RTD snarks about Stargate

[TJuk]

No it doesn't. If we're lucky we'll get one advert and that was only for stuff like 200 and Unending, compared with shows like lost and 24 which get an advert EVERY break.

Well I dont know what channels you've been watching, but I see plenty and I watch very little TV, most of it through work . Not to mention the mag stands with plenty of Cable & Satelite mags with SGA covers, newspaper, magazine & website banner ads. Yes, 24 gets more and is more visable but its a much MUCh bigger mainstream show from a major US network.

Comparing SGA to Dr Who on UK TV, IS like comparing SGA or SG1 to 24 on US TV...ridiculous and pointless (a bit like all the political spin used in the US election to promote Palin.... "I can see Russia from my house!").

[Reefgirl]

Ok, can I add a little fuel to the ratings row, this came from the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (the UK version of Nielson)

Sky 1
w/e 7 Dec 2008
000's
1 THE SIMPSONS (Sun 18:29) 896
2 THE SIMPSONS (Mon 19:01) 696
3 THE SIMPSONS (Mon 19:32) 604
4 STARGATE ATLANTIS (Tue 20:01) 580
5 THE SIMPSONS (Tue 19:01) 554
6 THE SIMPSONS (Fri 19:01) 544
7 FRINGE (Sun 21:00) 531
8 THE SIMPSONS (Wed 19:00) 521
9 PRISON BREAK (Tue 22:00) 512
10 THE SIMPSONS (Fri 19:33) 504

When the figures are up for the Christmas Dr Who I'll post them but 9.4 million people watched the final episode of series 4 of Dr Who

[Jedi_Master_Bra'tac]

I thought we established that comparing ratings was pointless.
Besides, ratings is no measure of how good a show is, look at Firefly.

[smurf]

Just as an aside.
It's occurred to me that the general response to RC joining Stargate is pretty much identical to the one when Christopher Eccleston was named as the original New Who.

"Wait Christopher Eccleston? The Christopher Eccleston - incredibly highly rated, serious film and television actor, Christopher Eccleston? Does he remember what Dr. Who is about?"

[jenks]

it does well on Sky because its the UK premiere and they do advertise it quite extensively. However as its adverage is 100k viewers, its still a very small minor show. And Dr Who gets pretty similar viewing figures in the US, to SGA.

Where are you getting this figure from? I've never seen SGA pull in less than 300k.

I still think its utterly unfair to compare the shows though and GW's article was extremely misleading and inaccurate, not to mention irresponsible to report on taking comments out of context.

The article is biased in favour of Dr Who if anything, the only fair way to compare them would be through Sci Fi's ratings, where Stargate always beats DW.

[Nuallain]

On the ratings thing, I agree that it's pointless in terms of trying to define the quality of a show (after all, how many brilliant TV shows have been cancelled due to low ratings?)

The only issue, really, is whether or not it's factual to claim that SGA is a highly rated popular show. It's obviously not a claim based in reality at all. SGA is a niche, cult show, while Doctor Who is a ratings juggernaut with a massive worldwide audience. Which is better than the other, though, is entirely subjective and nothing to do with ratings.

It's just a little silly for the Gateworld article to try and 'prove' Stargate Atlantis is as good - if not better - than DW by implying they get comparable ratings when (i) they really, really don't and (ii) higher ratings don't prove anything anyway!

[TJuk]

I thought we established that comparing ratings was pointless.
Besides, ratings is no measure of how good a show is, look at Firefly.

Agreed, which is why it was pointless and silly to suggest such a comparison in the original article. And how good a show is, is based on your personal preferences and this is a SG site after all so of course its bias towards all things SG.

However, ratings are an indication of how successful, and therefore how popular a show is. And crap shows dont get over 13 million viewers for their season premieres....as Dr Who did this year, for season 4. 13.4 million, to be precise is a very good ratings figure for a US NETWORK show and we have a significantly smaller population.

[Madeleine]

The article is biased in favour of Dr Who if anything, the only fair way to compare them would be through Sci Fi's ratings, where Stargate always beats DW.

I'd have thought the fair way to go would be to compare SG in the US with DW in the UK. That way, you are comparing native show with native show, first run with first run, target audience with target audience, like with like.

[Nuallain]

The article is biased in favour of Dr Who if anything, the only fair way to compare them would be through Sci Fi's ratings, where Stargate always beats DW.

What's the logic there, then?

I can understand the argument that comparing ratings on Sky1 to ratings on BBC One is a bit pointless since you're comparing a flagship show on the country's largest network to a cheap foreign import on a subscription cable channel. But the reverse is also true - comparing the ratings of one of Sci-Fi's flagship shows, purposely developed to appeal to its demographic, to a foreign import they buy in syndication doesn't make much sense either.

If we were take a 'fair' approach we'd compare SGA's Sci-Fi audience to DW's BBC audience or SGA's total worldwide audience to DW's total worldwide audience... which both give the same result.


Anyway, like I said, trying to slice and dice things various ways to make SGA's ratings look better doesn't mean anything anyway. Hell, if posters here thought ratings=quality we wouldn't be here at all -- we'd be on The Mentalist forum!

[TJuk]

[QUOTE=jenks;9442854]Where are you getting this figure from? I've never seen SGA pull in less than 300k.QUOTE]

I said 'adverage', and SKyOne's ratings have been bottoming out and they're loosing viewers daily which caused the cheif to quit.

I dont have the charts at hand, but seriously... 100k - 300k to 9-13.4 MILLION? I dont think an extra 200k really makes much of a difference.

It's a shame, because SG1 at its height was an awesome show, it would have been really interesting to see how well it would have done on primetime BBC 1 or 2 here. Not commenting on SGA, I think its lack of success on Channel 5 despite their media blitz said it all really (and season one is still my favourite season).

[razzel_daxxel]

I'd have thought the fair way to go would be to compare SG in the US with DW in the UK. That way, you are comparing native show with native show, first run with first run, target audience with target audience, like with like.

I agree, however you would have to take into account that Dr Who has been going in the UK a lot longer than Stargate in the US. Also with the new incarnation of Dr Who doing a wonderfull of bridging the gap between old and young, not only has Dr Who got the older generation of fans i.e. my parents etc.... they also have done very well to captivate the younger viewers as well!

I think this is what Stargate Universe is attempting to do, bridge the gap between young and old, however if the age rateings on this site are anything to go by then I really dont think they need to!

[TJuk]

I'd have thought the fair way to go would be to compare SG in the US with DW in the UK. That way, you are comparing native show with native show, first run with first run, target audience with target audience, like with like.

Not to mention SGA only just beats DW on Scifi, so its not a convincing arguement anyway you look at it....just one trying to win the 'SG is best/more popular/more successful' arguement.

[Madeleine]

he said it because Carlyle didn't choose Doctor Who. It wouldn't matter WHAT show he'd chosen- CSI, Heroes, EastEnders- I'm sure RTD would have said something snarky about it!

I'm not sure that RC had the option to choose DW though. Was the vague and not the least bit unique rumounr that linked RC with WD ever any more than the wishful-thinking and-or speculation that is being flung wholesale at every 30-60yr old male Brit with an Equity card right now?

I don't think RTD said it because RC didn't choose DW so much as because RC got mentioned. Tha'ts all it usually takes to bring out an outrageous comment from RTD

But yes, that particular comment would no doubt have been the same regardless of the show which RC had joined... or even regardless of whether it was RC or some other actor...

just look at some of the replies here! What happened to Darren's Vision Statement, huh?[snip]

The VS is a work in progress at the mo. But this isn't a thread for discussing it so if you want clarification, you know where the actual thread is

[Nuallain]

Well, the only thing we know is that Carlyle had said (prior to the SGU casting) he'd seriously consider the part of the Doctor if it was offered but that, well, it hadn't been offered.

Now, that may have changed since then, and he may have rejected an overture from the incoming production team. Auditioning for the part of the Eleventh Doctor began around the 22nd of October, and Carlyle was announced for Universe on December 15th so it's certainly possible. But there's been no suggestion anywhere that that happened.

[fyere]

Ummm... No? SG-1 had the longest continuous run, a title it took away from X-Files. Doctor Who will be starting its 31st year in the springtime, which is spread over several decades but still far outstrips Stargate for total eps produced. Or did I miss something somewhere?

I meant, SG-1 got some attention a while back for being the longest-running North American sci-fi series, or, as you said, longest continuous run (though I thought that DW had still had a longer-than-10-year run a while back - I'll have to look that up). They even got a Guinness Book entry with a nice picture. So a lot of people started referring to it as 'the longest-running sci-fi series *evAr!1!*' and forgetting about DW. That's all.