SciFi Wire: Official SciFi Channel ratings for Season Ten

[Truskawka]

BTW, and please MediaSavant correct me if I'm wrong, from what I understand the ratings in USA are not actually for the show itself, but for the advertisments during it? It only matters how many people are watching the commercials and buying the products?

[petemoretti]

BTW, and please MediaSavant correct me if I'm wrong, from what I understand the ratings in USA are not actually for the show itself, but for the advertisments during it? It only matters how many people are watching the commercials and buying the products?

LMAO ! (Really before stating such things please use a warning and put it in spoilers I splashed all my soda on the keyboard)

[ses110]

I do not know what the ratings were when the Show was on Showtime but they had to be good for Show to last seasons 1-5. I believe Showtime not keeping SG-1 had to do with syndication and not problems with the ratings. The talk of ratings problem did not start until season 9. I do not recall any articles from Gateworld or anywhere else talking about ratings problems from season 1-8. I could be wrong but I do not remember the show be heavily advertised from season 1-8.If anyone knows any different please let me know.

[Truskawka]

I do not know what the ratings were when the Show was on Showtime but they had to be good for Show to last seasons 1-5. I believe Showtime not keeping SG-1 had to do with syndication and not problems with the ratings. The talk of ratings problem did not start until season 9. I do not recall any articles from Gateworld or anywhere else talking about ratings problems from season 1-8. I could be wrong but I do not remember the show be heavily advertised from season 1-8.If anyone knows any different please let me know.

I recall reading somewhere that previous boss of Showtime, the one who get rid of SG-1 hated sci-fi in general...

[ses110]

That's not the problem of the Show or means the Show was not good.I just know the Show was not dropped by Showtime due to bad ratings.

[Pitry]

By Showtime's own words, Stargate SG1 didn't get cancelled ni season 5 because it lost viewrship, but because it brought no new audience to the channel. Oh, and let's challenge a popular belief: no, there aren't any official numbers anywhere easily found - but if you dig deep enough in Gateworld itself you discover the numbers for season.... 4 I think it was, were about as high or higher as season 8's.

(I don't have the link now, but if you go to all the "save websites on the web" kind of pages and start fiddling with Gateworld, you'll find it.)

[morjana]

SG1/SGA - SciFi Wire: Ratings for "Family Ties," "Submersion":

From SciFi Wire:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php

Top TEN SciFi Channel Shows


Ice Spiders------------------1.6
ECW------------------------1.4
Hannibal--------------------1.4
Ghost Hunters---------------1.3
Silence of the Lambs---------1.2
Lake Placid------------------1.2
Stargate Atlantis------------1.2 - "Submersion"
Stargate SG-1---------------1.2 - "Family Ties"
Destination Truth------------1.1
Red Dragon------------------1.1


Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/4/07 -- 6/10/07

<><><><><><><>

Hmmm...no Painkiller Jane in the top ten list.


And the ratings for the three episodes that aired while I was offline:


ECW------------------------1.5
Stargate Atlantis------------1.2 - "The Game"
Stargate SG-1--------------1.2 - "Bounty"
The Last Sentinel-----------1.1
Star Trek Enterprise--------1.0
Basilisk: Serpent King-------0.9
Grendel--------------------0.9
Ghost Hunters--------------0.8
Painkiller Jane--------------0.8
Waterworld-----------------0.8

Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/7/07 -- 5/13/07

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ECW------------------------1.5
Heroes----------------------1.2
Stargate Atlantis------------1.2 - "The Ark"
Stargate SG-1--------------1.2 - "Bad Guys"
It Waits--------------------1.0
Mortuary-------------------1.0
The Bone Snatcher---------1.0
Ghost Hunters--------------0.8
Painkiller Jane--------------0.8
Rest Stop------------------0.8

Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/14/07 -- 5/20/07


<><><><><><><><>

Meltdown-------------------1.5
ECW------------------------1.4
The Stand part two---------1.3
The Stand part one----------1.2
The Stand part three--------1.2
The Stand part four---------1.2
Fire Serpent----------------1.2
Star Trek Enterprise--------1.1
Stargate Atlantis-----------1.1 - "Sunday"
Stargate SG-1-------------1.1 - "Talion"

Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 5/28/07 -- 6/3/07

[MediaSavant]

BTW, and please MediaSavant correct me if I'm wrong, from what I understand the ratings in USA are not actually for the show itself, but for the advertisments during it? It only matters how many people are watching the commercials and buying the products?

No. Ratings published on the Scifiwire are the Live + same day ratings for the average minute in the telecast. It's not just for the commercials.

"Commercial" ratings won't be instituted as part of the pricing for the advertising until September and it remains to be seen if those will be the ratings that will be published.

(Live + same day includes only people who watched on their DVR until 3AM that night)

[morjana]

SG1/SGA - SciFi Wire: Ratings for "Dominion," & "Vengeance":


From SciFi Wire:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php

Top TEN SciFi Channel Shows

ECW-------------------------1.7
Alone in the Dark-----------1.4
Ghost Hunters---------------1.3
Stargate Atlantis-----------1.2 - "Vengeance"
Destination Truth-----------1.1
Resident Evil---------------1.2
Star Trek Enterprise--------1.1
Stargate SG-1---------------1.1 - "Dominion"
Clive Barker's Plague-------1.0
They Are Among Us-----------1.1


Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, 6/11/07 -- 6/17/07

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Hmmm...Painkiller Jane didn't make the top ten (again).

[morjana]

By Showtime's own words, Stargate SG1 didn't get cancelled ni season 5 because it lost viewrship, but because it brought no new audience to the channel. Oh, and let's challenge a popular belief: no, there aren't any official numbers anywhere easily found - but if you dig deep enough in Gateworld itself you discover the numbers for season.... 4 I think it was, were about as high or higher as season 8's. (

I have two articles with "official numbers" for Stargate while airing on Showtime.

`Food' fills auds as Showtime stumbles.(cable TV ratings)(Brief Article)

Author/s: John Dempsey
Issue: August 14, 2000

NEW YORK Paramount TV's "Soul Food" series adaptation of the hit movie has begun harvesting surprisingly good Nielsen ratings on Showtime, averaging a 2.8 primetime rating in cable homes for its first six weeks in the Wednesday-at-10 timeslot.

Women in particular have discovered "Soul Food," driving the rating up by 43% for the show's first six weeks on the network (June 26 to July 6) compared with the same six weeks in 1999, when Showtime was running a mix of theatrical and original movies. Among women 18 to 34, the Nielsen ratings for the six weeks of "Soul Food" are up by 83%.

"Soul Food" is by far the most popular of the five original series Showtime starting running, in checkerboard fashion, every weeknight at 10, beginning the week of June 26.

All five series, including "Soul Food," are down from the time period of a year ago, with "Soul Food" off the least, by 7%.

The poorest performer of the five, based on year-to-year comparisons, is Granada TV's returning "Beggers & Choosers," whose 1.7 average rating in cable homes on Tuesday is down by 48% from the same period in 1999.

Inside peek

But sources say the program's satirical look at the TV business has made it a must-watch among showbiz insiders.

MGM TV's "Stargate: SG-1," now in its fourth year, is averaging a more-than-acceptable 2.8 rating in cable homes on Friday, although that's still 26% below last year in the timeslot. The good news for "Stargate" is that it's up by 25% among men 18 to 34.

Monday's "Resurrection Blvd.," from Viacom Prods., manages only a 2.0 rating average in cable homes, down 43% from a year ago. But Showtime is high on the show because it's the first dramatic TV series ever produced featuring only Hispanic Americans in the cast and it has drawn a number of favorable reviews from TV critics.

Columbia TriStar TV's "Rude Awakening," the only half-hour comedy among the five, averages a 1.9 rating in cable homes, which is 39% below year-ago ratings.

Mark Zakarin, executive VP of Showtime Networks, says Nielsen ratings are not the be all and end all for a pay TV network like Showtime because it doesn't sell advertising.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
*********


Queer is here as Showtime invades HBO's racy turf.

Author/s: John Dempsey
Issue: Dec 11, 2000


MGM-TV's "Stargate SG-1" is finishing its fourth season, consistently pulling higher ratings than any other Showtime original series, although it's down 17% year to year (using the period of June 30, when the fresh episodes began, to Dec. 3).

Viacom Prods.' rookie "Resurrection Blvd." is off by 60% in households in its Monday time period since the series premiered the week of June 26. But "Resurrection" has brought kudos to Showtime because it's the first series to focus on a Hispanic-American milieu, so ratings are only one element in the network's evaluation.

* The ratings of the offbeat half-hour comedy from Columbia TriStar TV Distribution and Mandalay TV, "Rude Awakening," completing its third season, are 69% below the time period of a year ago (again using June 26 to Dec. 3 period). But the inhabitant of last year's timeslot was movies, which tend to score better ratings, on average, than series do.

* Although many critics say it's underappreciated, "Beggars & Choosers," the comedy-drama satirizing the TV industry that's winding up its second season, has fallen 93% in household ratings from June to December year to year.

*******

What's more interesting, that of ALL the series mentioned in those two articles from 2000 - SEVEN years ago -- the only series that survived to 2007 is, well you know, Stargate SG-1!

It outlasted:

Soul Food - was on for five seasons (2000-2004)
Beggers & Choosers - was on for two seasons (1999-2001)
Resurrection Blvd. - was on for three seasons (2000-2002)
Rude Awakening - was on for three seasons (1998-2001)

(Wonder if Showtime ever regrets their decision?)

Morjana

[Pitry]

Well, they said they did.

But ha! I was right and not delusional then - I do think these are the articles I've seen. SG1 has never pulled a 2.8 (or higher, as the article suggested) on SciFi. So... highest SG1's season isn't #8, it's #3?...

[LaCroix]

Well, they said they did.

But ha! I was right and not delusional then - I do think these are the articles I've seen. SG1 has never pulled a 2.8 (or higher, as the article suggested) on SciFi. So... highest SG1's season isn't #8, it's #3?...

If I recall correctly season 8's average was a 2.1. Whereas season 10 is a 1.4.

I also recall that they regretted it too.

[the dancer of spaz]

If I recall correctly season 8's average was a 2.1. Whereas season 10 is a 1.4.

I also recall that they regretted it too.

Yeah, wasn't it suggested that Showtime would be willing to house the series again? I don't know if that was BS or not, but morjana's post is interestingly ironic.

The same can be said for a lot of the most pimped out series that have graced television over the past few years. I seriously doubt that series like Grey's Anatomy or Desperate Housewives could ever claim such longevity. BSG, for all of its strong storylines and critical acclaim, will only survive a fraction of the time on a network that clearly adored it.

Maybe it has more to do with the disposable culture of television now, where series aren't really created to be on the air for longer than a few seasons, as long as they bring in large amounts of viewers.

Either way, even though the series changed a great deal, I'm still pretty proud of that accomplishment.

[the fifth man]

Either way, even though the series changed a great deal, I'm still pretty proud of that accomplishment.

Personally, I am extremely proud of what SG-1 accomplished over it's ten year run.

[morjana]

Well, they said they did.

But ha! I was right and not delusional then - I do think these are the articles I've seen. SG1 has never pulled a 2.8 (or higher, as the article suggested) on SciFi. So... highest SG1's season isn't #8, it's #3?...

You also have to take into consideration that Showtime (back then) had a much smaller viewer audience than the SciFi Channel does today. SciFi Channel has 85+ million viewers.

And even though the Syndicated ratings of both SG1 and SGA are down, syndication has a larger viewer audience of them all -- 105+ million viewers

Morjana