0/5

Stargate Universe a star for SciFi

Stargate Universe's premiere was a winner in the Pay TV sector last week, coming in at #5 show for the week.

StargateUniverseStargate Universe‘s premiere was a winner in the Pay TV sector last week, averaging 64,000 and coming in at #5 show for the week.

The SciFi channel show was also the #1 show on Friday in the subscription TV sector.

#1 for the week was FOX Sports Live: Football: International on 103,000.

In the week’s Top 100, 70% of the shows pulled 30,000 viewers or less.

Once again first run local dramas and comedies Tangle (Showcase), 30 Seconds (Comedy) and The Jesters (Movie Extra) didn’t qualify in the Week’s Top 100.  A movie of The Mummy managed 59,000 #8 for Showtime on the same package as Showcase.

Week 41

18 Responses

  1. My one worry is it’ll lack what made stargate great. It was always lots of fun!

    Very good production values though. I did enjoy the first three episodes but was not blown away. While it was slicker and better looking than the previous shows but it just felt in a way it lacked the sense of adventure. I will of course keep watching unless it gets bad. One thought though all shows take a while to find themselves. I just hope it lightens up a bit and a bit more action adventure. If it keeps the current tone, it could not be good. I do have enough faith in the writers as to me they’ve earned that trust.

  2. As I said, Russell … great to see some passion for Sci-Fi stirred up!
    Sci-Fi has a massive audience when it is treated with respect by Networks … Doctor Who is the perfect example of that …
    Ultimately it is about the inappropriate “attitude” to Sci-Fi, as you mentioned, that shove it onto minor networks …
    But none of this changes the disappointment I felt, as have others, with the first two episodes of this series …
    Jack!

  3. @ Jack!

    It’s a cable show! Made by a cable network (SyFy) for cable networks (Sci Fi)

    Yes, you are right. FTA broadcast TV has no interest in sci fo as it too narrow and does not have enough broad appeal. What’s embarassing about that? We’ve known that for years!

  4. I do have a grip!!!
    No, no, no, you all miss my point … I have No interest in how a figure for cable translates to equal a figure on free to air … the entire point is actually made by the fact that it is on cable and not free to air! Obviously, to me, free to air had no interest in paying enough to get the rights … that is my point and if it was on free to air it would not have rated well … again, only a little better than a screening of a movie from many years ago??? How embarassing! (But we all know I think the ratings system is total crap anyway !!!)
    However, I completely agree with Grinspoon, and others … the tangled mess of episodes 1 and 2 were probably caused by too many fingers in the pie … episode three was very obviously better and almost a return to form so, yes, there is hope for Universe after all …
    But i still stand by my initial and unchanged response to the premiere episodes, they were not very good and could have put a lot of people off …
    Jack!

  5. All the stargate previous shows started out clunky, it’s the nature of the set up of these kind of shows. Establishing it all. It’s the same writers, and they’ve been very good in the past of having great characters and lots of fun and adventure. I do think this show is muddled a bit the way SG1 originally was with a network pushing in a different way than the writers and the show needed.

  6. @ Jack. 64,000 on cable and the #5 show of the week is equal to about 1.5 million on broadcast TV. That is a hit show. And as david says, Sci Fi is a niche cabler – and never sees ratings anything like that. Not even close.

    It’s kinda like SBS hitting the million mark.

  7. I counted 10 UKTV programs in the list off 100.
    That’s 10%.
    Yet, looking at he list of channels that start next month when the “new” stuff starts UKTV + 2hours will not be available.
    Seems a bit daft.

  8. Two episodes in, I’m struggling to connect with this show. Will give it a go though coz Battlestar took a couple of episodes to get going and that turned out to be my favourite show of the last ten years.

  9. jack u dont know wat the hell u are talking aboyt that is a very good number for a show on foxtel they rarely get numbers like that and iwish some other show would rate this high cos there is some great show on foxtel that why i have had it for 5 years now and i plan to have it for another 5 will hope the cost dosent go up too much

  10. thanks david for reporting this, even so its not really my show it is good to see it and the SCI-FI channel doing well, would like to see more articles about pay tv ratings on this site in the future.
    @Jack, i think it is un-fair to compair Pay tv and FTA, 33% vs 100% of homes is really unfair and not all those 33% of homes which have pay tv have the sci-fi channel

  11. Even if 7 had it’s 2nd SD channel up and running now… it can’t show SGU.. because Sci-Fi Australia, own the australian tv rights for SGU and if you don’t have the sci-fi channel then you will have to wait for the DVD release in late Jan/Feb 2010 before you can watch it…..

    Thats when MGM / 20th century fox will be releasing Part 1 of SGU’s first season, because SGU will see it’s dvd releases in 2 parts each yr… just like Battlestar Galactica season 4…

  12. Get a grip! 64,000??? That is nothing, just because it is on Pay TV … what would it have rated on Real TV ???? It would have been a disaster there … Only slightly more that a re-run of an old movie … The Mummy … pathetic!
    Episodes 1 & 2 were not good, too dark and muddled and lacking in the “magic” that Sci-Fi needs to succeed! Will they come back next week for episode 3???
    They should because it was a much better episode that the two part premiere!
    Jack!

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