Empire TV

Empire TV was a television network on the class M planet 892-IV, where a civilization, mirroring the Roman Empire, had survived into the 20th century equivalent of Earth. Its broadcasts were intercepted by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in 2268 while that vessel attempted to determine the status of the SS Beagle; later, a landing party became the unwilling collaborators in one of the network's offerings.

Prime-time programming consisted of gladiator fights supervised by local government officials such as Proconsul Claudius Marcus and First Citizen Merikus. State executions were a recurring feature on its flagship program, Name the Winner These programs were supported by commercial sponsorship from various concerns such as automobile manufacturers; for example, the Jupiter 8 was among the products advertised on the network.

Good ratings were as valued by Empire TV personnel as they were by their Earth counterparts. Though produced on a sound stage, the impression of a live audience was created by means of recorded cheering and hisses from a crowd; again, this practice was not dissimilar to television productions on Earth of the 1960s.