SG-1 finale falls to season low ratings

The SCI FI Channel’s 2-hour Stargate SG-1 event wasn’t enough to keep the series from falling to its lowest ratings of the season on September 16, as the long-running show faced new competition from network premieres, professional wrestling, and reality TV.

The back-to-back SG-1 episodes “Prototype” and “The Fourth Horseman, Part 1” averaged a 1.8 household rating from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. This is down 10 percent (0.2 points) from the previous week’s SG-1 episode and five percent (0.1 points) from last week’s episode of Atlantis, but even with the same week a year ago (Season Eight’s “Endgame”).

Battlestar Galactica finished out the night with “Flight of the Phoenix” at 10 p.m. The episode earned a 1.9 average household rating, down one-tenth of a point from the previous week.

The key Adults 25-54 demographic did hold steady from the previous week for Stargate, according to a GateWorld source — indicating that this week’s losses were with younger and older viewers.

Elsewhere on the tube, sci-fi newcomer Threshold scored a modest 5.4 rating / 8 share (ranked #2, 8.42 million viewers) on CBS from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Its lead-in was reality series Big Brother at 8 p.m., which also scored second place with a 4.7 / 9 share.

UPN launched its new Friday Night Smackdown! at 8 p.m., which competes with SCI FI Friday in younger male demographics.

NBC led the night with Dateline. The WB aired premieres for What I Like About You and new series Twins up against Stargate SG-1. ABC and Fox were still in repeats.

Stargate Atlantis took the week off, and will air its own 2-hour mid-season finale this Friday starting at a special time, 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. Look for “Aurora” and “The Lost Boys” to air back-to-back, the last new episodes until January.

Battlestar Galactica will also air its mid-season cliffhanger finale, “Pegasus,” this Friday at 10 p.m.