SciFi Wire: Official SciFi Channel ratings for Season Ten

[the fifth man]

I've got a feeling the ratings would be at least double if not tripple!

I don't know about triple. But definitely more.

[nyxlily]

lol, the fans might be optimistic, but the showrunners are being realistic. In TV Zone magazine special 71, an interview with.. somebody.. darn, I'll have to look it up.. but anyway, in it it the person said they're leaving the last 3 episodes of BOTH series open just in case they won't get a renewal. So, it might have changed since that interview, but they were playing it safe by leaving it blank until they get some confirmations.

[Mitchell82]

lol, the fans might be optimistic, but the showrunners are being realistic. In TV Zone magazine special 71, an interview with.. somebody.. darn, I'll have to look it up.. but anyway, in it it the person said they're leaving the last 3 episodes of BOTH series open just in case they won't get a renewal. So, it might have changed since that interview, but they were playing it safe by leaving it blank until they get some confirmations.

I knew I read that somewhere thank you! I thought I was going nuts! They are going to play it safe like they did with season 6 and 8.

[the fifth man]

lol, the fans might be optimistic, but the showrunners are being realistic. In TV Zone magazine special 71, an interview with.. somebody.. darn, I'll have to look it up.. but anyway, in it it the person said they're leaving the last 3 episodes of BOTH series open just in case they won't get a renewal. So, it might have changed since that interview, but they were playing it safe by leaving it blank until they get some confirmations.

And that is a good idea. That way, if Sci-Fi Channel is stupid and makes another stupid decision, TPTB can at least attempt to wrap some things up a little bit.

[iheartvala]

but I saw in this interview that they were originally planning on season 9 being a spin off (starring shanks, I think) so they may still decide to go that route, which is something at least.

[the fifth man]

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

Well, it still is in the Sci-Fi Friday lineup. I just meant the three shows - SG-1, SGA, and BSG together.

[Mitchell82]

but I saw in this interview that they were originally planning on season 9 being a spin off (starring shanks, I think) so they may still decide to go that route, which is something at least.

Orriginally they had thought of calling the show Stargate Command and acting like it's a new show and a first season, then they decided against that and I'm glad. They were planning on a new series but with the ratings I doubt that will hapen, but I can still hope!

[Mitchell82]

Well, it still is in the Sci-Fi Friday lineup. I just meant the three shows - SG-1, SGA, and BSG together.

Yeah that did help but the major problem is the stupid neilsen ratings!

[Mitchell82]

I don't know about triple. But definitely more.

Ok so I got a litlle excited but theres nothing wrong with being overly optimisitc!

[the fifth man]

Ok so I got a litlle excited but theres nothing wrong with being overly optimisitc!

Nothing at all, my friend.

[the fifth man]

Yeah that did help but the major problem is the stupid neilsen ratings!

No argument from me on that. I hate how their system works.

[Mitchell82]

Nothing at all, my friend.

INDEED!

[xfkirsten]

and if they do know what this 13,000 people are watching , why dont they UP the NUMBER to 100,000 People for a BIG and BETTER number ....

As previously mentioned (twice), upping the number to 100,000 will have VERY LITTLE effect on the ratings. At a sample size of just 10,000, you already have a margin of error of just +/-1%. There is no logical reason to add more to your sample than that! Giving more households Nielsen boxes would cost big bucks, and with a margin of error that small already there's just no reason to do so. Basic statistics!

Now, as I said, I do think the system in general is flawed - by removing DVR and TiVo users, IMHO you effectively don't have a random sample anymore, and that is a problem. You're selectively weeding out possible samples, and that could possibly bias the results (say, if maybe people who had TiVos tended to be personalities that gravitated to certain types of shows, or something like that).

[the fifth man]

Now, as I said, I do think the system in general is flawed - by removing DVR and TiVo users, IMHO you effectively don't have a random sample anymore, and that is a problem. You're selectively weeding out possible samples, and that could possibly bias the results (say, if maybe people who had TiVos tended to be personalities that gravitated to certain types of shows, or something like that).

I totally agree with that. They need to change their ways and get with the times here.

[Giantevilhead]

Ok i understand how the SHOW gets money and how the NETWORK gets Money ...

What i still dont understand is how do they KNOW your Watching that SHOW ?

and if they do know what this 13,000 people are watching , why dont they UP the NUMBER to 100,000 People for a BIG and BETTER number ....

Also who do they know your USING a DVR or TiVo when they have Dual Yunners in then and it recording them live ?

It's statistics. The sample of 13,000 people are representative of all the people who watch television. It actually only takes a sample size of something like 384 people to represent a population of 300 million if the sample is randomly selected and only one variable is measured and the margin of error would only be 5%. So if I randomly picked 384 people out of 300 million people and asked them whether they like cheese. Based on the answers I got from those 384 people, I would be able to tell how many people out of that 300 million like cheese with a margin of error of 5%.

The problem with the accuracy of the Nielsen is not size of the sample, it's with how the sample is selected. If the 13,000 people aren't picked correctly, then the results can be really skewed.