Some reduced competition from the major networks didn’t help Stargate Universe at all when Syfy aired the mid-season finale on Tuesday. “Resurgence” drew an estimated 1.094 million viewers, down 6 percent from the previous week.
The episode held on to last week’s slightly improved 0.5 rating in the all-important demographic of adults 18 to 49.
The show faced a very different line-up of competition on the major networks, following last week’s conclusion of Dancing With the Stars. ABC moved its new sci-fi/fantasy series No Ordinary Family into the Tuesday 9 p.m. time slot, where it drew 6.228 million viewers (below average for the series).
Instead of NCIS: Los Angeles CBS aired a repeat of the original NCIS, picking up a very healthy 15.049 million viewers.
NBC’s The Biggest Loser weighed in with a 8.309 million average for its two hours, while 6.653 million tuned into FOX for Raising Hope, followed by 3.363 million for Running Wilde at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively.
In other Syfy ratings news, last Friday’s new episode of Sanctuary (“Breach”) drew 1.483 million viewers, an 18 percent improvement over the previous week.
SGU has averaged 1.0782 million viewers in the first half of Season Two, which premiered on September 28. The show started with 1.175 million (“Intervention”), and peaked two weeks later with 1.222 million (“Awakening”). The season low was episode six, “Trial and Error,” with an estimated 967,000 viewers (Live + Same Day).
Ratings that factor in a week’s worth of DVR viewing typically saw an uptick of 40 percent or more.
The ten episodes maintained a perfect record when it came to never moving the same direction two weeks in a row. A drop in ratings was always followed by an increase, and vice versa. This illustrates the fact that, while the show did better in live viewership on Friday nights, its Tuesday viewership was rather steady, overall.
Check out our full chart of Season Two’s ratings here.
Syfy is expected to announce whether or not it will renew Stargate Universe for a third season later this month or in January, after the holidays. SGU returns with another 10 new episodes next spring! Stick with GateWorld every week through the hiatus for our coverage of the entire Stargate franchise.
In my mind that makes sense. Even though I didn’t really like “Visitation”, and I saw a lot of positive comments on here about that episode, I think that “Malice” was really the reason that the ratings were up last week and now you are seeing the results of “Visitation”. It’s too bad though because “Resurgence” was a very good episode in comparison to most of the episodes this season.
Come on, MAN? Are you kidding me? Your mid-season finale and this is all you could muster? I estimated 1.4 at least! SGU is going to emerge from the break with some pretty crappy numbers. It’s time to can this blackhole of show. If management is serious about emerging from Chapter 11 with a purpose they’ll announce it’s cancellation during the break.
Season 2 is really good but too bad season 1 sucked looks like the damage is done.
Great episode of great series. Ratings schould be higher.
“Syfy is expected to announce whether or not it will renew Stargate Universe for a third season later this month or in January” If they don’t, then hopefully MGM will cast around for another network to take it over. Considering this is MGM’s licence, then You would think they should have something to say about Syfy putting it on a stupid timeslot. All the people complaining about too many filler episodes should go back and watch ST TNG, DSN, VOYAGER, as those are absolutely littered with them. It’s a great show, deserves better, and I hope it doesn’t join a… Read more »
Thats great. I got mad when this episode was over. I hate breaks.
“aaaaaaaand it’s gone”
Damn.. I blame episode 9, ‘life’ for this.
They should probably have aired visitation sooner to have trial & error, greater good, malice and resurgence ( all great episodes ) in a row.
I have faith though, at the very least the drop was minimal.
Maybe its time to start SaveStargateUniverse.com. How I’m still holding out hope that SyFy and MGM will do the right thing and give it at least another season to wrap it up. Let’s face it SyFy isn’t going to find much that will do better, ratings aren’t what they used to be across the board for SyFy from what I’ve seen on this site.
I agree, the damage from season 1 is done. The writers explored their creative freedom at the expense of the franchise, and now that they finally realized what they did, no one cares.
If SGU gets renewed for a 3rd seasons with those number and with Atlantis getting canceled with much better ratings i will be very very angry!
That’s completely not fair!
Well I hope they’re making a profit somehow cuz thats all that really matters in the long run. I thought it was a good (half) season and am hoping for more. ;)
My gut reaction would also to be call “not fair” if SGU got a renewal at these ratings. But stranger things have happened.
I agree that to renew this and not SGA would be a bit of a crime, especially since they never concluded what happened with Atlantis and the Wraith. That said, there’s no way they are going to go back and do SGA again because let’s face it, that would just be admitting they screwed up royally and they wont do that. So that said, if SGU does manage to get renewed, I wonder what sort of budget it will have? I can’t see them having the same huge budget per episode. Which makes me wonder what sort of impact that… Read more »
“SGU returns with another 10 new episodes next spring!” — Goodbye SGU. With ratins like these, expect a 25-50% drop in viewers by the time the 2nd half of the season airs.
Ratings aside, this episode was one of the best in the entire franchise, it was tense, without being over dramatic, had all the right elements of humour without being corny (Atlantis) and had excellent bits of character moments, again this is down to Rush, who is actually my favourite character now. Tj also shone in this episode, her willingness to trust the ‘enemy’ shows the type of person she is, she’s the ‘Samantha Carter’ of this show, it’s ‘heart’ you may even say, something I predicted even before it started. All the characters are starting to grow, except Matt, for… Read more »
Shame. This episode was pretty good too. I think it’d be good if they were given 4 seasons, it’d give them time to finish the story, and speed things up a bit, and then it wouldn’t be going so fast like they’d need to if they were finishing in one season. Hopefully they’ll be able to wrap up the storyline. What did SGA get on average? Was SGA actually cancelled though? I thought it was renewed, but then the producers cancelled it cause they wanted to do movies rather than the tv series, cause then they’d have two series’ to… Read more »
I think it will get renewed. The ratings may seem subpar but when Sanctuary is rating a 1.4 (0.4 in the golden age range) on a friday. Syfy should be lucky with what they can get. It will be interesting to see how Eureka and Warehouse 13’s christmas episodes do on the same time slot in the fall since they are mainly summer shows. I think it’s time we recognize that SGA was not cancelled for its ratings(no matter what anyone says, It got cancelled because the TPTB got tired of the same old same old and wanted to go… Read more »
im not surprised about these ratings. this show is up againts a good amount of shows that bring in a lot of viewership. but, even though its on tuesday night fans should tune in if they like the show if not they wont. its sad that prime tv on a public network is bringing in more ratings than a cable show but this is not the case with all of the show on cable for example the tudors, true blood, weeds, californication, and walking dead all bring in excellent ratings. if this show is indeed renewed for another season i… Read more »
@ Gateprof totally agree with you and even the actors state it was not cancelled due to the so called poor ratings. it was cancelled for the reasons you stated or something even more but we will never know.
This episode really is one of those *highlights* of SGU but when series one should of been better I fear it is too late. I have just watching SG1 from series one and it really does use basic story line to show a very good episode. SG1 had no budget compared to what SGU has and they did far better episodes. Do not get me wrong, SGU quality is impressive but not when the story feels like they are just yacking away all day and taking 20 minutes to do anything. This show really would be impressive if and I… Read more »
It truly amazes me at how so many “fans” don’t like SGU. Yes, it may not be SG-1 or even SG-A, but it’s still Stargate and in many respects is the best of all of them. I watch shows for the stories and the connections they build with one another. This is what made SG-1 great..the connections.There will never be another SG-1 or even SG-A. The fans claim they want Stargate, but they don’t support it. I guess fans will think that they will create another one which is similar to SG-1, but if the network keeps seeing Stargate not… Read more »
@Janus I’m just a Sci Fi fan and this show jut doesn’t cut it. It’s more than just being boring, there have been contrived plot resolutions in all of the first season. Michael Shanks said as much and I agree. I became an instant fan of Gate 5 years ago on Atlantis and then SG-1. SGU just has nothing that I want to see morally or scientifically. Yet I’ve followed the shows ratings for signs of revival and it’s done worse than I even projected. It seems SGU has gotten all the fans it’s going to get. From a corporate… Read more »
Do you naysayers honestly think that if SGU is pulled that everything will go back to wine and roses…that TPTB will simply launch another Stargate franchise based on what you want? History with Stargate is repeating itself as it did with Star Trek. A certain show called Star Trek: Enterprise was pulled due to low ratings and Paramount decreed that the entire Star Trek franchise was suffering from fan fatigue. You may get your movie or even a Stargate sequel at the box office but don’t hold your breath for a new series. MGM may be emerging from bankruptcy after… Read more »
I have been a fan of SG for a long time. Been rewatching SG1 since May. I love the action, humor, and character interaction. That is what made SG so successful. I’ve been trying to hang onto SGU because I’ve been a fan for so long. But my interest in the show has been declining. The action is far and few, there isn’t much humor, and the characters don’t seem to get along. The pace needs to be picked up. Oh, and I’m tired of having the feeling of being couped up on a ship. There needs to be more… Read more »
No need to start with the “fans” business. We like what we like and we don’t like what we don’t, and just because someone was a fan of SG1/SGA doesn’t mean they’re obligated to like SGU, or vice versa.
Sucks that the ratings aren’t great. I have hope that it will get a season three but I can’t imagine it going much farther than that.
SGU season 1 was better than any season of SG-1 and SGA but it clearly isn’t for everyone. Syfy may want to consider that by keeping SGU the channel is appealing to a wider audience. I don’t watch any of that “paranormal” nonsense and although I enjoy Eureka as a fun spoof I don’t watch it live. SGU is bringing in an older (30 to 50) fan base that wouldn’t watch the channel otherwise. I don’t understand why SGA neede more than 5 years when it seemed the pretty much wrapped up the story.
to janus.
i dont live in usa as i am european
i dont have the channels they show these shows
and i am sci fi fan
i like stories like sgu have to but if it’s 90% of drama then sorry it’s to boring to see how people whine about God (just another book in the shell for me) and these stone episodes where they abuse other people bodies with sexual needs… these stones should be for information only and no personal abuse
the show have good storie but all is so slow and feels like a big brother show
i like stories like sgu have, but it’s*
these shows should be international to get more raiting and fan base
but instead they are for us only and set to a timslot when people just dont watch them .. why on earth they set it to ageinst csi what have 16 milj. viewers for episode
They took wrong directions with SGA, Ford, Weir, Becket, those were serious misses. But the plot itself should have been built behind a coalition to stop the wraith rather than just bringing Atlantis home. It should have been ever building, getting more people to fill the city, more ships…more alpha sites, bring the jaffa in for sure allies but they did the Voyager thing, by trying to keep the Expedition perpetually isolated in some way. That’s not what SG-1 did and it’s not stargate to be a reset button show for an entire work of 5 seasons. Yeah they tried… Read more »
@Saquist: If you had kept watching you would have seen that the things that you had a problem with were changed, or removed. There’s no more sex, kinosodes, molologues, music, yelling matches, and all of the characters have begun to bond, and each episode has a bit of dry humor. The writers took what every one had a problem with in season 1 and either changed it or erased it completly, if only you stuck around to see that they’ve…well… Imagined Greater.
I not going to be guilt tripped into watching a show though. Great if it has, but ratings have gotten worse. To me, if no one else has returned then why should I, because those that left all had the same problem with the show. Ultimately the question now is…am I missing anything? The ratings say, No. I’m not fanatical fan that I obsess about franchise. I still have basket ball and Football to watch, over 30 teams in each that can occupy my time, great stories, heroes and villains and great games, every year. I love it. I’m one… Read more »
A big thanks to GateWorld for putting a spoiler in the picture for this article. Nice of them to consider the people outside of North America who havent seen the episode yet.
At least SGU is’nt SYFY’s lowest rated show. Fact or Faked: 739,000 viewers.
I hate to say it, but everyone was expecting this episode to have higher ratings because it was the midseason finale and had no network competition. The fact that it didn’t tells me that the problem doesn’t lie in the timeslot. SGU isn’t a bad show. The production design, editing, CGI, and music have consistently been better than anything SG1 and SGA did. The problem I see is that viewers aren’t buying BSG-style sci-fi/drama. For all its critical acclaim, BSG never did much better than SG1 or SGA in the ratings. Money is what counts, and the lackluster results from… Read more »
It is partly to do with the timeslot, but not completly. If SGU stayed at it’s 9p.m. Friday timeslot, I think it would be keeping pace with Sanctuary’s 1.4 mil. Another problem, SGU has no proper lead in or lead out, it’s surrounded by repeats, two 15 year old episodes of “Star Trek” on one side, and the even worse rated “Fact or Faked” on the other. And of course SGU has less in common with the previous two series, and that has driven away some of the fans of SG-1 and SGA. When people say only ratings can keep… Read more »
the raiting are left overs of the sg1 and sga fans i think that there is only like maximum 5% new audiance who have never seen sg1 or sga they sed that it’s all new show and more chevrons on the gate what starts from zero point … and still they started where sg1 and sga ended so most of the storie is missing for the people who have not seen the previous series… thy should have made the pilot like they find the gate on earth and faund the way to dial it and then end up in that… Read more »
@dh47 That was very perceptive.
What happens when the acquisition of NBC is completed early next year? The rules may change.
Let’s see the rest of season 2 before we totally condemn it people.
I wonder how many people here with negative comments are actually watching the show?, or just here for a whine. SGU is a good story, but I agree it needs a bit more humour and happier moments. It is definitely nothing like the depressing, miserable existence that BSG was, and that of course never deserved to be called BSG anyway. I think the future of Science Fiction TV series will unfortunately be of single season runs, start to end, and story all wrapped up. If they reckon they can finish SGU’s story in one season, then so be it, but… Read more »
@Imperious: “All You wanting a return to the old style of Sci-fi storytelling can forget it, as it will never happen. SG1, SGA, The 4 Star Trek series, Andromeda, Season 1 of Earth Final conflict, Babylon 5, etc, they don’t make shows that way anymore and never will again.” Why not? Sherwood and Orion that SyFy is considering for pick up sound exactly like that. And the Star Trek Reboot proved that that’s exactly what people want to see, a campy adventure with a lot of fun and action. Dark serialized sci-fi is even more niche than sci-fi as a… Read more »
i believe that SGU is a great show. A producer said that it is a five season show so i hope it will last for the five season with good ratings so that mgm and the network decide to back another stargate show if one is planed. But if SGU fails then mgm and SyFy will not be in a hurry to make another show. So forget about saving SGU start thinking about saving the stargate franchise.
F R I D A Y
@TV Junkie: What about FRIDAY?
You know, after reading all the comments hear and over the course of various other shows that are still of TV and have been cancelled, the problem is Syfy. Sg-1, SGA, SGU are all great shows and obviously have their various pro’s and con’s but never the less, they are still great shows. Not every episode can be awesome and cater to everybody’s every expectation and the result of this is that viewership will fluctuate up and down. Thought with saying that, the problem isn’t with the writing of the show or with any of the characters, it’s with Syfy… Read more »
@Saquist and scifi75… I’m not sure if you are clear when it comes to series vs. movies, referring to MGM and its bankruptcy, and the funding of these projects. First and foremost, the cancellation of any MGM series has NOTHING to do with MGM. It has to do with the network who wanted the series in the first place. Syfy pays for the show up front and orders episodes (Some of the costs get deferred by networks abroad like SKY in the UK) There really is little to no risk for MGM. Now when it comes to movies, MGM has… Read more »
sci-fi was never meant to be depressing or about characters whining. it was meant to be about exploration and adventure. that means having humor and action. having drama is great, it gives balance–but the darkness that SGU has aimed towards, just doesn’t work for Stargate. If Stargate began that way, it probablely would work–but the show didn’t, so it won’t work.
SGU is a different take at the Stargate franchise, so it is normal it’s not built like SG1 or SGA. The producers/writers wanted to do something different, a little more mature and darker, and they did. It’s also time to call people by what they are: Haters and not fans. Haters will ruin the Stargate franchise. If you don’t like SGU then just don’t watch it. SGU is done by the same people that did SG1 and SGA, so if you campaign against them, you are basically campaigning against those that possibly could bring back some SG1/SGA movies or even… Read more »