If Stargate Universe is going to reach new viewers and improve its audience share by moving to Tuesday nights, the show has a tall hill to climb.
“Intervention,” the Season Two premiere, drew approximately 1.175 million viewers to Syfy Channel at 9 p.m. last night, according to TV By the Numbers. That’s a 20 percent drop from the season finale, which aired in early June.
The Stargate franchise has historically added big numbers when DVR-delayed viewing is factored in — as much as 40 to 50 percent, some weeks (not to mention the heavy online viewing of the genre audience). Syfy is gambling that moving the show from the less-watched Friday night time slot to a night when more people around the country are watching television will help, both with the DVR time-shifting and by exposing the series to more people.
The network has had big success on Tuesday nights in the summer time. That’s when its two highest-rated original dramas — Warehouse 13 and Eureka — air. Warehouse‘s second season finale aired in the same time slot just one week ago, drawing 2.4 million viewers.
But the fall months are, of course, significantly more competitive. SGU is up against popular shows and brand new series on all major broadcast networks (which don’t program their Friday nights as aggressively), including:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
The Biggest Loser (hour 2) (NBC)
Raising Hope / Running Wilde (FOX)
Life Unexpected (The CW)
Also in Stargate‘s disfavor is the absence of any lead-in or lead-out series to help draw viewers to the cable network. The previous week’s new episode will repeat at 8 p.m. starting next week; Caprica will join SGU at 10 p.m. next week.
“Intervention” is the lowest-rated episode of the series to date (unseating “Incursion, Part 1”). With the show’s current fan base following Universe to Tuesday nights, hopefully it can only build from here as awareness spreads.
New episodes of Stargate Universe continue next Tuesday with “Aftermath” at 9 p.m. (8 Central) on Syfy!
If I still had cable my 46 would be tuned into the show but I watch it on hulu and various other sites.It sucks that i’m part of the problem, SGU is a good show that deserves more from its fanbase.
Disappointed to hear this. A lot of the SGU fans I know on Twitter spent most of the last couple of days putting the word out about the show’s premiere and it still didn’t seem to reach a lot of people. Someone posted on a MB I visit that they hadn’t realized the new season had started until they saw Intervention on Hulu. I don’t get Syfy here in Canada but it seems like they really could have done more to promote the new night and premiere date. How does this compare with the ratings from SGA’s last year? Should… Read more »
it is a rough night for tuesdays, NCIS, NCIS LA, Good Wife, etc. all lined up within 2-3 hours of each to compete with SGU……NOW I hear that BSG: Caprica is also moving to Tuesday nights.
Nasty move for SYFY…..both series are in serious trouble on Tuesday nights.
In Germany Stargate Universe is a show everybody is looking foreward to. I’m a huge fan of the franchise and hopefully there will be much more seasons of SGU. Unfortunately SGA has been canceled, but the writers and directors are getting better every episode they make, so i see no reason for cancelling the best sci fi show airing these days (SGU)
greetings from Germany, and the German Fanbase.
KingInExile
Corpse-Tree Digital Designs
uh oh. I hope they wrap up the story line for the fans, if this does turn out to be the final season. On the other hand, I did see a number of tweets from people who hadn’t realized the show had moved to Tuesdays But not sure how many fall into that category, it would have to be quite a few to get a good bump in the ratings. In my heart of hearts, though, my first reaction is that they should have stuck with SGA. Or ran them at the same time. Would have been an entirely different… Read more »
I couldnt watch it live :( It sucks, as well, that my favorite show isn’t doing well because of me! And millions of others like me …
That does suck, especially considering the major decisions on a third season are going to have to be made before this 2nd season and play out. ie if it’s halway through the season and people are still slowly coming back (adjusting to the time changes or plot improvements) then it might be too little too late.
As for me I make sure the tv is on. I’m willing to give it a few episodes to win me back after the dramafest that was most of season 1.
The ratings are disappointing and they have to improve (or at the very least not decrease any further) for the possibility of a 3rd season.
I do think that I should add though that the competition on a Tuesday night is not the only factor involved. Warehouse 13’s season finale went up against very similar competition and its ratings even increased.
@ Craig MacD.
SGA got on average 1.6 million viewers in its 5th season.
@ Darren
The finale of Warehouse 13 aired at the same time as:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
The Biggest Loser (hour 2) (NBC)
Raising Hope / Running Wilde (FOX)
Life Unexpected (The CW)
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/09/22/tv-ratings-tuesday-glee-sings-modest-starts-for-running-wilde-raising-hope-detroit-1-8-7-parenthood-down/64590
With other words the finale of Warehouse 13 had the same strong competition like SGU.
This show is done. So, I am wondering if they will write a proper ending for it or will they just cancel it abruptly?
I watched it live, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I felt the first season was uneven and not always attention-grabbing, but I was pleased with this episode. Somehow, for the first time it felt like it was really based in the SG mythology for me (without spoilers for those who haven’t watched it yet). I’d really prefer it – and Caprica – to be on Wednesday nights because there’s absolutely NOTHING worth watching, but they have to have their stupid ‘reality’ shows… I will continue to watch it live as often as I can. I… Read more »
I think a lot of it is that people still just didn’t know. My dad, an avid fan since the series moved to Syfy (and even back on showtime i think) didn’t realize it had moved, only caught it because his dvr knows to record it. So hopefully after this week we will get a lot more viewers. I think the move just tricked people.
I hope this doesn’t continue but if it does my fears will come true. As I first heard about this move to Tuesdays I feared that it would spell doom for a great show never given the proper chance to shine. SGU is a great show IMO and deserves way more than 2 seasons. However I am sure the producers will give us a fitting finale if this is the end.
I still have good hope for success on Tuesday and one of the reasons I do is that the series itself seems only to be getting better and better. Last night’s 2nd season premiere was a great and exciting episode – maybe even the best of the series so far. If they keep that standard up, and I’ll bet they do, the series has to get more viewers. That was a really well done exciting way to begin the 2nd Season, at least, I thought it was.
When exactly has moving a show ever resulted in HIGHER ratings?
I am curious.
Ha! Well yes you see if you didn’t dump Atlantis for this show so prematurely and throw dirt in the face of most of the hardcore SG1 and Atlantis fans then things might have been quite different. Didn’t Brad Wright say, ‘if you don’t like it, don’t watch it because I’m not gonna change it!’ Well it appears we many loyal fans have listened.
I’ve been a Stargate fan right from the original movie. Thanks to SG, I really love archaeology and history now!! This spin-off has it’s place in the franchise, which is great, but unfortunately, after watching Intervention, I feel the multi-episode story the writers were aiming to climax to, burst just as the doctor was shot!! I was left at the end of season 1 feeling, WOW, this story is growing and the best is yet to come! So, 3 months go by and then we see Intervention …. the fast-paced action continuity was COMPLETELY GONE!!!! Drained like a depleted ZPM.… Read more »
Just to clarify on my comment “even if those left on the planet was a real occurance”, I meant the people who stayed behind in the episode “Faith”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really enjoying SG-U!! I can relate to SG-U because I’m a real software engineer, sorta between Eli and Rush; I have a sister who looks and acts just like Samantha Carter (she’s a Senior Master Sgt in the Air Force), my dad died from Cancer last December (kept telling him my sister was hard at work to find him a Tok’ra symbiote, LOL, she played along!) I’ve… Read more »
Worse yet here on the West Coast the show is running on Tuesdays against Glee which is a huge ratings draw. Hopefully the DVR viewship is way up. Also check your DVR schedule my recorder did not catch the shift in days.
I too hope more seasons will be forthcoming and the word gets out moving forward. SGU only gets better with each episode, keeping me on edge for the next week.
It must just be the day. Not the many people know it moved. I’m sure next week it’ll just be hunkydory. :P
They should have kept Atlantis going…this lame duck is sinking. Its painful to watch, so depressing…and I’m a HUGE stargate fan, own all the disks, all the books etc.
Well,how is the casual viewer going to know it moved, I wonder? They might just tune in on Friday, see Wrestling and think it got cancelled.
Need more media outside the Syfy channel to advertise. But I do think the move really hurt the show. They should put a notice every Friday at the start of the wrestling program that if people were tuning in to see Stargate, that it moved.
It moved to Tuesdays?
I’m fighting to urge to say this is good news. I don’t want anyone to lose their jobs, I just want Stargate back.
this is sad news. but i wont fault anyone for canceling it, its just business now. the move to Tuesdays was supposed to help its low ratings, its not like Friday airing was any better.
I loved every moment of this episode, but apart from buying the DVDs when they come out (which I’ve already done twice over for the first season), not sure what else I can do to be counted in the statistics, being outside the US. An article on “how to support SGU” would be welcome, by the way (might’ve been one already but a bit of repetition won’t hurt!).
Looks like newcomers to the show enjoy it as well.
Also, surely the entire Stargate franchise suffers if people decide to avoid SGU?
This gives ‘lackluster’ a whole new meaning. Aren’t these the lowest ratings ever for a season opener in the franchise? It would be nice to blame the long hiatus but since all the cable shows seem to be following this pattern now, that would not be very likely. It would be nice to blame the competition as well, only WH-13 managed to hold its own very nicely. You can’t even point to the plethora of other sci-fi shows out there, siphoning away the audience, because as near as I can tell, there aren’t that many. Now that the *guaranteed* two… Read more »
*#SGU*Chloehasfishcooties*#SGU*The show is building itself up, Trust me, it’s more new comers than old regulars, but it’s coming back. On the Twitter as I played the fool, and updated searches, I’ve read dozens of Tweets from people fascinated by the show. Not to mention a good many people watched the show outside the United States; I’m in the Bahamas, Nassau. So I’ll spam my little heart out to keep things going if I can on tweeter and other forums around the world*#SGU*Chloehasfishcooties*#SGU*
Another thing, they didn’t promote the show, a good much people told me they didnt’ know what was up, until after the show aired. Youtube is always free, why didn’t syfy promote it there? They could have used clips and behind the scenes and what not.
I could’ve told them that. I had to fight for the remote to keep it on SGU instead of Dancing with the Stars. I’ll probably have to do that until either show ends, so my viewing won’t contribute to the ratings…
so as much as i hate to say it, i may have to start watching the show live. I hate commercials and always DVR everything. But if SGU is canceled because of low ratings, i am going to be so pissed. GO SGU!
Keep this in mind everyone, they don’t make DVD and BD sales from most reality shows, and with Sci-fi those extra money earners should be factored in, as well as syndication and worldwide viewing.
Also most reality shows do not air outside of the region they originate from, so have a more limited market.
It would be VERY interesting to see what sort of numbers a radically re-vamped Atlantis would have been pulling in today. Obviously this replacement show was WAY too much of a departure from what the franchise fans wanted.
Networks should rely less on ratings to evaluate the quality of their shows. Some shows are awesome, but get canceled because no one watches them. They should come up with a different measuring stick than ratings.
Ok, so i watched the new episode and was completely lost, doctor in some dream ?? also there where bunch of people dieing in a couple scenes ??? destiny has no more power because its been drained ??? I HAVE NFI WHATS GOING ON
isn’t a season opener supposed to fill you in and be good!!!! im trying to get into SGU but not happening.
@ Imperious
But reality shows are much cheaper to produce. And Syfy only cares about the ratings on its own channel. Everything else may made MGM happy, but that won’t be enough to rescue SGU. The fate of SGU depends solely on the ratings of the US Syfy channel. Everything else is unimportant.
I believe that standard TV idustry practice is to NOT increase promotion of a show that has lack luster ratings. If I am correct on that, if SGU isn’t able to organically increase its viewership the network will not attempt to do so through greater spending dollars on advertisement, after its first season.
If you’re an SGU fan now is the time to spread the word. Let your friends know about SGU and when to watch it. The show is getting better and better. It would be a shame to see it go. It’s the only space-based show around. Rally the troops!
serious, what i am going to watch if SGU gets canceled? there is a serious lack of good sci-fi shows out there. SGU is one good one. V is just OK. Lost is over. I don’t get the whole sanctuary thing. I LOVE amanda tapping and gave the show a shot because of her. but honestly, i really just could not stay interested. Maybe its just the whole vampire craze that bothers me. I feel the same way about WH13. I mean, great idea fro the show, but just really not that great. We have caprica, which i do like… Read more »
On other news, the DOW index went down 20 points yesterday. People panicked over the world as they assumed that this one day decline marked the start of a continual decline. Might as well give up on humanity and life. Or…. wait to see how it performs over a long period of time instead of taking one snapshot of time out of context and blowing it out of proportion!!!
I thik it’s important to remember that unless you are apart of the Nielson family, and have a device from them that monitors what you watch, you are not contributing to the ratings. Doesn’t matter if you watch it live or DVR it. On Nielsons web site they even say only 40% of house holds world wide are monitored. I have watch Stargate from day one on Showtime. I love the series. but I don’t like SGU. To me, it completely lost what Stargate is. I still watch becasue I am a Stargate fan. But I don’t think I would… Read more »
<>Smells like Firefly all over again…shame.
The ratings are really rather depressing. I can’t see the show lasting longer than this season if things don’t change. But at the end of the day, it’s just a TV show, if it gets the ax I’ll be sad for a while and then find something new to watch. No use obsessing over it.
please Syfy, move SGU back to Fridays at it’s regular time. Fridays is meant for Stargate. All the Stargate series aired on Fridays. Friday is Stargate night.
Good bye SGU, was nice seeing you… Shame…
I hope the UK ratings will be better than these…
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the so-called “SyFy Channel” moved SGU out of the way to make room for wrestling. I’m sure there’s plenty of posts from the wags here and elsewhere that said this wouldn’t work.
Sorry IMO the Ratings show exactly how booring SGU is.
I watched Intervention and it was as slow as ever
Still not really any Scfi content and still to much talking. And foremost why waste 20 Mins on TJ with that dream?
This really saddens me. The premiere in my opinion was the best SGU episode to date. The previews only seem to indicate an extremely strong 2nd season. I think the show has finally got its footing, but it’s too bad too many pouting or impatient fans can’t stick it out for a bit. When I go back and watch the first season of SG-1 and look at how BAD, and I mean BAD some of the acting and stories were early on in that show compared to the SIGNIFICANTLY higher quality production for SGU…. I just can’t believe fans don’t… Read more »
I find it a shame that U.S. audiences only decide whether to cancel a show like Stargate.
There are many more fans outside and I think if the American public no longer love the Stargate franchise and is jaded, I move a distribution and international funding.
This show is quality, renew the franchise, has some excellent actors and that’s the Stargate!
I will never understand the Americans, they have a great show of science fiction and would rather watch American Idol and other nonsense … Pitiful … But especially sad for the international fans.
Business is business …
can people please stop saying they will now watch it live instead of DVR. do you really think they know what everyone is watching? you guys dont know how ratings are collected dont you? You get paid like 20 dollars in order for them to monitor your viewing. If you aint getting paid then it wont matter what channel you have one.