SciFi Wire: Official SciFi Channel ratings for Season Ten

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Not really look at what they did to the FAMILY GUY ... The Canned the show and the FANs got it back ... So if you look at it we are everthing to them ... Not the other way around ...

That's true, but let's think about it (in 3 ways).

Family Guy originally ran 3 seasons before Fox originally cancelled it. More fans discovered it and Fox picked it up for a 35 episode season (it's 4th), and now it's coming back for a 5th season.

Futurama originially ran 4 seasons before Fox axed it. And now Comedy Central has ordered a 13 episode 5th (according to The Futon Critic) season (After fans discovered the show).

Stargate has ran for 10 seasons. Now think about it, Family Guy originally ran for 3 seasons and Futurama for 4 season. Do you think that SG-1 could be picked up even with good DVDs Sales (Family Guy or Futurama good), with more people discovering it? Someone like Spike TV, USA, or Showtime might look at the DVD Sales and think "This show has ran it's course (Like The X-Files, Buffy, the original Doctor Who, or any other show that has ran a good long while (7+ seasons)" The best that can come from good DVD sales is a new Stargate series (like what happen to Doctor Who). If SGA gets axes this year and they get good DVD sales, then yes a network might order new episodes (since it hasn't ran that long).

If Farscape, Angel, or Tripping the Rift have excellent DVDs sales then yes, a network might order new episodes of an existing show (like in the cases of Family Guy or Futurama),

Don't get mad at me about this, I'm just stating facts and what I truly believe.

[Walkman82]

ECW? Who the frack's watching that???

Just wait till BSG returns, ECW won't have a frackin' prayer.

Sci Fi needs help with it's programming. Programming gods! Have mercy!! HAVE MERCY!

The Wrestling Geeks that Loves ECW

Still
Stargate Should Distory ECW in the ratings but it's not

[FenixB]

and what about 'watch parties' some groups of friends go to a persons house who has a nice big TV and 10+ people will watch at a house. Now while that's 10 pairs of eyes watching the show and commercials, that would only count as 1 person in the raitings.

Finally, some one got it !!! LOLOL

With the tech we have now days I dont understand why the big cable companies couldnt have their own raitings. And then tv companies can look at those raitings and you will get a much better reading. (disclaimer: I do not know how cable/satilite networks work so I don't know if this is doable. But you would think so with all the computer power we have now days.)

I agree with you. A poll is no really a poll if you don't count everything!!. If you poll SG1 in Puerto Rico, you will get only 1% because PR is a small island.

Now, do the same poll in the US an you can get easily 80% !

The only way to * TRULY * know is if each cable box/Satellite Receiver, etc. have some kind of feature that allows the Service Company to read what people are watching at any given time (also when TIVO it !!! I'm a fan of TIVO !!! LOLOL)

[FenixB]

I agree the ratings system is flawed - SciFi says the core audience for the SG1 and SGA is male, between 20-35. Now a good number of those guys are going to be single and have no intention of staying home on Friday nights, and I'm sure TIVO and the DVR players get heavy use, so the core audience isn't even being counted properly.

You are reading my mind !!!

Agree with you 500%

[Giantevilhead]

Statistically, Nielsens is fairly accurate. 13,000 people, if selected correctly, will give accurate ratings. That's the way statistics work. They only test like 1 out of every 1,000 light bulbs made and yet how often have you bought a light bulb that didn't work? They only poll like 1,000 people during an election year and yet the results of those polls are within +-3% of the election results. When they test out a new drug, they only have a sample size of a few hundred people at most but from those test subjects scientists are able to accurately predict the effects of the drug on almost all people that are similar to the test subjects.

Oh and it's not a matter of how many people watch the show. It's a matter of how many people watch the advertisements. It doesn't matter if a billion people watch the show, if no one watches the ads then Sci-Fi gets no money.

[Sgcfreak55]

That's what I'm expecting personally. I think Sci-Fi never should have broken up it's Sci-Fi Friday lineup. They may learn this lesson the hard way.

Most definantly. Stargate did much better when it was in the Sci-Fi Friday lineup.

[xfkirsten]

Statistically, Nielsens is fairly accurate. 13,000 people, if selected correctly, will give accurate ratings. That's the way statistics work. They only test like 1 out of every 1,000 light bulbs made and yet how often have you bought a light bulb that didn't work? They only poll like 1,000 people during an election year and yet the results of those polls are within +-3% of the election results. When they test out a new drug, they only have a sample size of a few hundred people at most but from those test subjects scientists are able to accurately predict the effects of the drug on almost all people that are similar to the test subjects.

Exactly as I said above. Hooray for people who understand basic statisics!

ETA: For those who don't understand where those figures come from:
Estimated margin of error = 1/(N^.5), where N= sample size

[Sgcfreak55]

HOW THE HELL DOES ECW BRING IN SO MANY PEOPLE! They were going out of business before WWF bought them out... ECW sucks..

AGREED!!!! How DID they do it!!!! GOD DANG THEM TO HECK!!!!! ARRRGH!!!

[smurf]

I agree the ratings system is flawed - SciFi says the core audience for the SG1 and SGA is male, between 20-35. Now a good number of those guys are going to be single and have no intention of staying home on Friday nights, and I'm sure TIVO and the DVR players get heavy use, so the core audience isn't even being counted properly.

If that is now their core audience, then the changes to the show are a major mistake on their part. When they first bought over the show from Showtime the audience was more evenly spread with a skew towards older viewers and female viewers. Exactly the sort of viewers who have money (they paid for Showtime) and are available on Friday nights.
If they want viewers they should try taking the show back to as it was before when it appealed to a wider demographic.

[PG15]

Depends on which series you mean.

[Giantevilhead]

Remember why the ratings are important. Advertisers are paying upwards of $50,000 per 30 second commercial spot. When people TiVo/tape/download the show and skip the commercials, that $1 million to $2 million advertisers spend on the show goes down the drain.

[esoap524]

Yes, please sticky this. And I agree, move them back to their original time slots. There is like you said a lot of competition now in their current slots. Also, the whole rating system would be a lot better if it accounted for other countries. France I know, for example, has quite a bit of Stargate fans.

I think the problem is that in the US, ratings translate into advertising dollars which in turn translate into REVENUE which is probably the biggest driving factor of whether a show stays on the air.

SG1 currently airs on the US Sci Fi channel. Therefore, television execs and producers don't have a whole lot of interest in actual number of people watching the the show worldwide. It's the actual number of potential consumers of products that are advertised during the show who interest them. That's why you have the whole demographics issue--who has the money, who spends the money, who makes the buying decisions. That's usually the target audience.

At least, that's my understanding.

[PSp2gamer]

Statistically, Nielsens is fairly accurate. 13,000 people, if selected correctly, will give accurate ratings. That's the way statistics work. They only test like 1 out of every 1,000 light bulbs made and yet how often have you bought a light bulb that didn't work? They only poll like 1,000 people during an election year and yet the results of those polls are within +-3% of the election results. When they test out a new drug, they only have a sample size of a few hundred people at most but from those test subjects scientists are able to accurately predict the effects of the drug on almost all people that are similar to the test subjects.

Oh and it's not a matter of how many people watch the show. It's a matter of how many people watch the advertisements. It doesn't matter if a billion people watch the show, if no one watches the ads then Sci-Fi gets no money.

Yes, that is very true, but..... If you dont count DVR and cable boxes then you take a large chunk out. I bet none of those 13,000 people have cable boxes or DVR's, since they arent counted. I love Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, but I am frequently busy on Friday nights, and simply record it. I dont always have time on Friday nights to watch it. That is the real flaw with the system.

[Giantevilhead]

Yes, that is very true, but..... If you dont count DVR and cable boxes then you take a large chunk out. I bet none of those 13,000 people have cable boxes or DVR's, since they arent counted. I love Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, but I am frequently busy on Friday nights, and simply record it. I dont always have time on Friday nights to watch it. That is the real flaw with the system.

Like I said before, it's not a matter of how many people watch the show, it's a matter of how many people watch the ads. The only time when they can be even remotely sure that someone is watching the ads is when people watch the show on television, not when they record it, download it, or watch it on TiVo. Oh and Nielsen uses surveys as well.

[brdmacfreak]

Yes, I agree. It just bums me out that the line-up and hours were changed. I used to sit glued to the tv for 3 hours as it was my one night I reserved as my TV night. Now, I record the the shows and start watching the DVR recording after about 1/2 of Stargate SG1 is over and by the time both shows end, I have caught up by skipping the commercials. It is just a matter of my best night of TV being altered in a manner I don't care for at all. Friday's 3 hours of top knotch SCFI was my night to watch TV. The only thing I got up from the chair for was a lightning run to the fridge, and to tuck the little guy under the covers. Now he gets 7 out of 7 nights that daddy spends with him up until bed time. Moving the time slots around, adding Eureka and dropping Battlestar to me altered my one perfect night of TV. Oh well, the little guy wins! Just a thought or two and wish to change my Friday line up back to the perfection that it was.