Sci-Fi fans turn on TEN
Since TEN dumped Supernatural and Stargate Universe, fans have been venting their anger. TV Tonight looks for answers amid a wave of fury.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
In the dying days of 2009, TEN made a programming amendment that saw two of its US shows, Supernatural and Stargate: Universe, dumped from Mondays and replaced with movie repeats.
Since that time, Sci-Fi and Horror fans have been relentless in their anger at the network.
Neither show was rating well enough to stay on air, even in the less competitive summer season. SGU only had three weeks on air, after a successful Fastracking on the SciFi Channel. The long-running Supernatural, which had nearly a three month delay from its US season premiere, was appeasing those fans who had patiently waited for its Free to Air return. Others had resorted to bit torrent downloads, a growing, if illegal, practice aimed at many shows that take their time in broadcasting in Australia. Those may have affected the show’s eventual on air numbers.
So far TEN has been silent about its future plans for Supernatural and SGU. Despite previous network campaigns that “You Blogged. We Listened,” it hasn’t appeared to have heard this flood of online complaints.
On TEN’s own website there are over 400 responding to the Supernatural axing. Some have mounted a campaign to send postcards to the network -a practice that has seen success for other shows in the US.
Fans have also been relentless in their anger in comments on TV Tonight. Ratings stories aside, the thread now has one of the highest comment counts in this site’s 3 year history (Nine’s dumping of Fringe was another). Here’s a sample of what they have been saying:
Ant: “I have had a gutful of Ten. They do this constantly, the channel must be run by idiots. I turned the TV on tonight to watch Supernatural and there was a movie on.”
Aims: “Maybe we’d get more Supernatural ratings if they bothered advertising the damn show in a slot other than the few shows before it airs, and Dr. Phil. Seriously. They’re not even targeting the SPN demographic with their advertising.”
Brooklyn: “I am sick of channel ten, its pathetic. Its the only good show on at the moment, and you take it off!
Channel 10, get your act together.”
Trix: “OMG, here we go again, channel friggin ten has done it again!!! oh yay crappy movies instead of Supernatural (my fav show)…”
Cherrie: “Can the ratings really be trusted at this time of year anyway given so many people have been at Christmas functions and are on hols etc.. I would be surprised if the crappy movies they are showing got better ratings!”
TJet: “Maybe if tv stations started showing some loyalty to their viewers they may get some loyalty in return. Lost track of the number of shows I’ve started to watch and enjoy, only to have them pulled from the air.”
Agent 86: “Boo! I’ve waited long enough for channel 10 to actually screen the new episodes. I guess I’ll have to view them via other means.”
Minnie: “Well, yet another reason not to watch Channel Ten, or any of the main commercial channels really.”
Alaina: “This is one of the stupidest things Ten has ever done, and that’s saying something. Supernatural Rocks! Of course their viewing numbers might be up if they fast-tracked it instead of waiting so long. Big mistake.”
Steph: “Nooooooooooo!!!! I couldn’t believe they swapped the Supernatural time, but this, pulling it off! I had so much faith in Ten to play this correctly, now to do this!”
Clayton Baxter: “Its very simple, keep a record of who advertises in these time slots, when the station does a stupid act like this write to the customer service and marketing office telling them you are going to boycott their products…”
Adding to TEN’s woes is an equally bitter fanbase for Stargate: Universe. They too have levelled sustained criticism at the network since the show was pulled off air.
Mike: “Thanks soo much for canning Stargate Universe Ch 10 Not!………fantastic effort …..get us hooked and finally watching your shows. Oh well back to channel 7 then for this fella…”
Jeremy: “You suck channel 10, you don’t even give SGU a chance to get off the ground. If you have not realised there is a following of stargate fans in Australia who would jump on board if you showed some respect for your viewers.”
Ant: “SGU was great ten u are wrong with taken it off. Put it back on. Everyone stop watching ten. That will show them. People power will win over these.”
Fans of both shows are angry that TEN has not deemed to reschedule the shows in a later timeslot, whilst playing reruns of House, Law and Order: CI and Numb3rs, which all air after David Letterman. But TEN could be stockpiling episodes to screen on it third channel, to launch later this year.
Given the volume of complaints against TEN, TV Tonight sought some answers from the network, in the hope of bringing some optimistic news.
Unfortunately, the response was brief in the extreme:
“The Monday night movie has resonated quite well with viewers, but for those Supernatural fans we may look at returning it later in the year.”
Which is also network-speak for “Frankly, we have no news right now.”
The only good news? Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is said to be warming to the idea of a sixth season.
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- Tagged with Dr. Phil, House, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Numb3rs, Stargate: Universe, Supernatural
97 Responses
Couldn’t agree with you more on that one Janey. But if it is rating so low why not at least switch it to a later time slot? We all now know about Ten’s third channel…I think they’re holding both shows back to put them on it. Wouldn’t surprise me. Seven Two has had great success with Ugly Betty and Stargate Atlantis (from a second channel perspective of course).
I subbed to Foxtel to see SGU. Couldn’t be bothered with commercial networks anymore who cling to an outdated business model. If they actually put the episodes online as pay-to-view, I’m betting a lot of people would do so.
@Nate
All shows on television are measured by the people with Oztam boxes…not just Supernatural. The fact is that a repeat of an old movie rated a lot higher than first run Supernatural. Supernatural is a niche show, but it has always done okay for Ten usually getting between 600,000-750,000, which are acceptable figures (for Ten…there is no way Seven or Nine would have kept this show going in primetime). So, there was an audience of people with Oztam boxes who used to watch the show, but have now chosen not to. As has been stated here by many fans of the show…they cannot wait a couple of months for the show to come to tv, so they watch it “by other means”. I’m sure this would be the case for some of the people with Oztam boxes as well, as they are a sample of the real population and downloading has had an affect on ratings for shows, especially sci-fi and niche audiences who are more passionate about seeing their favourite shows immediately.
It is sad that more people chose to watch a repeat movie rather than great shows like Supernatural and Stargate Universe, but the bottom line is, no commercial network will keep a show on the air if it doesn’t have enough people watching. So you can’t watch a show via your computer, and then expect a network to keep it on the air when most fans have not bothered to tune in because they’ve already seen it.
666,000 for Double Jeopardy last night. It seems the right decision was made.
Look, TEN is a crap station, is the least successful of all the commercial channels and can not sink any lower.
They don’t care, anyone who runs the same movies over and over and over again with very limited success deserves to go the way of the Do-Do. I am sure, sooner than later TEN will go and alot of people will be out of a job.
The australian viewer must be held responsible for this as well…destroyed in seconds, last change surgery, ladette to lady, 20 to 1 and any other low IQ, Bogan shows that rate really well. We have a country of Bogans with so little culture that it could barely fill a tub of yoghurt.
When sport and our ability to have the biggest fireworks display defines a nations identity and confidence then it says it all really. Look how weak we are to the Japanese against the whaling ships (do you think the Yanks would stand for that), we are powerless and weak unless it comes to sport, where we are real men and can beat outer Mongolia in Rugby League.
It doesn’t take long for sci fi fans to turn does it. If these great shows could draw more than 400k then maybe a commercial network would schedule it in primetime. You all (about half I suppose) watched it via your PC days after it aired in the US or you don’t like fitting into a FTA schedule (i.e weekly at a certain time). Maybe email all those people asking why they do this and not watch it again on FTA. I doubt FTA will air shows like this in the future unless it’s a massive hit because the first run crowd will dwindle over the next few years as fast broadband is introduced and prices fall. You will all have subscribe or view via PC soon enough. Makes you understand why Ten invested in ONE when you can’t DL live sport months before it airs in Australia
@ Janey.
Now I’m a Supernatural fan, but not a rabid one. I like it but not enough to “acquire by other means”.
So usually I wouldn’t weigh in, but your comment displays such a high and mighty attitude that I’m compelled to anyway.
All you have to do is watch?
What absolute crap.
It does not matter what the vast majority do! Every TV without an Oztam box could be tuned into a show, but that doesn’t matter unless a decent percentage of the people with Oztam boxes also watch it.
I’m surprised more people haven’t pointed out that of the 3 nights on which Stargate aired, on 2 of them the show was aired an hour before the time scheduled in the tv guides. How the hell is it supposed to get an audience when it’s treated like that? The people in charge at channel ten need to realise that if they keep screwing over their audience, their audience will leave them completely. They may already be seeing the start of this trend. Something else they don’t seem to realise is that when a show is not rating particularly well and they pull it from the air (often without notice) it’s not the same people over and over who they are cheesing off. Eventually everybody will have been treated poorly with several shows they enjoy and just give up. When SGU was first announced, I almost didn’t bother watching it because I knew with 95% certainty CH10 would axe it within a few weeks. Now I’m sorry I bothered. Wake up ch10!
Define Later in the year….
What? After next week. You’re asking me questions I can’t answer. I don’t run TEN.
omg i hate channel ten they are a bunch of lowlife impaitent idiodic d****!!! ive been waiting 4 season 5 of supernatural to be aired and i get soo excited nd as soon as six episodes are aired they axe it wat friken losers seriously u know what im gunna do im goin 2 make a pertition markin that all my friends and family and other people willingly wil not ever watch ten anymore so who wants to join??
I don’t think the issue is with Channel Ten but with the fans of Supernatural that have stopped watching. 398,000! That is how many viewers tuned in to watch the last time it aired on Ten. 398,000!!! I love Supernatural…it is one of my favourite shows, but if you wanted Ten to keep it on the air, then all you fans had to do was make sure it was being watched. You should have had a Twitter campaign for viewers to watch the show because there is no way any network will keep a show on that is doing less than 400,000. Ten wouldn’t have scheduled Supernatural if they didn’t have faith that it would at least last through Summer, so I’m sure they are just as annoyed as everyone here that nobody bothered to watch and they had to make a change. The fans that say they had already seen all the Supernatural episode “by other means” have to take some responsibility for the show being taken off…as they weren’t watching when it aired on Ten. You can’t have it both ways.
Summer is supposed to be set and forget, and by scheduling more first run shows than ever before, Ten probably thought they would be okay. But it seems that most viewers prefer repeat movies/series because they are all that is rating. The quality first run shows like Supernatural, Stargate Universe, Numb3rs etc had to be taken off due to lack of interest.
With all the talk of Channel 10 being a business, etc, wouldn’t it be costing them _more_ money to show movie reruns than tp show the SGU and Supernatural episodes?
I’m assuming Ch 10 would have had to pay money upfront to get the rights to show SGU and Supernatural, and would also have to pay an _additional_ amount to re-run a movie they’ve previously shown.
Or have I got this completely wrong? Do Ch 10 not have to pay if they don’t show the episodes and/or not have to pay to rerun older movies?
ch10sux
i dont watch any shows from Ch10 anymore. Supernatural is their only show worth-watching but then they removed it. what a bunch of idiots.
“The Monday night movie has resonated quite well with viewers, (haha.yeah right…)but for those Supernatural fans we may look at returning it later in the year.” why later in the year??!! why not now!!??!!!!
i hope they realise that they disappointed a Lot of Supernatural (SGU) fans.
Thankyou TV Tonight for approaching TEN trying to get some answers…. the more enquiries and interest the better in our campaign to allow us to view the rest of Season 5 Supernatural.
Disappointed Stargate: Universe fan
Let us all boycott Channel TEN Sydney they only show repeats of the same crap like 9am, hueys cooking adventures , sex in the city, Dr Phil, or The Oprah Winfrey every week.
Why dont they dump these shows.
Bring back sci-fi
Thank you for listening TV Tonight.
Thank you for writing David Knox.
Thank you for nothing Channel Ten.
Sometimes shows that dont rate, create prestige that generates respect and loyalty. Ratings alone for a program isnt its entire benefit. A show can rate well but make the station poison like Sunrise and TT do for certain viewers. The fact is people arnt happy with short term strategies, cutting and moving shows, that make people turn to the DVD box set. You might win the (ratings) war but you wont win the battle.
@Rob
$700 will actually break my budget with upcoming uni/school fees (single parent to two other SPN viewers). And, there are some areas which are excluded, at present, from digital broadcast reception.
However, the other idea that SPN fans should buy a DVD (which isn’t available yet and won’t be until Sept) from the US — I assume that’s the method you’re suggesting — isn’t a bad one. Even with atrocious shipping costs, the US DVDs are cheaper. OTOH, the only legal alternative to that at the present is iTunes. Not cheap and not available in Australia.
At least I still have 3 years to save up my $700. By then the young’uns can support this oldie in a manner to which I can easily become accustomed.
Not surprised, but am outraged. A proud sci-fi geek, but not a nerd as other’s have been saying – I don’t download, I don’t go searching, I’m no computer-tech person. I wait for FTA because I had some faith. Usually Supernatural treatment has been good (usually only just on Monday’s so at least I knew what night it was on!) But now, who knows what will happen!
Did you know Supernatural fans on Twitter are trying to make “Ch10sux” a trending topic? Don’t mean to be rude, but there is a reason why we think Ch10 sux. As far as we concern, Ch10 has declared war with Supernatural fans!
I think it’s disgusting the way that supernatural fans have been treated. We have had no statement from channel ten to let us know what is happening.
All we want to do is watch our favorite show. Surely they (channel ten) must be able to see that this show has a dedicated fan base. i don’t know how ratings are worked out, but i don’t think they realize just how many people really do watch the show.
Channel ten have lost this viewer and i know i’m not the only one
Those saying Ten’s ratings suck because sci-fi is pulled off should remember Ten rates poorly overall but have a great share in 16-39 which is their strong suit. Sci fi doesn’t add or substract but management need some money to stock up sport for ONE HD e.g. bid of football etc. With their new owner being Macquarie Bank (offshoot) don’t expect any major investment rather somecost cutting and retooling of the third channel which was in development since late 2008 waiting for introduction where you’ll then find Ten2 starting around September this year and soon after for SC10.
“The Monday night movie has resonated quite well with viewers, however we really don’t care because even though most Supernatural fans would fall within our target demographic in terms of age and income, you’re still classed as ‘Sci-fi fans’ which means you’re probably a little weird and wear too much black and sit around talking about stuff that the ‘average’ TV viewer would have no idea about. And since we’re marketing ourselves as the ‘Youthful’ alternative to Nine and Seven, you’re probably not going to go out and get smashed at schoolies and then get arrested while taking a pee into your hotel’s swimming pool, which is the sort of ‘Fun’ and ‘Vibrant’ viewer we really want to capture.”
Supernatural gets brilliant views everywhere in the world even here!!!! One bad night and they kill it??? That is so wrong!!!!! If you have issues send letters!!!! The address is in the channel ten Supernatural forums. We want it back!