think Enterprise is best viewed in strip run.


I'm curious, has Voyager typically done lower or higher ratings then DS9 in the states? Because according to what I've heard amidst the whining over having to watch Spike TV from Canadians, is that DS9 had fairly low ratings on the SPACE channel up here, so they renewed their rights to all the other Trek series and quit running DS9 a couple years ago.

Voyager however, has been running right through for years and years, probably since the show originally went off the air.

[Acolyte Of Bli'l'ab]

Neither are very good really for the most part, mostly bottom-class sci-fi dreck and overdone cliches. Theres always exceptions of course, but thats what I feel about them for the most part.

[Daedalus-304]

I sometimes watch Spike when Star Trek is on, but I think the Commercials and adds that show up during the show, are so much worse than the ones on Sci-Fi

[Trek_Girl42]

I sometimes watch Spike when Star Trek is on, but I think the Commercials and adds that show up during the show, are so much worse than the ones on Sci-Fi

Couldn't imagine any ads being worse then those shown on Spike, but that could partially be due to the American style of ads, because I don't watch American tv and most channels in Canada do not have ads popping up on the screen during the show. However, Spike is so plagued with technical difficulties.....the only reason I put up with it is DS9.

[Daedalus-304]

Couldn't imagine any ads being worse then those shown on Spike, but that could partially be due to the American style of ads, because I don't watch American tv and most channels in Canada do not have ads popping up on the screen during the show. However, Spike is so plagued with technical difficulties.....the only reason I put up with it is DS9.

You don't have adds that pop up during shows? Wow that is so nice, here some of the pop ups have covered important parts of the show before. Also it seems like my local channels have Very bad adds late at night; I'll be watching reruns of Stargate or something on Saturday or Sunday night and they will have these bad dating commercials. At least I haven't seen anything as bad as the time I was in Central America, and those commercials were on in the middle of the day and during the news

It seems like there is a different style of commercials in Canada, I haven’t seen anything bad yet. Since I am close to the border I get one Canadian channel, but I mainly use it to watch the Simpsons.

[Trek_Girl42]

You don't have adds that pop up during shows? Wow that is so nice, here some of the pop ups have covered important parts of the show before. Also it seems like my local channels have Very bad adds late at night; I'll be watching reruns of Stargate or something on Saturday or Sunday night and they will have these bad dating commercials. At least I haven't seen anything as bad as the time I was in Central America, and those commercials were on in the middle of the day and during the news

It seems like there is a different style of commercials in Canada, I haven’t seen anything bad yet. Since I am close to the border I get one Canadian channel, but I mainly use it to watch the Simpsons.

That is one of the things that I have noticed from watching Spike (and other American channels) is how different the commercial style is.....and it's not just the fact that at this time of year, it seems half our commercials have to have something to do with hockey in them. The insurenece ads are one of the really big diferences. I can't believe the number of insurence ads for Progressive, Geico, etc. that show up on American channels. It's like.....one of the biggest cultural differences between our two countries.

I think City might do the pop up ads, but if they do they're so unnoticeable that I don't remember them- SPACE for example has no ads whatsoever pop up during their programming. Ever. CBC has started recently, but again they're generally so small it's practically unnoticeable- and it's usually once during a show near the end saying whatever is coming up next- same with Global. Unlike say.....Fox, who literally cover half the screen with a giant blue and white advertisement for the next "all new episode of House" during their Atlantis re-runs.

Sadly we get those same dating ads as well, or at least we did, haven't seen any since the summer though.