SyFy/Nielsen SGU Rating Predictions/Discussions

[RealmOfX]

Does anyone know what Syfy aired last Fall on Tuesdays?

[Sami_]

Does anyone know what Syfy aired last Fall on Tuesdays?

Scare Tactics at 9pm

[katikatnik]

In the end, I don't care how many seasons a show gets as long as the story reaches a satisfying conclusion.

Which it won't, IMHO, because Mallozzi already said that they plan the S2 finale as a season finale only and let's face it, SGU is no Supernatural where every season had its own arc. But I agree that even if the show ends with S2, people should be happy that they will get S2 - as a SPN fan, I'm glad it was re-newed for S6, at least one more season to go.

[Commander Zelix]

Personally, I would love to see a new Stargate show on a network like Spike that will want more action and less of the emotional angsty stuff.

I wonder if Stargate could really be on another network than Syfy like it was at the beginning.

[RealmOfX]

Scare Tactics at 9pm

Thank you.


I couldn't find individual stats for it but here is a summary from a Syfy press release -

Scare Tactics
The fall season averaged a 0.96 HH rating, 355,000 Adults 18-34, 767,000 Adults 18-49, 768,000 Adults 25-54 and 1.39 million total viewers.

That means that Scare Tactics averaged 925,440 households which was under the Syfy average primetime households of 967,889 for the period. It will be interesting to see how SGU measures up performance wise if it gets the 9pm slot, of course profit wise is a whole other unknown ballgame.

[jelgate]

I wonder if Stargate could really be on another network than Syfy like it was at the beginning.

Its very unlikely

[major davis]

If they can bring the age median down a little, and capture about 1.6 to 1.7 Million viewers with a good percentage in the 18 to 49 demo, they have a chance. But again, I don't know MGM's financial side of things. They may ask for more money and may have to do budget cuts, I dunno.

I do think if these numbers continue into Season 2, after the move to Tuesday, Season 2 will be the last. That is my opinion.

Sorry to make you repeat yourself. I was just wondering if you heard any new about expectations for SGU since you asked around. Lol

Dude you need to watch Chuck. It's amazing. Start from season 1 though. It's really a fun show. .

As for 24 I was bumed to... But hey... At least we'll get a movie... Wait this sounds like what we were all saying when SGA was canceled.

[MediaSavant]

You are referring to Chuck right? Yeah one of my favorite shows ended, 24 but it was a producers call, and they were talking about ending the show since last season. I am glad Chuck got renewed for you. I am actually thinking about starting to watch it, because you gave it mention.

Yeah, Chuck. Good character-driven dramedy with a classic hero's journey woven in. Please watch it. This season's finale was one of the best according to Televisionwithoutpity.com. I agree with MajorDavis about starting from season 1. There actually aren't that many episodes because S1 got cut short due to the writer's strike.

Chuck is a good case study on how a show with declining ratings that is constantly on the bubble can be saved...twice. Here are the lessons learned.

1. Be willing to lower your budget and your license fee. WB produces Chuck on an NBC Universal network. So, it gets no favors for being "home-grown". Between Season 2 and 3, they lowered the budget. They dropped a few secondary regular characters and reduced the shooting schedule. Other secondary characters were in fewer episodes. Despite this, they still produced a good product.

2. Be on a network that is struggling to find other hit shows. The Leno debacle helped, but NBC's inability to find other shows with decent demographics that gets better ratings than Chuck. (Chuck is one of the network's top rated shows for the male demos. NBC's other shows do better for female demos)

3. Relish product placement. Chuck does intensive product placement. Most prominently is Subway. Because Chuck has comedic elements they are able to weave the product placement into the plots in a way that is over the top, but it works within the show. Fans also know how important it is and don't complain about it. They actually go buy Subway sandwiches every week to eat while watching the show.

4. Have active fans pushing for the show BEFORE it's canceled. As with the Subway example, Chuck fans don't rest on their laurels. They are active about saving the show constantly. They are also singularly focussed as a whole. Any devisiveness with fandom is about plot points. It's nothing like the divisiveness I see within Stargate fandom about SGU. Stargate fans can't even decide as a whole whether they like SGU, let alone trying to save it.

5. Lots of support from TV critics. Critical acclaim does matter to network executives. Chuck isn't up there with Friday Night Lights, another NBC show that survives despite low ratings, but it does alright with the critics.

I know MGM is in financial trouble, and not sure what is considered good to them, but I asked around SyFy, and they said to me, the show needs to do better, and they are really hoping Tuesday is the answer.

I think it is common sense that these numbers are not great. Caprica has yet to be renewed, and I don't think it will. SGU had a nice start, and that is why Season 2 was given the greenlight. If these numbers continue into Season 2, I think Season 3 will be a longshot. Like you said, the fans should take the attitude of being lucky they have at least one more full season to enjoy.

Fans who want to save the show should also do their part. Word of mouth is a wonderful promotional tool. You can be thankful for what you are getting yet still not give up trying. The Tuesday move is an opportunity for fans to re-boot their efforts too. Or, in the case of SGU fans, actually have an effort to begin with.

Also to point out, SGA did not get the closure it deserved, and that stings a little, especially knowing it could of gone at least one final season to really capture an amazing closing. Instead we got an ending that was rushed and crammed into 43 mins.

I was a more casual fan than you. I thought the ending was fine. Fortunately, there weren't any burning character arcs to bring closure on, unless you are a shipper and wanted to see McKay and his chick get engaged or something. :-)

It was nowhere near ad bad as Farscape's original ending before they were able to do a mini-series.

[Briangate78]

Yeah, Chuck. Good character-driven dramedy with a classic hero's journey woven in. Please watch it. This season's finale was one of the best according to Televisionwithoutpity.com. I agree with MajorDavis about starting from season 1. There actually aren't that many episodes because S1 got cut short due to the writer's strike.

I think I will take you up on your offer. I'll have to buy the DVDs or download them off itunes.

Chuck is a good case study on how a show with declining ratings that is constantly on the bubble can be saved...twice. Here are the lessons learned.

1. Be willing to lower your budget and your license fee. WB produces Chuck on an NBC Universal network. So, it gets no favors for being "home-grown". Between Season 2 and 3, they lowered the budget. They dropped a few secondary regular characters and reduced the shooting schedule. Other secondary characters were in fewer episodes. Despite this, they still produced a good product.

2. Be on a network that is struggling to find other hit shows. The Leno debacle helped, but NBC's inability to find other shows with decent demographics that gets better ratings than Chuck. (Chuck is one of the network's top rated shows for the male demos. NBC's other shows do better for female demos)

3. Relish product placement. Chuck does intensive product placement. Most prominently is Subway. Because Chuck has comedic elements they are able to weave the product placement into the plots in a way that is over the top, but it works within the show. Fans also know how important it is and don't complain about it. They actually go buy Subway sandwiches every week to eat while watching the show.

4. Have active fans pushing for the show BEFORE it's canceled. As with the Subway example, Chuck fans don't rest on their laurels. They are active about saving the show constantly. They are also singularly focussed as a whole. Any devisiveness with fandom is about plot points. It's nothing like the divisiveness I see within Stargate fandom about SGU. Stargate fans can't even decide as a whole whether they like SGU, let alone trying to save it.

5. Lots of support from TV critics. Critical acclaim does matter to network executives. Chuck isn't up there with Friday Night Lights, another NBC show that survives despite low ratings, but it does alright with the critics

.

See with Chuck it seemed to get a lot of postive buzz. SGU, well you have sites trying to bring the series down, and all the negativity around the net and conventions are not really going to interest new viewers. I honestly would not recommend SGU as a must see show. SG-1 and SGA, hell yeah!

I was a more casual fan than you. I thought the ending was fine. Fortunately, there weren't any burning character arcs to bring closure on, unless you are a shipper and wanted to see McKay and his chick get engaged or something. :-)

Well Season 4, was the best season to me, and it continued into Season 5, but the 2nd half of Season 5 and the show overall saw a lot of missed opportunities. I think Season 6 would of been the golden final season. Joe M spinned some potential stories and they sounded really good. oh well. Still have to hope for this ill-fated movie to come out. lol.

[jelgate]

See with Chuck it seemed to get a lot of postive buzz. SGU, well you have sites trying to bring the series down, and all the negativity around the net and conventions are not really going to interest new viewers. I honestly would not recommend SGU as a must see show. SG-1 and SGA, hell yeah!

Screw buzz. It wouldn't be the first time they were misleading as the prospects of a show

[Briangate78]

Screw buzz. It wouldn't be the first time they were misleading as the prospects of a show

Quick story for you...

I was in a Starbucks by my house last summer, The staff was talking about TV shows. One guy said, "you have to check out this series called Warehouse13 on the SyFy channel, it is really cool." The other staff said, "oh yeah saw ads for that." I turned around and said, "Oh I work for the network, it is the top show for the network in years now. It's a great show."

[jelgate]

Quick story for you...

I was in a Starbucks by my house last summer, The staff was talking about TV shows. One guy said, you have to check out this series called Warehouse13 on the SyFy channel, it is really cool. The other staff said, oh yeah saw ads for that. I turned around and said, oh I work for the network, it is the top show for the network in years now. It's a great show.

So what? My point still stands these things are misleading

[MattSilver 3k]

Quick story for you...

I was in a Starbucks by my house last summer, The staff was talking about TV shows. One guy said, "you have to check out this series called Warehouse13 on the SyFy channel, it is really cool." The other staff said, "oh yeah saw ads for that." I turned around and said, "Oh I work for the network, it is the top show for the network in years now. It's a great show."

And after you left one said, "Who was that guy with the tinfoil hat and the crazy eyes? I'm scared for the general public!"

[DavidR]

I think that SyFy has made a number of erroneous assumptions about their programming that has come home to roost. I hope that the move to Tuesday will help fix some of the problems with SGU's ratings.

I also think that the show started slowly on purpose to build the characters and that they intended to pick up the pace in season 2 no matter how much people will try to say that the changes were an effort to save the show. I went back and watched some season 1 of SG1 and SGA and they took a while to really get going too. In season 1 of SG1, the only episodes that really advanced the overall story arc other than the first 2 and last 3 were The Nox, Thor's Hammer, The Torment of Tantalus, and maybe Hathor. I think they started slowly with SGU the same way.

I also have to wonder if SyFy would take the DRASTIC step of cancelling SGU because I think it would possibly end SyFy's relationship with MGM and Bridge Studio's for good. They could be jeopardizing their future syndication rights to all the SGx stuff that they like to pull out when they need filler programming. At that point, I think that SyFy could be writing off Science Fiction for good. Personally, I would love to see a new Stargate show on a network like Spike that will want more action and less of the emotional angsty stuff.

There is a lot that will happen between now and when a decision on season 3 will happen. For instance, both MGM and SyFy will probably be under different management by then. As likely as anything else, none of the people you talked to about SGU recently will even be in their same jobs when a decision gets made. That's not a dire prediction or any kind of wishful thinking, just my personal experience with what happens when large corporations buy other large corporations. Lots of execs get early retirement packages and the overall structure of different departments get altered along with priorities and marching orders.

So, in other words, there is not only no way to know how the ratings will go for season 2 on Tuesdays, but there is also no way to know what the corporate environment for either company will look like.

A bit of news regarding MGM that involves one of the principle bond holders, Providence Equity.

Providence Equity owned Bresnan Communications which is the cable company in New York. They just sold it to Cablevision for $1.3 billion USD . Time Warner's bid for MGM as an outright buy of all bond debt by all bond holders was $1.7 billion USD [total bond debt held by bond holders = $2.7 billion USD].

The rumors and speculation swirling about is that Providence Equity is making a bid to bond holders to purchase their bonds rather than bond holders forcing a sale of assets to recover their money. 2 weeks ago there was a news report that 3 or 4 of the larger bond holders effectively siezed control of MGM over management.

[Briangate78]

And after you left one said, "Who was that guy with the tinfoil hat and the crazy eyes? I'm scared for the general public!"

At least I wasn't wearing "Sex Panter"