Here’s the rundown of how many viewers tuned in to Syfy on Friday nights:
| EPISODE (air date) | VIEWERS (million) |
| Air, Part 1 (Oct. 2) | 2.346 |
| Air, Part 2 (Oct. 2) | 2.346 |
| Air, Part 3 (Oct. 9) | 2.447 |
| Darkness (Oct. 16) | 2.099 |
| Light (Oct. 23) | 2.015 |
| Water (Oct. 30) | 1.974 |
| Earth (Nov. 6) | 1.626 |
| Time (Nov. 13) | 1.802 |
| Life (Nov. 20) | 1.891 |
This chart doesn’t include “Live + 7 Days” ratings, which measure DVR-delayed viewing for the week following an episode’s broadcast. SGU gets a significant boost from delayed viewing. Syfy announced in late October that the first few episodes of the season were averaging 2.85 million viewers and a 2.1 rating in “Live + 7” numbers (story).
Various sources also indicate that, all-in-all, the “Live + 7” numbers have increased as the Friday night viewership has fallen — meaning the audience is still there, but has time-shifted more since the series’ premiere.
“While the same day numbers have down-ticked somewhat, the DVR percentages continue to rise,” SGU writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi said on his blog. “What does that mean? Well, we’ve retained all of our audience from the premiere — which is pretty damn impressive.”
Note that the “HH Rating” numbers published at TV by the Numbers, ranging from 1.5 for “Air” to 1.1 for “Earth” and “Time,” do not correspond to the average household ratings numbers released by Syfy Channel. The show’s top-rated episode (“Air, Part 3”) earned a 1.8 rating on that scale.
But Stargate Universe seems likely to be renewed, considering the ratings improvement from the last season of Stargate Atlantis (1.24 “Live + Same Day” average rating) and the network’s overall commitment to the franchise. SGU is Syfy’s second-highest rated show for the fall season (behind Ghost Hunters). With so much effort put into launching a new incarnation of Stargate this year, these numbers should be enough to get the show a second year.
Optimistic about their prospects (or knowing something we don’t know), in fact, the show’s writers have already started actively working on the first batch of episodes for Season Two. They’ll have to be ready to start filming in late February (or perhaps early March, after Olympic fever has left the city of Vancouver).
Just when will the announcement about the show’s fate come? In previous years when Stargate has aired in the fall, Syfy waited only a month or so before announcing the renewal (as in Season Four of Atlantis). Since the last episode of the season is only a few days away, we’re hoping to see a press release soon after that, when the network has ratings data for all 10 episodes to tout.
The second half of Season One won’t begin airing until April, weeks after filming on a second season will have commenced.
Head over to TVbytheNumbers.com for more ratings details. The mid-season finale of Stargate Universe airs Friday, December 4 at 9 p.m. (8 Central) on Syfy!
After the curtain falls on episode 10, GateWorld will have extensive coverage of the season so far all winter long.
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View Comments
For me in the UK, the reason I don't watch on the first broadcast date, is not because I have better things to watch, but because it is broadcast pre-watershed, so it is heavily censored. I have to wait a week for it to be broadcast after the watershed and in hd.
Well, ratings or no ratings, SGU is just not interesting for me personaly.I'm still waiting on some good news about SG-1 and SGA movies.
If the time slot on Sky One wasn't completely stupid, i'd watch SGU at its original time of 8pm.
But I have to work, and I hardly ever get to watch TV so the only way I keep up, is be downloading from iTunes, which probably hurts the ratings even more.
Good for the franchise if the show goes on. Bad for the series if they don't pick up on the live airings.
NBC owns the-network-whose-name-change-was-so-evil-as-to-never-be-uttered-again and last I checked NBC demands live ratings be as high as possible. This was what sunk a lot of science fiction in the eyes of the peacock and why reality kistch is so preferred (cheaper to dispose of when ratings slip even 1%). Just ask Howie Mandel.
"Note that the “HH Rating” numbers published at TV by the Numbers, ranging from 1.5 for “Air” to 1.1 for “Earth” and “Time,” do not correspond to the average household ratings numbers released by Syfy Channel. The show’s top-rated episode (”Air, Part 3″) earned a 1.8 rating on that scale."
For those who don't understand why it's different, there are two ways for cable networks to show their ratings. A "rating" represents a percentage of something. In the case of households, it can represent either the percentage of ALL TV households in the U.S. or a percentage of TV households that can get the channel. Syfy prefers it the latter way. TV by the Numbers prefers it as a % of all households.
Don't like the series, but I'm happy for SGU fans, and kind of hoping that the continued success of the Stargate franchise may translate into more movies, as long as they remain firmly rooted in their respective series tone and style.
I don't know why there's any angst over the show getting renewed. Didn't Mr. Wright say that a second season was contracted from the start?
Those fans hoping that a second season will translate into an Atlantis movie are going to be disappointed. TPTB haven't even been talking with the Atlantis cast. At least the SG-1 actors have been approached for their third movie.
My fingers are crossed for renewal! I love SGU and have enjoyed watching the stranded SGC crew develop as characters and learn to live on-board Destiny and discover more about the ship as they do so!
Uggh I just had a horrible thought what if the sg1 and Atlantis movies get made with this same teen drama style. I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth.
My fingers are crossed for cancellation. Yes, I just said that. It's a horrible show that should've never existed, not under the name "Stargate". If it was called "Desperate Spacetravellers", I wouldn't really care. But not if its Stargate... I mean, the show has good actors, good acting, good production, good directors, good effects and good sets, but the most important part, the story & writing, reeks... stinks... just ain't good! IF there were no earth scenes, I would probably rate 6/10, now its just 3/10, especially because one and a half of a good episode so far won't save it... Well, I just hope the second part of season 1, with slightly different set of writers, will get better.
Alan: Stranded SGC crew? What show are you watching? Icarus base and it's crew wasn't SGC and they should've been a lot more trained for offworld stuff.