SyFy/Nielsen SGU Rating Predictions/Discussions

[Lord Kira]

What do you think the ratings for SGU will be? Personally, I hope it beats out Warehouse 13's phenomenal ratings.

[jelgate]

What do you think the ratings for SGU will be? Personally, I hope it beats out Warehouse 13's phenomenal ratings.

The chances are that happening are slim. For the Pilot I'll say mid 2.0s while the average SGU episode will be high 1.0s

[Lord Kira]

The chances are that happening are slim. For the Pilot I'll say mid 2.0s while the average SGU episode will be high 1.0s

I know, I know; It was just wishful thinking. Still, with the advertising campaign that SGU has gotten, MGM and SyFy must have high expectations.

[Nadji]

I don't understand what would make Warehouse 13 more popular, I actually think SGU can top it.

[Eternal Density]

I don't understand why it's worth speculating.

[reddevil18]

The chances are that happening are slim. For the Pilot I'll say mid 2.0s while the average SGU episode will be high 1.0s

I actually think the pilot COULD top Warehouse 13's current record. Afterall, it was a SG episode that held the record before W13...

[Alan Wake]

I don't understand what would make Warehouse 13 more popular, I actually think SGU can top it.

W13 is geared towards a more casual TV viewer, Stargate shows are not.

[g.o.d]

2.3

[Eternal Density]

In the spirit of wild guessing, pi.

[Calluna]

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised to see one end of the spectrum or the other. On the one hand it is heavily advertised, at least as far as SyFy goes and the "Stargate" moniker will attract a lot of interest from fans and casual sci fi viewers who've seen the other 2 at least for the pilot because it is a well known franchise, not to mention it is getting quite a bit of buzz for a niche show.

OTOH recent ratings have proved that lightweight fare like W13 and Eureka are the most popular on SyFy right now and whilst it isn't BSG the trailers are pretty heavy so I can see that as a turn off for those viewers, who might be in the majority.

I'm interested in whether it will be able to beat out "Dollhouse" in the same time slot, in both overall and demo for the premiere at least? Last week DH got 2.57 and 1.0 demo. Should do it in demo if not overall numbers.

I don't understand why it's worth speculating.

Some people are just interesed. I find it interesting because TV history as proven that exactly no one can predict what will be a hit or not, no matter how original it is or how many other similar series have been massive hits or failures. There's a reason why 100 new pilots are shot every season and about 5-10 of those will end up getting a second season. In terms of SGU I'm interested in speculating because I've seen so many blogs, articles etc refer to it (fondly or otherwise) as the franchise that inexplicably won't die from one of the least likely sources ever (the 1994 film, which isn't particularly memorable on its own and only a so so hit.)

[Orion Antreas]

I just want to be sure again, what was W13 premiere rating and what was it's highest rating for S1?

[katikatnik]

I would say, an average ep of SGU? More than SGA, less than Eureka.

[jelgate]

I just want to be sure again, what was W13 premiere rating and what was it's highest rating for S1?

3.5 million. Thier were some factors that W13 had that SGU doesn't. W13 was in the summer and it wasn't part of a existing franchise. Its these two factors among others that will prevent SGU from being the giant ratings success that W13 was.

[Briangate78]

What do you think the ratings for SGU will be? Personally, I hope it beats out Warehouse 13's phenomenal ratings.

I doubt it. W13 is a show that attracts a broader audience or more casual viewers. Stargate Universe will attract a specific or a smaller group. Also the show will be on Friday nights so DVR will have a major impact. I predict the show will get around a 0.4 to 0.5 Rating lift and about a 600,000 to 800,000 viewer lift after all DVR is counted.

[MediaSavant]

Given that it is the "Live + SD" rating that will be announced first, I'm thinking that the rating for the premiere will be about a 2.5 HH rating with 3.5 million viewers. I might predict higher, but the history of Friday night shows running in October shows that the competition could hurt.

The "Live + 7 day" rating will be a different story. I can see that being about a 3.2 HH rating and adding another million viewers. These ratings won't be available for a few weeks. When "Live + 7" is counted, it will exceed the number of viewers to the Atlantis premiere, which was 4.2 million.*

The real question is how much will the ratings hold up in Week 2. I haven't seen the show yet, but based on the positive reviews by those who have, I'm thinking it may not drop from episode 1 to 2 as much as Atlantis did (which was -22%).
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* To those who will scream "apples to oranges", I will remind that the Atlantis total included people who recorded the show with their VCR's and DVR's were tiny. We now have DVR's and the numbers aren't based on merely recording show but actual playback of what was recorded.