Star Trek Picard – The Topic is Trek

April 13, 2026April 13, 2026

Why Reaching the Top 10 Mattered for Starfleet Academy

Header image for article on Nielsen ratings and Starfleet Academy.

Adding some context to one aspect of Academy’s cancellation.

When Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was cancelled, no definitive reason for the decision was given by Paramount+. That has led to endless speculation. Was the action the result of some hidden agenda by the Ellisons? A reaction to the toxic online “discourse” over the show? Was it a move designed to end all Alex Kurtzman-era productions prior to the end of his current contract?

I certainly can’t pretend to know the answers to any of those questions. So, I will concern myself with the one that interests me the most. Namely, the statement that Starfleet Academy never broke into the Top 10 Streaming in the Nielsen ratings.

This article will be a deep dive into lots of numbers. If you would rather just study the infographic for a much higher-level picture, CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE IT.

Visual representation of much of the data discussed in the article.

A far-too-brief explanation of Nielsen ratings

Nielsen is the industry standard when it comes to understanding how well TV shows are performing at drawing in audiences. They have tracked traditional and cable TV for decades. Later adding computer, internet and video game usage. And, in 2020, they expanded into covering the growing field of streaming.

However, not every single streaming service was part of that launch. Even though CBS All Access (rebranded as Paramount+ in 2021) launched in October of 2014, it was not tracked by Nielsen until February of 2023.

Some of the data is missing, including information on Data

Why is the date of Nielsen’s inclusion of CBS All Access/Paramount+ important? It lets us know something important about things we don’t know.

The delayed start of tracking means that several seasons of streaming Star Trek were never ranked. In fact, numbers for one entire series are non-existent. We have no Nielsen ranking for seasons 1 through 4 of Star Trek: Discovery (2017-2022), seasons 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Picard (2020-2022), season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022), as well as the entire Star Trek: Short Treks (2018-2020) series.

Your questions are answered. Well, at least some of them

Before we begin, here are answers to two questions you may find yourself asking.

Nielsen rankings are based on minutes viewed. Do the numbers in the charts indicate the total number of minutes that particular episode was viewed?

Yes. And no. While the majority of the number is, indeed, almost always related to the episode listed, you need to remember that the primary purpose of the Nielsens is to help networks charge appropriately for the audience size. Therefore, the number indicates the total number of minutes spent viewing the episode plus any other episodes of that series streamed during that particular week.

What about Lower Decks and Prodigy? If the rankings are based on minutes viewed, how does that affect shorter-length shows?

Simply put, it makes those shows have to work that much harder to reach the Top 10. For every minute spent watching episodes of, say, Strange New Worlds, during a given week, more than twice as many episodes of Lower Decks would need to be streamed for it to rank in the same position. Yes, that’s unfair to fans of those shows, but, again, Nielsen ratings are designed to inform ad sales. More minutes mean more money.

Okay, let’s begin.

Once tracking began, Picard was first up to bat

The first streaming Star Trek to ever be officially tracked by Nielsen was Star Trek: Picard, season 3 (February 16 to April 20, 2023). That means a bold statement like “The third season of Picard was the first streaming Trek to break into the Top 10″ needs to be tempered with the understanding that no streaming Trek before that even had the ability to chart in the Nielsens.

In that third and final season of Picard, the show reached the Top 10 a total of three times. Here are the episodes, along with their rankings and the number of viewing minutes each week’s episode generated for the Picard series. As mentioned above, Nielsen reports on minutes viewed over a 1 week period. The numbers include the episode that premiered plus any views of other episodes of the Picard series that happened during that week.

Star Trek: Picard, season 3 (February 16 – April 20, 2023)

Episode Premiering	Top 10 Ranking	Series Minutes Viewed
“No Win Scenario” (ep. 4)	9	310 Million
“Vox” (ep. 9)	10	276 Million
“The Last Generation” (ep. 10)	9	400 Million

Given that there were 10 episodes in the season, that means Picard broke into the Top 10 rankings 30% of the time, with an average number of total minutes viewed equaling 326.7 million minutes.

**How did Discovery fare?**

In the timeline of series to have a season premier after Nielsen tracking began, next comes Strange New Worlds, season 2. However, since Discovery was already 4 seasons in prior to the Nielsens and the series would end during the run of Strange New Worlds, the show would, potentially, have the most momentum (or viewer fall off). So we will tackle that first.

In the final season of Discovery, the show reached the Top 10 a total of four times. Here are the episodes, along with their rankings and the number of viewing minutes each week’s episode generated for the Discovery series.

Star Trek: Discovery, season 5 (April 3 – May 30, 2024)

Episode Premiering	Top 10 Ranking	Series Minutes Viewed
“Jinaal” (ep. 3)	10	257 Million
“Face the Strange” (ep. 4)	9	241 Million
“”Mirrors” (ep. 5)	8	285 Million
“Life, Itself” (ep. 10)	10	269 Million

There were 10 episodes in the 5th season, that means Discovery broke into the Top 10 rankings 40% of the time, with an average number of minutes viewed equaling 263 million minutes. Going by those figures, while Discovery did better than Picard in terms of entering the Top 10, its average number of minutes viewed was lower, which may not be surprising given the fact this was 2024 and Discovery premiered back in 2017.

Is Strange New Worlds the GOAT of Trek streaming?

Next up is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. As a reminder, we have no data on season 1, as it premiered prior to being tracked by Nielsen.

During the 10-episode season 2 of Strange New Worlds, the show reached the Top 10 a staggering 8 times, including hitting the highest spot streaming Trek has ever achieved in the Nielsens (#7) on three separate occasions. Here’s the breakdown. But pay attention to the total minutes viewed, as that information will be important in a moment.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 2 (June 15 – August 20, 2023)

Episode Premiering	Top 10 Ranking	Series Minutes Viewed
“The Broken Circle” (ep. 1)	7	338 Million
“Ad Astra Per Aspera” (ep. 2)	8	393 Million
“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” (ep. 3)	8	332 Million
“Among the Lotus Eaters (ep. 4)	10	306 Million
“Charades” (ep 5)	10	280 Million
“Lost in Translation” (ep. 6)	9	321 Million
“Those Old Scientists” (ep. 7)	7	358 Million
“Subspace Rhapsody” (ep. 9)	7	362 Million

There were 10 episodes in season 2, that means Strange New Worlds broke into the Top 10 rankings 80% of the time, with an average number of minutes viewed equaling 336.3 million minutes. Both its charting on the Nielsens and its average minutes watched were above anything achieved by tracked Trek up to that point.

The tide and time wait for no Trek

Clearly streaming Star Trek was on an upward swing in 2023. But a lot changed between Strange New World’s 2nd season in 2023 and its return for the 3rd season in 2025.

The Writers Guild of America went on strike on May 1, 2023 and remained on the picket lines for 148 days. During the strike, Guild members were prohibited from virtually every aspect of writing, from rewrites to simple notes. This would have a serious impact on the Strange New Worlds writers room.

As noted above, Star Trek: Discovery ended its 6-year, 5-season run in May 2023. The loss of the flagship streaming Trek series may have had a significant effect on how the franchise, and Paramount+, were perceived by Disco fans.

In June of 2023, in the middle of Strange New World’s second season, Paramount+ announced that not only would it not be premiering the second season of Star Trek: Prodigy, even though CBS Studios would complete work on the in-progress 20-episode season, season 1 would be completely removed from the platform. The production would be used as a tax write off. While not the first streaming Trek show to be cancelled, coming so shortly after the end of Discovery was concerning. Combine that with the fact that Paramount+ believed that virtually eliminating an entire series from its collection was just part of doing business, that is a message that sent a shockwave through the franchise.

On July 14, 2023, the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) found themselves on the picket lines for 118 days. Guild members could not act, sing, do dialogue looping, promotional work or even perform puppetry during the strike. It was one more bump in the road that would wreak havoc on the rhythm of the Strange New Worlds production schedule.

On April 12, 2024, Paramount+ announced that Star Trek: Lower Decks would end at the conclusion of its then-in-production season 5. Although Starfleet Academy and the (then) Section 31 series had been announced, at this point there was no indication as to when either show would premier.

But perhaps the biggest change was to Paramount itself. In 2021, industry observers were noticing that Paramount was making moves that implied it was dressing itself up for a possible sale or merger. By late 2023, Sharri Redstone was already in discussions with Skydance Media’s David Ellison about obtaining her family’s controlling shares in Paramount stock, even while then Paramount CEO Bob Bakish was speaking with Warner Bros. Discovery about a possible merger. The battle for control of Paramount would drag on until the Summer of 2025.

Strange New Worlds tries to bounce back, and stumbles

After a 2-year hiatus, and premiering just six months after the Star Trek: Section 31 streaming movie event failed to impress critics and fans, Strange New Worlds returned for its 3rd season. However, with underbaked scripts and no cohesive thread to the season, the run fell far short of season 2’s success. During the 10-episode run, the show reached the Top 10 a total of 3 times, compared to 8 times during season 2.

Please note that since “Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” premiered at the same time, they both represent that week’s ranking in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 3 (July 14 – Sept 11, 2025)

Episode Premiering	Top 10 Ranking	Series Minutes Viewed
“Hegemony, Part II” (ep. 1) / “Wedding Bell Blues” (ep. 2)	7	471 Million
“Shuttle to Kenfori” (ep. 3)	9	472 Million
“A Space Adventure Hour” (ep. 4)	7	397 Million

There were 10 episodes in season 3, that means Strange New Worlds broke into the Top 10 rankings 30% of the time (again, “Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” were part of the same premier week). What is interesting to note here is that viewership of Strange New Worlds actually increased. Compared to an average of 336.3 million minutes of viewing time during season 2 Top 10 weeks, season 3 averaged 446.7 million. Subscriptions to Paramount+ were up, viewing minutes of Trek were up, but, so was streaming viewing in total. Making a record number of minutes viewed in a week was now almost a required baseline for success.

Academy fails to rank, signaling its fate

All of the above information is meant to help put into context that one statement: Starfleet Academy never broke into the Top 10 Streaming in the Nielsen ratings.

While one can argue all the other reasons why Academy failed, or why it should have been saved, the simple fact was, when it came to the Nielsens, Starfleet Academy season 1 was the first Nielsen-tracked season of Trek to never once achieve a goal that every other trackable live-action Trek season had achieved – multiple times.

Interest in Star Trek still seemed high, given Strange New Worlds’ numbers. And while the show’s concept and execution may not have been right for some, Academy was primarily designed to bring in a new, younger audience. For whatever reason, or reasons, that audience appears to have not shown up.

You may wonder, given what we know, will Academy do better in season 2? The only direct comparison we have is the two tracked seasons of Strange New Worlds, where the viewership hours were actually up, but in the rising tide of streaming shows, the series was still sinking.

And when the expectations are high. That much of a fall is hard to reverse. If season 4 of Strange New Worlds manages to pull off a turnaround. It might better answer the “What if…” aspects of this story. But it won’t change the reality. Starfleet Academy underperformed when it comes to this metric, hastening its demise.

For better or worse, this article was written by the author, not AI.

Links to some of the information used in the creation of this article
Nielsen launches weekly list of most popular streaming shows – Los Angeles Times
Paramount Press Express | CBS BRINGS PROGRAMMING DIRECT TO CONSUMERS WITH NEW MULTI-PLATFORM DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
Paramount Plus launches March 4, taking over from CBS All Access (Update) – Android Authority
Paramount+ Makes Its Nielsen Streaming Chart Debut With ‘1923’
List of Hollywood strikes – Wikipedia
Shocker — STAR TREK: PRODIGY Cancelled, to be Removed from Paramount+ in Days as Animated Series Seeks New Home – TrekCore.com
‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Canceled After Season 5
A Starfleet Academy Star Trek Series Is in the Works at Paramount+

February 19, 2020May 18, 2020

“Because you could not save everyone, you chose to save no one.” — Star Trek: Picard review, season 1, episodes 3 and 4

Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, Episode 3
“The End is the Beginning”
Teleplay by Michael Chabon & James Duff
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, Episode 4
“Absolute Candor”
Story by Michael Chabon
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Review by Clinton

In my review of the first two episodes of “Star Trek: Picard” I likened the story to a Dixon Hill holonovel. Now, this additional pair of episodes has added another element of mystery. Specifically, why has it taken four episodes to gather the crew that will set off on this mission?

Is it so we could have the startling reveal of Seven (Jeri Ryan) in the last minute of hour four? As interesting as that was, I don’t think it was the motivating factor.

Perhaps we need the time to get to know Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Carbera), his ship, the La Sirena, and his multitude of Emergency Hologram (EH) avatars, each prone to bursts of psychoanalysis. But no, that isn’t the reason either.

I think the primary reason we plodded along so slowly is so that we could get the full picture of where Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) exists today. After all, this is a man we have not seen for twenty years. We bring certain assumptions with us. How he speaks. How he thinks. His honor and his integrity. But, as this story has unfolded, it seems that most of those traits have fallen by the wayside. He is as broken as he believes Starfleet and the Federation to be.

It is not just Admiral Clancy who calls out Picard for his hubris. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) does it, too. Twice. Once when Picard expresses surprise that Starfleet calls his bluff when he threatens to resign if the Romulan rescue mission is halted. He says that he never would have believed they would accept his resignation. Raffi, a look of harsh disapproval on her face, replies, “Of course you wouldn’t.” That is followed, years later, by Raffi’s comment to Picard when he comes to her tiny shack, asking her for help. Raffi, her life ruined by Picard’s actions, listens to his story about wanting to rescue someone he has never even met. Then, again, with that disdain in her voice, replies, “Wow, I don’t even know what to say. The obvious way to go would be ‘You’ve got some goddamn nerve.’ But I gather you’ve already heard that from your buddy, Clancy.” Picard never even came once to visit her. But now that he needs something, he appears as if out of thin air. She sees a flaw in Picard. A hubris that is beyond reason.

Then there is the matter of Elnor (Evan Evagora). The young Romulan evacuee who looked up to Jean-Luc Picard. Then, when the Romulan rescue mission was halted, Picard never returned to Vashti. Elnor continued to be raised by the Qowat Milat warrior nuns, who were unable to find the young man a more suitable home. When Picard does return, he is hoping to enlist Elnor, who has now grown to be an outstanding warrior, on his quest to locate Dahj’s android sister. But when Elnor asks, “Why do you need me?” Picard replies with explanations of needing someone younger and stronger along on the mission. And Picard feels his need to locate a woman he has never met is criterion enough for Elnor to bind his sword to Picard’s quest. Elnor replies, seething with anger, “Now that I have use to you? Now that I have value to you? You left me on my own, old man. I see no reason not to do the same.”

Feelings were often hard for Picard, but, over time, we had seen him open up. He has collapsed in on himself.

And what are we to make of the fact that when Picard dreams, his thoughts do not turn to the people he has wronged. No. He dreams of Data. He grieves for Data. And has done so for two decades. It is as if making the ultimate sacrifice for Picard is the only way to get his attention now. That is not a healthy frame of mind.

The story chose to linger on these things. We will, presumably, see a change in Picard’s attitude. But this level of damage is distressing.

Next episode: Stardust City Rag

Random thoughts and observations:

After a more than 50 year association with “Star Trek”, it was nice to see Vasquez Rocks finally get on-screen credit. Somewhere the Gorn Captain is shedding a tear of joy. Or maybe that’s just sand in his eye.
Seeing Soji Asha and Narek do a variant of the “young lovers ice skate at Rockefeller Center” rom-com trope was interesting.
As if there was any doubt, we learned that everyone in Starfleet believes that Commodore Oh is a Vulcan. Apparently the protocols that surely are in place to protect against dual personas, like Ash Tyler/Voq, or shape-shifters, like the Founders, don’t work well enough to distinguish a Vulcan from their distant cousins, the Romulans.
I have grave reservations about Dr. Agnes Jurati. It seems odd that Commodore Oh simply asked a few questions about the doctor’s meetings with Picard and then walked away, letting Jurati head straight to Picard. Raffi even points out that no one has run a security check on her.
Also, do you get the feeling that the producers are banking on the fact that some of us look at Dr. Jurati as a version of Dr. Gillian Taylor, the marine biologist in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”? Even a little?
Wow! There are a lot of good, old fashioned books still around in the 24th century!
I don’t know what to make of Asha’s comment “The idea that former Borg might be able to create a…shared narrative framework for understanding their trama, rooted in deep archetypes, but as relevant as today’s news. That’s just what I’m hoping to do.” I assume that is important, but it sounds like New Age word scramble.
It looks like the Romulans are as incestuous as ever.

February 2, 2020May 18, 2020

“I need your help, Mr. Hill. Someone is trying to kill me.” — Star Trek Picard review, “Remembrance” s1e1, “Maps and Legends” s1e2

Picard and Data play poker in 10 Forward. with an image of the two characters from a "Dixon Hill" episode of ST:TNG superimposed in background.

Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, Episodes 1
“Remembrance”
Teleplay by Akiva Goldsman and James Duff
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, Episode 2
“Maps and Legends”
Story by Akiva Goldsman
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
Review by Clinton

Explosion throwing Picard back. — Someone doesn’t want Picard snooping around.

I don’t know what I was expecting from “Star Trek: Picard,” but it certainly wasn’t a Dixon Hill holo-novel.

Still, that is what I got.

The first two episodes of this series feel like the opening act of some hard-boiled detective story, just substitute Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) as the retired gumshoe who has all but given up the will to live. Through circumstances we soon come to understand, Picard has lost his fire. He is now as disheartened as a Ferengi locked inside a root beer factory. He is a ghost of the figure we once knew. This Picard is easily winded by a flight of stairs. He sleeps ’til long after sunrise. He dreams of the past, obsessed by visions of the late Commander Data. At one point he even pines, “The dreams are lovely. It’s the waking up that I’m beginning to resent.” And yet, when presented with an intriguing puzzle to solve, Picard slowly begins to energize himself. The detective within him awakes. By the end of episode two, he is clearly a man on a mission.

Looking at it through that lens, these first two episodes in the freshman season of “Picard” have offered up more twists and turns than the Dixon Hill novels “The Big Good-bye,” “The Long Dark Tunnel” and “The Curse of the Black Orchid” combined. Or at least I imagine they do. After all, the Dixon Hill holographic novels do not actually exist. Yet.

First, there is the mysterious Dahj Asha (Isa Briones), a young woman who learns that she is an android. What’s this? A confused synth? Jean-Luc may need to pull in Detective Rick Deckard from “Blade Runner” to consult on this one. After being accidentally “activated,” Dajh instinctively seeks out Picard for protection. Why? This is the first mystery Picard must unravel. In fact, Dajh is the catalyst for this entire journey. She is Picard’s Maltese Falcon. When she is literally blown to pieces before his eyes, all seems lost. That is, until he learns there is another — her twin, Dr. Soji Asha. If Picard can only find her, he believes the mystery can be solved. However, like any good film noir tale, there are powerful forces at work behind the scenes. There are lies and truths, and blurred lines that barely separate the two. These are the things that will truly test Picard’s rejuvenated mettle.

Next, consider the story’s duplicitous Romulan, Narek (Harry Treadway), a covert operative for the Zhat Vash. This cabal is so ancient, it predates the dreaded Romulan secret police, the Tal Shiar. Landing at the unlikeliest of locations, a damaged Borg cube, Narek quickly uses his “bad boy” charm to seduce Dajh’s twin, Soji Asha. Why is Narek so interested in Soji? More importantly, will Narek ultimately stay true to this yet-to-be-revealed mission? Or will he develop feelings for the synthetic life form and find himself pitted against his sister, double agent Lt. Narissa Rizzo (Peyton List)? We must read the next chapter to find out more.

Narek and Soji Asha in bed. — Narek and Soji Asha

Then there is Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) of the Daystrom Institute. She appears to be an expert that Jean-Luc can count on in his quest to locate Soji Asha. But wait. Dr. Jurati once worked with Bruce Maddox, the man obsessed with deconstructing Commander Data in an attempt to create similar androids. Can she really be trusted? After all, the “synths” that destroyed the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars were created in her department at the Institute. Is she an undercover agent for Maddox? Think about it. Isn’t it the character you suspect the least the one who often ends up stabbing the hero in the back? Trust no one, Dix. Uh, I mean Jean-Luc.

Speaking of which, let’s not forget the Romulans Laris and Zhaban (Orla Brady and Jamie McShane). These household helpers at Chateau Picard have a past shadier than a cave on the Moon during a total eclipse. Yet the couple seems very eager to help Picard. Maybe a bit too eager. In Dahj’s apartment, Laris goes so far as to reveal a host of Romulan tricks while she attempts to locate Dahj’s twin. Is the long game of earning Picard’s trust part of some greater plan? After all, Laris and Zhaban are known to have once been agents of the Tal Shiar. Anything they say may be a lie. Any assistance they offer may ultimately lead Picard into a dead-end alley of pain.

Laris with Romulan forensic molecular reconstruction device. — Laris

And Picard, like any good dime-novel detective, is out of favor with the authorities. We learn that years ago he bucked the system, trying to force the Federation in general, and Starfleet in particular, to do the right thing. Nevertheless, the Federation virtually abandoned the Romulans in their hour of need, leaving Picard no choice but to resign. Now, in an effort to get the resources needed to solve the mysteries of Dahj, the rogue synths and the Zhat Vash, Picard returns to Starfleet Command. It is here that the retired Admiral is given a profanity-laced dressing down by Admiral Clancy (Ann Magnuson). It’s a scene that plays out like a police captain telling a rogue copy “Turn in your badge and your gun. As of now you are off this case. Go home.”

Ultimately, Picard turns to a former ally, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) for assistance. Can she be trusted? Let’s hope so. Picard can’t do this alone.

Raffi Musiker, looking displeased. — Raffi Musiker

For good measure, there is even a potential time bomb planted in the story. Picard has a brain abnormality, also referenced in the “All Good Things” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dr. Benayoun (David Paymer) tells Jean-Luc that the defect in his parietal lobe could ultimately lead to disaster. Is this a red herring? Or will Picard’s condition have an important part to play in this story?

In the Dixon Hill holosuite novels, like any good pulp fiction, it seemed you could always expect shifting alliances, shadowy figures, plans within plans and the occasional dead body. The same might be said of this new story. There is much to be revealed over the remaining eight episodes of “Picard.” But at the end of the journey will Picard’s Maltese Falcon be made of gold and jewels, or will it be a simple lead decoy that propels the quest onward into season two?

Next episode: “The End is the Beginning”