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Atlantis Season Four ratings wrap-up
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Tuesday - April 8, 2008 | by Darren Sumner |
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The fourth season of Stargate Atlantis has come and gone, struggling in the Nielsen ratings in the face of an increased use of digital video recording technology -- but triumphing among fans. The season saw the arrival of Samantha Carter, the departure of Elizabeth Weir, and the shocking return of a beloved doctor.
Season Four averaged just over a 1.1 average household rating (Live + Same Day - rounded from 1.145), with the second half of the season (January to March) performing notably stronger than the first (September to December). The first ten episodes averaged a 1.05 rating in the Nielsens, while the final ten averaged a rating of 1.24.
The season finale, "The Last Man," earned the highest rating of the year with a 1.5. "Doppelganger" (#404) and "Tabula Rasa" (#406) marked the low-point of the year, each with ratings of 0.9.
The show premiered with lower numbers than expected, but it quickly became clear that Atlantis -- and the rest of the television landscape -- was suffering from the impact of DVR-delayed viewing. Digital video recorders such as TiVo are now in many more homes than during the 2006-2007 season. SCI FI Channel is among the most DVR'ed networks on television, and Stargate Atlantis is one of the most DVR'ed television shows.
New "Live + 7 Days" ratings from Nielsen does count time-delayed viewing, but these numbers are not available for about three weeks after broadcast and are not factored into the ratings reported to the public.
Despite the lower numbers, SCI FI quickly renewed the show for a fifth season. In the months following, Season Four of Atlantis still managed to keep up with Season Three's viewer numbers.
"Be All My Sins Remember'd" goes down in history as a fan favorite. | |
Fans, however, loved the show's fourth season, giving it an average rating of 8.73 (out of 10) in GateWorld's weekly episode polls! "Be All My Sins Remember'd" earned a fan rating of 9.52, one of only seven episodes ever to top 9.5 in eleven years of Stargate history.
The episode, which concluded the mid-season finale and kicked off the second half of Season Four, is also the highest-rated Atlantis episode ever in our fan polls.
Fans were not so keen, however, on "Harmony," giving it an average rating of 7.79. Normally an average rating, this marked the low point in an unusually strong season (as the only episode under an 8.0).
GateWorld itself awarded the top rating of four stars to two episodes this year, "Be All My Sins Remember'd" and the Teal'c cross-over episode "Midway." "Quarantine" took the low spot, with a rating of one-and-a-half stars. (Note that on our 4-star scale, two stars is considered the "Average" point.)
The season as a whole averaged a two-and-a-half star rating by GateWorld.
Visit GateWorld's Season Four Ratings page for a complete, at-a-glance archive of how this season performed among viewers, fans, and GateWorld's personal opinion. The new season of Stargate Atlantis is expected to kick off this July on SCI FI in the U.S.!
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