Ratings steady for SCI FI Friday premieres

SCI FI Friday steadily built its ratings during the night of January 6, when The SCI FI Channel premiered new episodes of its three hit original series. Each series built on its lead-in, with slight improvements over the mid-season finales in September.

Stargate SG-1 led off the night with “The Fourth Horseman, Part 2” at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, concluding September’s mid-season cliffhanger. The episode earned a 1.9 average household rating (1.1 in its late-night rerun).

This is a slight boost from the last new episode, when “Prototype” and “The Fourth Horseman, Part 1” averaged a 1.8 rating on September 16. It’s down one-tenth of a point from last January’s mid-season premiere.

Stargate Atlantis followed up with “The Hive,” improving on its lead-in with a 2.0 rating (0.8 in its second run). While this is a significant improvement over the first half of this two-parter (along with “Aurora,” “The Lost Boys” averaged a series-low 1.7), it is also down one-tenth of a point from last year’s mid-season premiere.

Battlestar Galactica continued to build on the night at 10 p.m., with “Resurrection Ship, Part 1” earning a 2.1 rating (0.5 the second time around at 1 a.m.). This is an improvement of one-tenth of a point from the last new episode, which aired in September.

These ratings did not change significantly with the additional new “delayed” ratings. Nielsen Media Research is now updating data to include digital video recorders such as Tivo.

All-new episodes continue this SCI FI Friday starting at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific!