SCI FI Ratings Drop

[The Suicidal Goldfish]

...?
And yet it does on the people who watch SciFi, like... SG1/SGA viewers?

*blinks*

My point is that they don't FORMULATE that policy, it's not their fault that Sci-Fi doesn't advertise SG1/Atlantis.

[ShadowMaat]

Maybe this is a cultural thing but I cannot fathom why someone who has downloaded SG1/Atlantis and therefore has it in a digital format, available to watch at any convenient time should they so wish, would then sit down at a proscribed time to watch the show all over again.

For random fans, you're probably right, but for fans who are also Nielsen families I'd find it a little harder to believe. When people have Nielsen boxes, their viewership counts towards the overall ratings for that show... just as it also counts (or at least fails to add) if they don't watch.

If a Nielsen fan truly loves the show and is obsessive enough that they can't wait for it to air and have to download it... don't you think they'd also care enough to make sure that their "vote" still counted when the ep actually airs on TV? Like I said, it's possible that a Nielsen fan only cares about instant gratification, but I should think that if they wanted the show to continue they'd make sure to have their Nielsen box record the fact that they were watching Stargate (or at least that they had the TV tuned to the station when Stargate airs).

[ToasterOnFire]

What do you guys actually think caused the drop in ratings though?

Well, something caused 30% of the audience to leave within a week. Maybe people tuned into the premieres and decided they weren't that interested in continuing to watch. Maybe there was more competition this Friday than last. Maybe all those people had some more pressing RL matter to attend to. Maybe it's just a glitch.

I don't know if it was a lack of advertising, prion, I thought that skiffy promoted the crap out of SG1 and Atlantis before 3.5. They had ads at least every hour and even snuck ads into other shows with those text announcements above the bottom widescreen bar. Didn't they even have radio ads and ads on MTV or other networks too? I think skiffy promoted 3.5 far more than they did for previous seasons.

Maybe this is a cultural thing but I cannot fathom why someone who has downloaded SG1/Atlantis and therefore has it in a digital format, available to watch at any convenient time should they so wish, would thensit down at a proscribed time to watch the show all over again.

I guess I see Nielson viewers differently - they know that what they watch will have an impact on those shows. Watch, higher ratings, show may get renewed. Don't watch, lower ratings, show may get canceled. So if they are a big enough fan of Stargate to download the eps then one would assume that they're a big enough fan of Stargate to turn on skiffy whenever the shows are on whether they've watched them or not. Sort of like a weird moral obligation.

Heck, that's what I'd do for my favorite shows if I had a Nielson box. Or maybe I'd just skew everything and put it on PBS 24/7.

[The Suicidal Goldfish]

ShadowMaat - Must be a cultural thing, because I really just can't wrap my head around why you would do that, short of being the shows' uber-fan

[saberhagen83]

Again, no, it won't account for all the drop, prolly not hte majority of it. But it would account for something, woudln't it?

Well I did say that earlier didn't I. I'm sure downloading could be slightly responsible, but hardly that much. People have to understand that not everyone feels the same way as those who still like the show. I don't mind people still liking it, and I can understand that they enjoy it...why can't the other side see the same thing. It's like their opinion is all that matters. If they enjoy it so should everyone else?!

Also it has been said that Quest part 2 kept up with the ratings from the 1st half...downloading is likely not the reason for much of the 30% drop for the next week. Most people knew it was back on. People not enjoying it as much and wasn't interested in next week and they had other things to do...other things to watch is much more likely than downloading.

[ShadowMaat]

ShadowMaat - Must be a cultural thing, because I really just can't wrap my head around why you would do that, short of being the shows' uber-fan

Well, let's put it this way: if you knew that every time you watched a show the ratings would go up... and every time you didn't watch the ratings would go down, and if you really loved a show and wanted to see it continue, wouldn't you at least make sure that your TV was tuned to the right channel at the right time even if you didn't sit down and actually watch the ep again?

Or are you one of the instant gratification types who doesn't care if a show lives or dies as long as you see the existing eps whenever you want to? And that isn't meant as a slam, it's just an illustration of how I see the situation.

[smurf]

However, keep in mind that a sample of... 12000? methinks - is representative of, what, 300 million people? Well, whatever numbe rof people in the US who have a television.
Which means it's enough to have one Neilsen person who chose downloading over watching it on SciFi to have a dent on the rating.

According to this it is around 25,000 households not individual people. As of September 2005 there are 110.2 million households (link). So one Neilsen household will represent the equilvalent of 4,408 households.
A 0.3 loss for Sci Fi is the same as 60.5 households tuning out.
890,000 x .3 = 267,000 / 4408 = 60.5
(That's assuming they don't cut the representation numbers for cable. In which case even more Neilsen households are tuning out.)


I think it's more likely that the viewers weren't interested any more, than a sudden influx of downloaders in Sci Fi's Neilsen audience.

[Jedi_Master_Bra'tac]

The only way the ratings could be "accurate" is if the measured from every house in America.

[The Suicidal Goldfish]

No they are not "accurate", they are "representative" and therefore valid.

I can't see how downloading ISN'T a likely cause of the viewing figures being lower. THough I accept the ludicrous notion of a 6 month hiatus will have contributed.

[Pitry]

Well I did say that earlier didn't I. I'm sure downloading could be slightly responsible, but hardly that much. People have to understand that not everyone feels the same way as those who still like the show. I don't mind people still liking it, and I can understand that they enjoy it...why can't the other side see the same thing. It's like their opinion is all that matters. If they enjoy it so should everyone else?!

Going slightly off-topic here, but there's about teh same level of refusing to understand "the other side" on both. Having read enough posts that implied (if not said so outright) I'm an idiot for enjoying 9/10 and/or teeaged (teenaging?) male for enjoying Vala (or in my case, a young, frivolous woman who isn't sophisdticated enough to understand the deep implication of a character like her, or soemthing to that extent) in the past two years on this forum, I can promise you it's not the "pro" people, it's everyone. Except for you and me, o'coruse And Prion and ShadowMaat (well, I dunno about that but they defintely needed to be singled out again).

According to this it is around 25,000 households not individual people. As of September 2005 there are 110.2 million households (link). So one Neilsen household will represent the equilvalent of 4,408 households.
A 0.3 loss for Sci Fi is the same as 60.5 households tuning out.
890,000 x .3 = 267,000 / 4408 = 60.5
(That's assuming they don't cut the representation numbers for cable. In which case even more Neilsen households are tuning out.)

Thankee for the info

They do cut the representation for households BTW, at least the GW ratigns does - that 1.1 is an 0.9 on a national spread.

[saberhagen83]

Going slightly off-topic here, but there's about teh same level of refusing to understand "the other side" on both. Having read enough posts that implied (if not said so outright) I'm an idiot for enjoying 9/10 and/or teeaged (teenaging?) male for enjoying Vala in the past two years on this forum, I can promise you it's not the "pro" people, it's everyone. Except for you and me, o'coruse And Prion and ShadowMaat (well, I dunno about that but they defintely needed to be singled out again).

I know, there will always be that from both sides. But I like to think it's just a small group that does this, most of the pro and antis are somewhat understanding to eachother. (I hope...)

But I still like to think that the people with Nielsen boxes do watch the shows they like, or leave the TV on that channel even if they have seen it before. I know I would if I had a box in my home, I watch Stargate SG1 everyday on TV now that it's on here, yet I know I don't count in the ratings...since we have the same system here in Sweden. I don't care much for watching "live" anymore but I would if I could make a difference. Of course, it's a bit different here, as we Swedes don't really make a impact if a show survives or not, like it does in the US. Of course it does matter a little to make the network buy the entire series.

[ussrelativity]

Anyone know anyone who has a Nielsen box???

[Mandysg1]

sg1 isn't what it used to be people need to accept that.

Why should they accept it? If the average viewer with a Neilson box doesn't like what they see (the changes) then they do the easiest thing...change the channel. So apparently (this is my guess ) they may not have liked what they saw last week and didn't bother tuning back in.

[flynn1959]

Anyone know anyone who has a Nielsen box???

Yes. And they take great delight in tuning in to some silly show or other and going out for the night! They rarely watch tv anymore. It really is a stupid way of judging who watches tv, even with the sheet they have to fill in...they just make it up.

[ussrelativity]

Yes. And they take great delight in tuning in to some silly show or other and going out for the night! They rarely watch tv anymore. It really is a stupid way of judging who watches tv, even with the sheet they have to fill in...they just make it up.

What they should do with TV ratings is sample those who actually watch TV!