Cancellation The series was considered for cancellation at the end of the second season, with Paramount executives instead requesting a number of changes to renew it following a letter-writing campaign from fans. These included a change of name to Star Trek: Enterprise early in the third season; and a new action-oriented plot, which resulted in the development of the Xindi story line. There was a major turnover of staff at Paramount in June 2004, with Jonathan Dolgen, the head of entertainment at parent company Viacom, quitting following the departure of Viacom President Mel Karmazin. Dolgen was described by Bakula as being the "huge Star Trek guy" at Paramount, and his departure was followed by several other staff members leaving. Fans were resigned to cancellation at the end of the third season, but were surprised when the series was renewed, due in part to a reduction in the fees Paramount was charging UPN per episode. However, Enterprise was moved to a slot on Friday evening, the same night on which The Original Series was broadcast during its own third season before it was cancelled. In an interview, Bakula lamented that Enterprise was dependent on a single network; whereas, every other Star Trek series relied on syndication. He contributed this to a major factor in their cancellation with the quote, "We were subject to the whims of the network and the advertisers".
Cancellation The series was considered for cancellation at the end of the second season, with Paramount executives instead requesting a number of changes to renew it following a letter-writing campaign from fans. These included a change of name to Star Trek: Enterprise early in the third season; and a new action-oriented plot, which resulted in the development of the Xindi story line. There was a major turnover of staff at Paramount in June 2004, with Jonathan Dolgen, the head of entertainment at parent company Viacom, quitting following the departure of Viacom President Mel Karmazin. Dolgen was described by Bakula as being the "huge Star Trek guy" at Paramount, and his departure was followed by several other staff members leaving. Fans were resigned to cancellation at the end of the third season, but were surprised when the series was renewed, due in part to a reduction in the fees Paramount was charging UPN per episode. However, Enterprise was moved to a slot on Friday evening, the same night on which The Original Series was broadcast during its own third season before it was cancelled. In an interview, Bakula lamented that Enterprise was dependent on a single network; whereas every other Star Trek series relied on syndication. He contributed this to a major factor in their cancellation with the quote, "We were subject to the whims of the network and the advertisers".