Despite a fall of about 70% in viewers since Enterprise's first episode, head of the Trek franchise Rick Berman is adamant that the show's ratings are not a cause for concern.

"People say the ratings have dipped," Berman told Star Trek Monthly, "but you have to remember that any television series in its first season receives a ridiculous amount of promotion — magazine covers, television stories, Entertainment Weekly covers, TV Guide covers... so there's always a big spike of ratings in the beginning and they drop off. That's historical for every series we've done, including The Next Generation."

Berman went on to explain that the advent of satellite and cable has caused all networks to suffer huge ratings drop. "There are hundreds of stations that are available to people now — there used to be only three," he said. "If you look at the ratings since the first season of Voyager, which was seven years ago, general ratings of the broadcast networks have fallen by 35 per cent, so if we fall 35 per cent, we're in keeping with the other networks."

He added that the enduring appeal of Trek was more important. "Star Trek is a lot bigger than a TV show or a film franchise," he said. "It's more than entertainment, it's part of our culture."

The full article and interview can be found in issue 102 of Star Trek Monthly.

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