 " Space Seed " was first broadcast in the United States on February 16 , 1967 , on NBC . A 12 @-@ city overnight Trendex report compiled by Nielsen ratings showed that during the first half @-@ hour , it held second place in the ratings behind Bewitched on ABC with 13 @.@ 12 million viewers compared to Bewitched 's 14 @.@ 44 million . The episode beat My Three Sons on CBS . During the second half @-@ hour it was pushed into third place in the ratings by the start of the Thursday Night Movie on CBS , the Western film One @-@ Eyed Jacks starring Marlon Brando , which received 35 @.@ 5 percent of the audience share compared to 28 percent for " Space Seed " . 
