Ratings slip in wake of '200' promotion

[Cameron Mitchel]

It's simple really, though not many antis would be willing to accept it because it would mean it's not about the quality of the show...

Fact 1: Monk, USA Network's most popular show, now airs opposite SG-1.
Fact 2: SG-1's ratings have slipped this year.
Fact 3: ''200'' recorded the highest ratings this season for SG-1.
Fact 4: Monk's usually stable ratings dipped significantly opposite 200.
Fact 5: This week was Monk's season finale, traditionally the episode with the highest ratings.
Fact 6: SG-1's ratings dipped again opposite this episode.

Conclusion: The next 3 episodes of this half of the season do not air against any significant competition (that I'm aware of), so it's likely that the ratings will go back up.

They SHOULD, but if they dip, then what? Itll prove that it has nothing to do with competition.

[Cameron Mitchel]

This is just a question regarding ratings: Someone earlier said "Counterstrike" was a really good episode and so it didn't seem right that the rating were lower.
My question is: Does it matter if an individual episode is good or not as far as ratings are concerned?
I know they have the ability to measure if people are watching the teaser and then changing the channel or watching the first 15 minutes and then getting bored and changing the channel, but how does that translate into the ratings? If that's what is happening, then the quality of the individual episode would matter in the ratings. However, if it's a matter of people not tuning in in the first place, then it would seem it's more a matter of publicity/advertising (of which the 200th episode got tons more and therefore would naturally get higher ratings) or it might have more to do with how much people liked the previous episode (which I suppose would imply people didn't like the 200th episode that much or only watched it out of curiosity due to all the hype). Or, as Jonzey stated above, the competition could be different from week to week.
I would think the ratings reflect the overall quality or popularity of a show rather than individual episodes (with the exception of a special one like "200"). The casual viewer doesn't come on-line and won't know if something special is happening in advance of an episode unless it is heavily advertised in other media so the ratings wouldn't be affected much. I would assume that most of the viewers fall into either the casual grouping or people who watch faithfully but never come on-line to check up on the show.
Sorry, my question kind of turned into an exposition.

yeah, and Stargate doesnt get alot and Eureka does. Why? cuz its SciFi's show, so I dont see how it being cancelled would have anything to do with who likes it or not, or the quality of the episodes, which are still good IMHO. Maybe not as good as past seasons, but still good. Its all about the ratings, which Ive said on different threads.

[LaCroix]

I don't pretend to know how the ratings system works here in the States. But there's one thing I do know and that's retail. If somone who in the past bought one particular in the past, kept on buying it for a few years.

Then suddenly out of the blue for whatever reasons bought maybe a few items of that brand one year, then down to a couple then next the buyer of that brand may decide to stop all orders from that vendor. And at times not give them a reason why.

To me this maybe one reason why Sci-fi stopped the orders and we'll never know the reason why. IMHO.

[Cameron Mitchel]

I don't pretend to know how the ratings system works here in the States. But there's one thing I do know and that's retail. If somone who in the past bought one particular in the past, kept on buying it for a few years.

Then suddenly out of the blue for whatever reasons bought maybe a few items of that brand one year, then down to a couple then next the buyer of that brand may decide to stop all orders from that vendor. And at times not give them a reason why.

To me this maybe one reason why Sci-fi stopped the orders and we'll never know the reason why. IMHO.

I respect your answer even though some parts of it I dont understand.

[smurf]

It's simple really, though not many antis would be willing to accept it because it would mean it's not about the quality of the show...

Fact 1: Monk, USA Network's most popular show, now airs opposite SG-1.
Fact 2: SG-1's ratings have slipped this year.
Fact 3: ''200'' recorded the highest ratings this season for SG-1.
Fact 4: Monk's usually stable ratings dipped significantly opposite 200.
Fact 5: This week was Monk's season finale, traditionally the episode with the highest ratings.
Fact 6: SG-1's ratings dipped again opposite this episode.

Conclusion: The next 3 episodes of this half of the season do not air against any significant competition (that I'm aware of), so it's likely that the ratings will go back up.

Of course, that rather happily ignores the massive fall during season 9 when it wasn't up against Monk, and the technicality that SG-1 didn't dip so much as return to its season average - which it was getting before the big finale.

People do know that there are more than the people who watch Monk who could be available to watch Stargate don't they? There seems to be a lot of hooking in to Monk when there are a possible 86 million other cable households to choose from.
Having seen both Monk and AllNew!Stargate I'm having some trouble matching up the idea that many of Monk's viewers would be interested in watching AllNew!Stargate.

[Agent_Dark]

Well, I know Carter fans/Mitchell haters dont like the show the way it is because of one character-Mitchell.

wtf................ What that has to do with the topic or my post I have nfi (unless you're trying to say that everyone who hates Mitchell/is a Carter fan, which is a very silly generalisation anyway, is not watching and thus ratings are down.... but you were arguing on the last page that people who are dissatisfied with the show had no effect on the ratings. Still doesn't have anything to do with post though )

And for the record, I am a Carter fan and I don't mind S10.

[Ltcolshepjumper]

I think what he was trying to say was that most Carter fans( which make up the majority of the anti-Mitchells, as far as I know) don't really care why( or if) the show was cancelled. I just want an explanation to why it was cancelled mid-season that's all.

[Cameron Mitchel]

wtf................ What that has to do with the topic or my post I have nfi (unless you're trying to say that everyone who hates Mitchell/is a Carter fan, which is a very silly generalisation anyway, is not watching and thus ratings are down.... but you were arguing on the last page that people who are dissatisfied with the show had no effect on the ratings. Still doesn't have anything to do with post though )

And for the record, I am a Carter fan and I don't mind S10.

Yeah, well, let clarify what I meant: Carter fans who are also Mitchell haters, the ones who feel that seasons 9 and 10 have bad ratings because of Mitchell and Vala.

[AGateFan]

I cant believe you cuz it doesnt make since. Ratings has nothing to do with people dissatisfied with the show.

How can you say this like its a fact? Maybe the ratings have something to with people being dissatisfied. Maybe it doesnt. But you act like it is inconcievable, its not. Lots of people stopped watching because they are dissatisfied some of those could have been Neilsons people.

[Ltcolshepjumper]

How can you say this like its a fact? Maybe the ratings have something to with people being dissatisfied. Maybe it doesnt. But you act like it is inconcievable, its not. Lots of people stopped watching because they are dissatisfied some of those could have been Neilsons people.

Well, obviously ratings has nothing to do with Scifi's decision, since, IIRC, they said it didn't.

[AGateFan]

Well, obviously ratings has nothing to do with Scifi's decision, since, IIRC, they said it didn't.

Im sorry, I didnt know we were talking about cancellation. I thought we were talking about ratings. The show was obviously cancelled due to a furling plot. They are peed that TPTB made them look like goofballs. NEVER tick off a furling.

[Agent_Dark]

I think what he was trying to say was that most Carter fans( which make up the majority of the anti-Mitchells, as far as I know) don't really care why( or if) the show was cancelled. I just want an explanation to why it was cancelled mid-season that's all.

Well I don't like the generalisation that Carter fan = Mitchell hater. I'm sure there are many people who dont hate Mitchell and are also fans of Carter (like myself), as I'm sure there are people who are not big fans of Carter and are also not fans of Mitchell.

Yeah, well, let clarify what I meant: Carter fans who are also Mitchell haters, the ones who feel that seasons 9 and 10 have bad ratings because of Mitchell and Vala.

And I'm still in the dark as to what it has to do with my post about how the ratings system worked.

[Callista]

How can you say this like its a fact? Maybe the ratings have something to with people being dissatisfied. Maybe it doesnt. But you act like it is inconcievable, its not. Lots of people stopped watching because they are dissatisfied some of those could have been Neilsons people.

People also just get tired of watching the same show for years. I used to watch West Wing and Law and Order religiously and then I just sort of watched them off and on and now I don't watch them at all (or in the case of West Wing, I quit before it did). It's not that the quality went down much (Law and Order in particular hasn't changed at all as far as I can see, other than changing cast members every so often), it's just that I moved on to other things. I'm sure that's the case with some Stargate viewers.
As far as picking up new viewers, this is kind of a tricky show because you can't just watch occasionally and still know what's going on. If you happened to start at the beginning of S9 and watched pretty much everything between now and then, you'd have some idea, but there's still a lot you wouldn't get. My brother is watching them all in order and is up through S5, but when I was visiting him he watched "Pegasus Project" with me and his comment was "I haven't got a clue what's going on". Most viewers aren't going to bother coming to GW and reading all the history...they just won't watch.
I'm not saying that's what's going on with the majority of the problem, I just think it may be another contributing factor in lower ratings and that would be a valid reason for Sci-Fi to cancel.
That being said, I still love and watch the show.

[AGateFan]

something doesn't seem right to me. No offence to any Atlantis fans but 'Counterstrike' looked like and was the better episode, you could tell from the previews. So it's a bit strange how the show they're keeping is always that 0.1% ahead of the one they're cancelling, it seems too iffy to me that Atlantis is always only that 0.1% ahead, surely if it was the better show (which i personally dont think it is) it would get more than that ahead of sg-1. I really think scifi are trying to kill stargate all together to bring their crappy wrestling shows in, with Atlantis only bein that tiny percent ahead of sg-1 it won't be long til it's cancelled aswell, which is exactly what scifi want.

Atlantis is cheaper. For Scifi maybe 1.5 is good but not when its cost more money then they can get in revenue at 1.5.

[Willow'sCat]

It's simple really, though not many antis would be willing to accept it because it would mean it's not about the quality of the show...

Fact 1: Monk, USA Network's most popular show, now airs opposite SG-1.
Fact 2: SG-1's ratings have slipped this year.
Fact 3: ''200'' recorded the highest ratings this season for SG-1.
Fact 4: Monk's usually stable ratings dipped significantly opposite 200.
Fact 5: This week was Monk's season finale, traditionally the episode with the highest ratings.
Fact 6: SG-1's ratings dipped again opposite this episode.

Conclusion: The next 3 episodes of this half of the season do not air against any significant competition (that I'm aware of), so it's likely that the ratings will go back up.

Sorry your basic argument is (forgive me if I am wrong).

As long as SG-1 has no competition it might rate well... how does that help? It will for the most part have competition and any show that can't hold it's own against that competition... well it shouldn't really survive.

I still think some are missing the point... SGA is a go not because is has massive ratings in comparison to SG-1, it is a go because as far as SciFi is concerned for the amount of money it takes to make it, it pays off enough to continue it....

SG-1 has made it's self too expensive for one or more reason's and there seems to be little pay off for SciFi... the only pay off seemed to be the 200th episode, as soon as that was over...remember the decision to axe it was made before the 200th even screened, SciFi is not stupid it is a business.