The pilot episode aired just weeks before the debut of Babylon 5. According to Babylon 5 creator, J. Michael Straczynski, Paramount was aware of his concept as early as 1989,[19] when he attempted to sell the show to the studio, and provided them with the series bible, pilot script, artwork, lengthy character background histories, and "synopses to about 22 or so planned episodes taken from the overall course of the planned series".[20][21] Paramount allegedly passed on Babylon 5, but later announced Deep Space Nine was in development two months after Warner Bros. announced its plans for Babylon 5.[22] Straczynski has stated that he thinks Paramount may have used his bible and scripts as the basis for DS9's first season.[23] In 1993 he said, "'Okay, YOU (Paramount) know what happened, and *I* know what happened, but let's try to be grownup about it for now,' though I must say that the shapechanging thing nearly tipped me back over the edge again. If there are no more major similarities that crop up in the next few weeks or months, with luck we can continue that way."[22] However, by 1996, Straczynski's views on the subject had moderated, and he stated that he did not believe that Deep Space Nine was "cribbing" Babylon 5 plotlines from his original source material. Nevertheless, he also stated that "a compelling argument" could be made for either side as to whether Paramount was attempting to "co-opt" his series by airing similar material.[20] In a 2011 interview, Deep Space Nine executive producer Rick Berman stated that neither he nor co-creator Michael Piller were aware of Straczynski's concept or any pitch to Paramount, and that the accusation that Deep Space Nine "stole" from Babylon 5 was "comical".[24] Babylon 5's first-run syndicated ratings averaged between 3 and 4% of U.S. households from 1995 to 1997, whereas DS9 ranged from 4 to 5% during the same time span.
