SCI FI Ratings Drop

[Willow'sCat]

Well all I know is if I had to wait for Doctor Who I wouldn't.

I don't know anyone who doesn't dl something, and if you are younger then I, I assume you share such things around anyway.... just saying in Australia legal or not dl is a huge pass time, visit any forum on TV in Australia (Tvaus.com.au ) and people talk about dl all the time; it is becoming second nature, which is why MGM and the like are starting to play hardball, if it really wasn't an issue they would still be letting people go nuts on YouTube. Also someone mentioned iTunes, well if you can dl from iTunes I imagine you know how to dl elsewhere, it isn't a big thing to Google *the irony* and find out how/where people do this.

Yeah lots of things including an overall fall in story quality *imho* could be to blame but I wouldn't blindly discount a wealthy country like the US having loads of people with the means to dl SGA/SG-1 just yet. And really who thinks it was a smart move by SciFi to delay the second half only to have it screen in Canada/UK? And the main reason for it not being smart is....?

[prion]

How do official downloads count towards ratings? I thought there was something in place that took itunes (and I guess unbox) downloads under consideration. Or maybe that was more of a "maybe someday" thing.

Not sure. Don't know how the networks are handling downloads as face it, it's the wave of the future, like DVRing a show to watch later on.

[ShadowMaat]

Unbox doesn't have Lost because Lost is on iTunes. It's an exclusivity thing.

I don't know whose pockets are lined with money from downloads, but I would think that the network that airs the actual show should get some kind of stipend for allowing the eps to be snagged in some format other than on their channel/site. That could be a wrong assumption on my part, though.

[Killdeer]

Unbox doesn't have Lost because Lost is on iTunes. It's an exclusivity thing.

I don't know whose pockets are lined with money from downloads, but I would think that the network that airs the actual show should get some kind of stipend for allowing the eps to be snagged in some format other than on their channel/site. That could be a wrong assumption on my part, though.

Maybe, but it makes sense. I'd certainly like to think they're looking at the download numbers.

So Lost has an exclusive contract with iTunes? That's interesting. I think Battlestar Galactica is only available on iTunes as well. Most of the shows I watch are available on either though, so I usually use Unbox.

[Pitry]

However much they pay, I'd say MGM are the major, if not sole, benefactor.

Think of it. We still don't know how iTunes sells are going to affect the DVD sales. DVD money goes to MGM, period, SciFi don't see any of it. Why would MGM put the show on iTunes when it can potentially hurt the DVD sales and share the money with SciFi?

Again, I don't really know about this - but as far as I've understood, SciFi have first broadcast rights in the US and re-runs once the shows are out of syndication. That's it.

ISn't it?

[nekoi]

Calm down, guys... Just because the ratings dropped abit doesn't mean that they'll be cutting the show for sure. (If I'm wrong, feel free to link me to an official source that says the show will be cancelled.)

A lot of downloaders, like myself, still tune into the show on the TV airing times in order to watch past episodes and new episodes... Hell, I even watch the later reruns. Why? Because it's better quality than the downloads, and just because I've seen it once, doesn't mean I don't want to watch it again. What kind of fan says "I've seen it once, therefore I wont watch it ever again."? That's just silly... especially since some of us have been waiting so long and had to put up with some of those crap-quality downloads (many of which featured obnoxious spanish subtitles). Plus, the only reason we watch the downloads is because they expect us to wait 3-4 months? Hell no, I know I'm not waiting (Although I still plan to watch the show at the Canadian premiere)... If Big Bad Sci Fi has a problem with that, they should premiere it at the same time as the UK.

At this point, all I can do is encourage people to quit *****ing and actually watch the show if they want to boost the ratings and I suggest you all encourage the same. That's the only way Sci Fi will be happy; they don't care about we Canadians, UKers or Aussies-- but we can still encourage those Americans to watch.
The only problem with the fandom at the moment is that everyone complains too much about change or the lack of action to fic things and hardly acts upon what they want fixed. (To those who actually do: kudos!)


I hope that was legible at the least... but jeeze, guys.. calm down and just watch the show, you cheeky buggers.

[prion]

I hope that was legible at the least... but jeeze, guys.. calm down and just watch the show, you cheeky buggers.

Alas, we folk at these board, with the exception of probably a handful, arne't Nielsen box folk. They're the ones who pretty much decide if a show lives or dies by merely flicking the remote and not watching the show.

[nekoi]

Alas, we folk at these board, with the exception of probably a handful, arne't Nielsen box folk. They're the ones who pretty much decide if a show lives or dies by merely flicking the remote and not watching the show.

I guess that does give reason for people to *****, then... damn those remote flicking jerks.

[prion]

I guess that does give reason for people to *****, then... damn those remote flicking jerks.

Well, if you look at the old NBC 'must see' (which then became 'must pay' due to horrendous salary demands) Thursday night lineup, you'll see many Nielsen people are too lazy to even change channels

[LogicSequence]

I'm not an expert by any means, but if i had to guess as to why there was a 30% drop last week, it would be this: A great many things contributed.

A. Lets not forget, especially since no one's mentioned it, we had a bit of a national tragedy in the U.S. last week. Granted that has no direct effect on ratings, but it does tend to send some people into a "family" mode, where going out to eat with your family, or watching the news, or something else may take precedence over watching TV on a Friday night.

B. I think downloads are playing a bigger part in this than people are willing to consider. It may be true, in years past, that people downloading the episodes prior to U.S. airings might not have made a significant impact, but a lot has changed as far as internet-friendly households. The rate of online download of music and TV has skyrocketed in the last year alone.

People in the U.S. had to wait over 6 months for new episodes to air. Obviously internet-savvy people knew right away where they could see the episodes. But i wonder how many people thought to themselves, where is stargate? I should go online and see when it's coming back... Oh wait, it's aired overseas? What's this, this guy on such and such message board got the episodes online? How did he do that? Oh... Such and Such? How do i do that!? And then they downloaded them. And i think the fact that Atlantis is number 3 (and sg-1 number 4) on Amazon.com's TV downloads, says a lot about how people are watching and how much of an impact downloading IS REALLY HAVING.

Now when it came time for the mid-season premiere here, everyone was eager to see the show back on TV, and since Quest and Return were very good episodes, they tuned in regardless of whether or not they had seen the episode already. However, last Friday, the episodes may have not been as important to those who had already seen them.

C. There's a generality of ratings drop off following a season premiere in general. Kinda like a sin-wave bump... There's generally a large bump for a premiere, a falloff following it, and then a stabilizing period thereafter. Now, the fact that the Bump was only a 1.5 is a bit stressing, but i think WAY within the margin of "downloading could be the reason". I think had the episodes not already aired all over the world, you would have seen the premiere at a 1.7 or 1.8, perhaps a 1.3-1.4 drop-off the next week, and about a 1.5-1.6 average for the back half of the season. But because the episodes have aired all over the world already, those numbers are going to be lower.

What really matters is the premiere of season 4. When the episodes are all new for the entire world. I certainly hope TPTB don't make any season renewal decisions until they see those numbers. I would expect them to be much higher.

And if i were SciFi, i'd scrap the fall premiere idea and go for a summer premiere again... Maybe not June, but July or early August.

[prion]

I'm not an expert by any means, but if i had to guess as to why there was a 30% drop last week, it would be this: A great many things contributed.

A. Lets not forget, especially since no one's mentioned it, we had a bit of a national tragedy in the U.S. last week. Granted that has no direct effect on ratings, but it does tend to send some people into a "family" mode, where going out to eat with your family, or watching the news, or something else may take precedence over watching TV on a Friday night.

B. I think downloads are playing a bigger part in this than people are willing to consider. It may be true, in years past, that people downloading the episodes prior to U.S. airings might not have made a significant impact, but a lot has changed as far as internet-friendly households. The rate of online download of music and TV has skyrocketed in the last year alone.

People in the U.S. had to wait over 6 months for new episodes to air. Obviously internet-savvy people knew right away where they could see the episodes. But i wonder how many people thought to themselves, where is stargate? I should go online and see when it's coming back... Oh wait, it's aired overseas? What's this, this guy on such and such message board got the episodes online? How did he do that? Oh... Such and Such? How do i do that!? And then they downloaded them. And i think the fact that Atlantis is number 3 (and sg-1 number 4) on Amazon.com's TV downloads, says a lot about how people are watching and how much of an impact downloading IS REALLY HAVING.

Now when it came time for the mid-season premiere here, everyone was eager to see the show back on TV, and since Quest and Return were very good episodes, they tuned in regardless of whether or not they had seen the episode already. However, last Friday, the episodes may have not been as important to those who had already seen them.

C. There's a generality of ratings drop off following a season premiere in general. Kinda like a sin-wave bump... There's generally a large bump for a premiere, a falloff following it, and then a stabilizing period thereafter. Now, the fact that the Bump was only a 1.5 is a bit stressing, but i think WAY within the margin of "downloading could be the reason". I think had the episodes not already aired all over the world, you would have seen the premiere at a 1.7 or 1.8, perhaps a 1.3-1.4 drop-off the next week, and about a 1.5-1.6 average for the back half of the season. But because the episodes have aired all over the world already, those numbers are going to be lower.

What really matters is the premiere of season 4. When the episodes are all new for the entire world. I certainly hope TPTB don't make any season renewal decisions until they see those numbers. I would expect them to be much higher.

And if i were SciFi, i'd scrap the fall premiere idea and go for a summer premiere again... Maybe not June, but July or early August.

Be great if you did take over SciFi, then we woudln't have to wait till the next snowfall for season 4

[Good]

A 30% drop seems like alot, but hopefully SciFi will notice that it ran opposite the first Red Sox-Yankees game of the year. That means NY and Massachusetts TV sets were virtually all off limits. Frankly, it's easier to DVR a TV show than a sporting event.

When will they count DVR recordings into the ratings systems? I DVRed every Studio 65 episode before it was cancelled, but never watched one because 10PM on a Monday is a tough sell.

[kymeric]

Im glad its the whole network and not just the stargates. Jeeze how badly did whoever screw up by splitting up scifi friday?

Poor programming directer FTL

I kinda wonder how much franchise fatigue there is as well. Atlantis was never ment to run cocurrently with sg1 for 3 years. While i enjoyed them both 2 hours a week is alot and can spread things a little thin. I think sg1 might kinda whimper out on tv, and have some nice movies, and after some time alone atlantis will really find its viewership.

There isnt really alot of scifi shows out there for the scifi fan. And Atlantis is really a good show thats had higher ratings than sg1 since its start.

[cavalierlwt]

Well, I'm going to throw my vote into 90% of it is because of downloading, 10% is because SciFi has killed the momentum of the whole thing by not having SG1-SGA-BSG Friday nights.

Just my opinion, but I have to admit I downloaded and then didn't watch consistently on Friday night. Then again, I'm not a Neilsen household, so I have no effect one way or another. Airing the new shows on different days (or worse yet, months!) in the US, Canada, and the UK is going to lead to downloading. A certain percentage of people (like me) are simple not going to resist the temptation.

[morjana]

Another article about ratings:

From Yahoo News:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/...CLfwn0tqtpMhkF

(Please follow the link for the complete article.)

Study says DVRs give TV shows big boost By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Some of TV's biggest shows ("House," "Lost") and some of its smallest ("The Office," "Friday Night Lights") are benefiting significantly from the impact of digital video recorders, according to data released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Fox's "House" and ABC's "Lost" led a recent week in increases in absolute viewers, with "House" gaining 2.7 million viewers in DVR playback -- on top of the 19 million who watched the show live -- and "Lost" adding 2.5 million to its 10.8 million viewers seeing the show when it first aired for the week ending April 8.

**snippage**

The data have been available to networks and ad buyers since the season began, though Wednesday was the first time that Nielsen Media Research released the time-shifted data publicly. DVR homes now represent about 16% of the nation's TV households.

**snippage**

Nielsen Media Research and the Hollywood Reporter are both owned by the Nielsen Group.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter