Season Eight enters syndication quietly

Season Eight of Stargate SG-1 entered syndication with little more than a whimper the week of September 19. The show earned a 1.5 average household rating for “New Order, Part 1”.

Here’s how the ratings came in for week in the rapidly shrinking category:

Stargate Atlantis – 1.7 (“Rising, Part 1”)
Da Vinci’s Inquest – 1.7
Stargate SG-1 – 1.5 (“New Order, Part 1”)
Andromeda (R) – 1.0
Mutant X (R) – 0.8

This is down from the 1.7 earned by the Season Seven premiere one year ago, and the 1.9 earned by the most recent new episode — the Season Seven finale, back in May.

Because the show airs on FOX affiliates in most markets, viewership picks up after the Major League Baseball playoffs (aired on FOX with frequent preemptions). Season Seven finished its syndicated run with a 2.0 rating — the best in its category, though down year-to-year in the dying market.

This also marks the first week in recent memory that SG-1 has not sat comfortably atop the category. Atlantis is one of the few series new to the first-run dramatic hour category this season; series formerly on the big broadcast networks are regarded as different than shows that originally aired to a smaller audience on cable.

(Source: Nielsen Galaxy Report, via Sci Fi Wire. Thanks to Morjana for the tip!