BSG Scores 1.4 Rating Against AFC Championship Game

[Pitry]

Not really, the "Live" sample is only important to advertisers.

... who are the ones paying for their adverts, meaning that that is the portion Skiffy get their money from, which in turn means whether they get enough money or not to consider the show profitable enough to keep on the air...
I'd say that, unless Skiffy's loses would be covered by NBC-Universal due to the predicted profits on DVDs, i-Tunes etc, it's that portion of the ratings that would determine the show's future.

[Vyse]

Thanks MediaSavant for explaining the Nielsens to everyone, I have tried to do that in the past.

A 1.4 against the AFC is pretty good I think, we will have to wait until football is over however to see if moving the show to Sunday Nights will help. I think it is better, because as stated above there are more live viewers on Sunday-Thursday nights. People have work or school the next day so a lot of people stay home and watch TV in the evening. People of course tend to go out Friday/Saturday nights (especially the show's target demographic), so the live viewers is a lot less. Usually I just DVR Galactica when it was on Friday nights, since I was usually not home. However, since I have classes and work on Monday I almost never go out on Sunday nights, so I think Sci-Fi is making a better choice, even though there is a lot of competition on Sunday, though the biggest shows air at 8 and 9 PM, not 10 PM.

[MediaSavant]

Thankee.
Doesn't this actually mean that the numbers we see published cannot be used to try and base any sort of rating-based hypiothesis/ predictions?
This 1.4 and, let's say, SG1's Flesh and Blood could be completely diffenret 1.4s and no one knows this but the advertisers and SciFi...

Yes. But, I also might point out that the ratings we see are "household" ratings and the advertisers pay based on demographic ratings like "Adults 18-49" and "Adults 25-54", so we have been even more in the dark all along than we acknowledge.

It also means that comparing ratings to the "Pre-DVR" days is difficult. The world of TV and how people watch it is changing rapidly because of the DVR.

As more people get DVR's, getting "live" viewers is going to be more difficult.

[Quinn Mallory]

No BSG against the Super Bowl next week.

I have to say, I caught the midnight showing rather than than the 10 PM one b/c of the Patriots-Colts game.

[AJZ]

Wow looks like Sci-Fi's idea of moving BSG to Sunday is bitting them in the you know what. Just like every one told them before hand.

Anyways SciFi channel has still yet to resign BSG for a 4th season so they might even cancel it witch stinks.....I geuss it should be said, what should we expect from a channel where the CEO/VP stated that he hates Scifi shows in general.... yet he's the VP of one.

[MediaSavant]

From Multi-Channel News:

Colts Beat Patriots; Game Beats Galactica
By R. Thomas Umstead 1/26/2007

Captain William Adama has successfully fought off numerous cylon attacks on Batttlestar Galactica. But last Sunday, he couldn’t defend his position against the blitz of the National Football League.

The popular Sci Fi Channel skein’s maiden voyage to Sunday nights took a viewership hit from CBS’ New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts American Football Conference championship game, which drew 46 million viewers -- the game’s best performance in more than two decades.

The 1.4 rating for the third-year show’s Jan. 21 midseason debut -- the first of 10 episodes -- matched the average for the season’s initial 10 installments, which ran Fridays last October-December. But it was below the 1.9 rating/2.1 million viewers the show averaged during the second half of its sophomore season from January-March 2006.

"We took a risk and rolled the dice [going up against football] and lost," Sci Fi executive vice president and general manager David Howe said. "Nevertheless, I was incredibly impressed by how Battlestar held up."

Indeed, Sci Fi executives said Battlestar was the No. 1 basic-cable entertainment program for the day among viewers 18-49 and 25-54 despite competition from the game. The show also increased its viewership among those two demos by 60% and 18%, respectively, compared with its Dec. 15 finale.

In addition, Battlestar -- along with its lead-in, freshman dramedy series The Dresden Files, which also posted a 1.4 rating -- combined to post the top ratings performance on cable from 9 p.m.-11 p.m. among the network’s target 18-49 demo with a 1.3 household average. It was Sci Fi’s best performance among that group in the time period since May 2005 (Jurassic Park).

Howe said he expects ratings for both Battlestar and Dresden Files to increase over the next few weeks, sans any competition again posting a 40 share against the block. But just to be on the safe side, the network isn’t running original episodes from either series Feb. 4 -- that’s the night another little game, the Super Bowl, will play out on CBS.

Sounds to me like they were well aware of what they were up against and impressed with the results.

[AJZ]

That article to me sounds like David Howe was just trying to not admit that their sunday night change was a bad idea, sounds like he is trying to cover his butt.....My question is if he likes the result so bad why doesn't he renew them for a 4th season?

[Trek_Girl42]

That article to me sounds like David Howe was just trying to not admit that their sunday night change was a bad idea, sounds like he is trying to cover his butt.....My question is if he likes the result so bad why doesn't he renew them for a 4th season?

Because, as he's said before, they aren't going to renew the series until they've reached the renew-by date (a couple weeks from now I believe), but sci-fi execs have said (numerous times to numerous sources) that Battlestar is in no danger. I believe them 100% on this one.

[Chricton]

Hope so.

[AJZ]

but sci-fi execs have said (numerous times to numerous sources) that Battlestar is in no danger. I believe them 100% on this one.

I hope your right

[Doze]

Because, as he's said before, they aren't going to renew the series until they've reached the renew-by date (a couple weeks from now I believe), but sci-fi execs have said (numerous times to numerous sources) that Battlestar is in no danger. I believe them 100% on this one.

I agree but not with the 100%, I would say 90%. If it were 100% when that was said then it would have been Ok’ed at that time, like Heroes. I do think it has weathered the storm and is doing ok now. Maybe 91% now.