Official and first hand information about the cancellation has not been found, making the information in this page to be assumptions and editorial commentary. I welcome any written or first hand information on this topic that I can add to this page.
I have not found much information about the cancellation of the show. I originally listened to the show on 99 XLO out of New York. They would air the show at 11 PM on a Saturday night in the huge market of New York City. While I understand why the station would pick such a time slot, it is likely a bad time for their demographic of younger science fiction enthusiasts. From a solicitation letter dated April 10, 1979, from the Watermark Sales Manager, it states, "ALIEN WORDS has been carefully researched and developed for the 12-49 audience of the 1980's. The enthusiastic support of its subscribers supports this commitment."
My view is that the show would appear to a wide range of ages, it is most likely to appeal to the younger generation that was amazed by Star Wars. Home video was still too expensive for most people and Star Wars was not available on home video at that time. Star Wars was first made available to home viewers who had super 8 projectors and only short clips were available to those who could afford it. This provides a market of young people who would be interested in listening to the show, but the late Saturday night was likely prohibitive. A program like this appeals to stations that need to fill bad time slots, which puts the show itself in a bad starting point. The fact that it lasted for two popular seasons, in my opinion, is a testament for the quality of the cast, stories and production.
Information on the 1979 page above:
ALIEN WORLDS
ESTIMATED PERFORMANCE
SERIES I and II will air in over 80% of the ARB rated markets
SERIES I and II will reach over 90% of the available audience in the ARB
markets
SERIES I and II will reach over 300,000 MEN 18-34 per impression
SERIES I and II will reach over 300,000 WOMEN 18-34 per impression
SERIES I and II will reach over 250,000 TEENS per impression
SERIES I and II will make over 10,000,000 impressions each week
With the fact that the show was cancelled with 4 recorded shows in the can, it was likely a last minute decision. Maybe it was that not enough stations renewed for the third season. This is conjecture, but it is one logical reason for its quick demise. An article printed in "Broadcast Programming & Production" January 1979, Volume 5, Number 1, has the following quote, "The budge, in the $200,000 range, should more than sustain the first 13 episodes of the weekly half-hour offering." That is a boat load of money in 1978/1979. I am sure other syndicated shows, such as the top 40 count downs, were a fraction of that cost. Some of that money was obviously startup cost, but then there is still an on-going cost. There were many actors within the series. While they may not all have name recognition, many of them were character actors. The kind of actor where you do not know them by name, but when you see them there is the recognition that you have seen them many times before.
It was also that radio dramas had had their day and people's time were being filled with a growing set of TV channels as cable TV was quickly gaining a market place. Video games were a new phenomena too, although an expensive investment for many. While far inferior to today's generation of gaming, it was amazing to play something on your home TV that looked fairly close to Space Invaders, Pac-Man or Donkey Kong without having to drop in quarters at your local arcade.
If you have never heard the original 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds by The Mercury Theatre, I strongly encourage you to listen to it. It is an amazing piece of audio story telling, particularly the first 30 minutes. In the time when radio was king, you can see and hear how it caused panic across the nation. Even with that level of quality, eventually, it ended.
Alien Worlds is worthy of being considered in the same class of dramatic radio. As I sated in my episode commentary, Part 1 of The ISA Conspiracy fires on all cylinders with top notch writing, acting, with an exciting story and is just one example of the quality of the Alien Worlds radio program. It is a shame that we did not get more seasons to enjoy.
Written by Ferin Films