TiVo-delayed viewings give Atlantis a boost

The fifth season premiere of Stargate Atlantis added more than a half-million DVR viewers the week following its air date, SCI FI Channel announced today.

“Search and Rescue” earned a 1.3 average household rating with 1.8 million viewers in the Nielsen “Live + Same Day” ratings category on July 11 (story) — but the “Live + 7 Day” number jumped to 2.4 million viewers. That’s a rating of just above 1.7, according to series executive producer Joseph Mallozzi (blog).

While the television advertising industry does place more weight on the “Live + Same Day” figures, the 33 percent boost from delayed viewing is encouraging.

The episode averaged 1.3 million viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic, and 1.4 million among viewers 25 to 54. It’s Atlantis‘s best performance since Season Four’s finale in March (2.6 million total viewers), and up an impressive 22 percent from last season’s average, according to SCI FI.

Ratings for additional episodes will be available each Monday starting next week, with “The Seed.”

Another brand new episode of Stargate Atlantis airs this Friday at 10 p.m. (9 Central) on SCI FI! Learn more about “The Daedalus Variations” in GateWorld’s episode guide.