Though Stargate Universe was cancelled by Syfy Channel back in December, we’re still watching the ratings numbers for the final 10 episodes. While “Hope” did stop the erosion in viewership, it didn’t offer anything to cheer about.
The fourth episode to air since the mid-season return drew an estimated 876,000 viewers on Monday night (Live + Same Day) — an improvement of 7 percent from last week’s series low.
While many viewers have clearly dropped the show from their live viewing habits since the cancellation announcement, the situation is made worse by the fact that SGU is paired with another original drama and is losing nearly one-third of its lead-in audience.
Being Human earned 1.299 million viewers in the 9 p.m. time slot, up almost 9 percent from the previous week.
On the main broadcast networks, ABC’s Castle drew 12.56 million viewers with a new episode. NBC picked up 8.54 million viewers with Harry’s Law, and 5.95 million found a repeat of Hawaii Five-0 on CBS.
WWE Raw also grabbed 6.23 million in the 10 p.m. hour on the USA Network.
Syfy hasn’t announced any data on the DVR viewership for the new episodes of Universe (and we don’t expect them to), so fans are left to speculate over whether viewers are shifting away from live viewing — or are waiting for the show to finish so they can catch up on the last episodes on their own time — or have dropped Stargate altogether.
Next week’s brand new episode of Stargate Universe, “Seizure,” promises to be one of the biggest of the series! Tune in Monday at 10/9c on Syfy to catch the big SGU–Atlantis crossover event.
Nope, fans that read the ratings thread aren’t left to wonder about the DVR viewing, it’s holding about the same so SGU is losing viewers. It’s also dropped under the Syfy weekly primetime viewer average for reruns 2 out of 3 weeks since it’s return. Not a pretty picture.
Not surprised, are average Stargate fans even aware that the show is back? If I didn’t follow Gateworld I’d still be wondering if/when SGU was coming back.
…going off of that, how many people think SyFy did what they did with Caprica after it was canceled and just pulled the episodes? I know I half-expected them to do that the way they’ve been treating the series.
These are the Live + 7 ratings from the Ratings Thread RoX was speaking of:
Epsiode aired March 7
SGU–
HH: 0.9 (up from .6 Live + SD)
A18-49: .5 (up from .35)
Total Viewers: 1.5 million (up from 1.0 million)
great episode
I have [proudly] cut the cord (cable/sat-free since December) so I was using Hulu to watch Stargate:Universe. They used to have episodes up 24 hours after the TV premiere. Now, since 2 weeks ago, SyFy changed its online policy for SGU, and now we have to wait 30 days before we see the new episodes! What a shame.
Paying money for terrible Tv shows, i feel sorry for the Americans.
I will not be supporting any director or producer by watching their future films or Tv series who where involved in this murder of SG-1 SGA, SGU was made for no one except the big ego’s of the (boys) in charge.
I’m sick of these nothing but DRAMA episodes where’s the action SCI FI
its just so sad, because they had such a great Base storyline, im so dissapointed.
Rox, Sylvia: maybe I’m wrong, but 1.5 was the number before hiatus, so I think it is quite simple that people don’t watch it live anymore, and significant chunk of fans have dropped SyFy alltogether and watch it from iTunes and Hulu. It seems that MGM recognizes it have proposal for SGU fans with free episodes and reduced price tags in iTunes.
Josheph Mallozzi also claimed loud and clear that decision about movies (session is not option anymore) will be made without live ratings context.
Who cares?! I mean seriously, what difference does it make reporting the ratings? The shows canceled, what is the point of these posts at this point?
I agree with gaddorm; reporting ratings seems more to make the bastards that cancelled the show more important. They’re not, and they never will be.
But then again, the vast majority of shows are not there to actually benefit viewers – the advertisers and network execs appear to be more important than everyone else… it makes you wonder what’s the point of having sci-fi shows if they’re going to be axed at a moment’s notice.
I’ll say it again. Another day, another episode without the big round thing on which the show is based on. When will people acknowledge that is the problem. You think any of the CSI would be popular without forensic teams, or DoctorWho without the Doctor, or Californication without Moody, Castle without Castle, Dexter without Dexter, Torchwood without Harkness, Smallville without Kent, Sanctuary without Magnus, Prison Break without Scofield, Nikita without Nikita,… Get the point. Everything about this show is supposed the revolve around the Stargate first, then the characters. Thats why season 9 and 10 of SG1 worked out even… Read more »
Not a surprise. Monday’s Being Human was one of the best of the series. Monday’s SGU wasn’t.
@meo3000
So it wasn’t any different from the dozens of episodes of Stargate SG 1’s final three seasons that failed to feature the Stargate in favor of a space ship.
I wish SyFy would just drop it now and hurry up the release of the DVD/Blu-Ray.
@michael Sacal in sg1 episodes where was no gate was no deep sgu like drama to … every show have there few episodes of slow pointless filler drama but not like sgu what is in every episode … even the episodes where is some action the is still over 50% of drama… next week episode may get more viewer raitings then this week cause there will be Mckay in it so fans of atlantis may tune in to if stargate will continue in the future they need new tv channel to show it or make it as web series …… Read more »
Since the show is dead, about the only thing to report on the show anymore is the ratings. That and talk of the new jobs the cast and crew are getting: http://www.redeyechicago.com/entertainment/tv/redeye-stargate-universe-vets-new-sci-fi-project-20110322,0,220274.story
Next week will be the real test for the ratings. If it jumps when they bring on McKay and Woolsey, then it’s clear that people are aware that it’s back and that they’re just not watching.
Folks, the consumer still controls the free market. The 21st century delivers us additional options for viewing ‘television.’ No actual TV is required anymore. Sure we might have to wait more, but I’m content to wait 30 days to watch it on Hulu just to ensure I’m not throwing my resources (in this case time) to a brand (SyFy) that I’m not a satisfied customer with.
I’ll disagree with @meo3000. The stargate itself is a plot device. The stories revolved around the characters. A series doesn’t last 10 years just by filming a wheel spinning around with nifty puddle effects. Its where it took us that was interesting, and the people that took us there what kept us engaged.
Vampire sex over mentally engaging science fiction? So…. the only way we can have sci-fi be popular is if we blow a lot of sh*t up and pad our testosterone/estrogen bravada? Good job America. I’m proud. BAH!
@meo3000 I just registered just to thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking since season 1 of SGU. The show should be called Universe or Destiny, they hardly ever use the STARGATE, especially in season 2. I know they wanted to make more serious and dark or whatever, but for me, it’s boring, the characters are not very likable, except Eli and a couple of scientist. Reciently I finished rewatching SG-1 and now I’m watching SGA, and even a low episode managed to be entertaining. Now SGU is all about drama between the characters, ok, a little drama is… Read more »
Interesting that the ratings are so low while at the same time the episode is currently #3 on iTunes. http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/tv-shows/ The show is cancelled, do we have to keep giving these meaningless Nielson ratings validation?
I already stopped watching ANYTHING on SYDIE…and as far as Being Human, the UK version is 100X better…I have come to the realization that BBC America has more and better Scfi then SYFY….I think the show started slow and “Yes” they should have spread the character building out and focused on more action, advanture and the gate..letting us catch up with the characters after a longer priod…but they didn’t..They focused on Character building and completed that in the first season better half of the second..The show is now hitting a stride and is beginiing to focus on the story, the… Read more »
People trying to blame the network is funny to me if you really like a show you will check when it on and watch it… it not new that the show has mid season breaks or get changed, the problem is the show leave no impact on it viewers and it easy to forget…. I have seen every ep of SG:U and think Season 2 has been better but it was too little too late but the disappointing fact is no Atlantis DVD because this was cancel is a joke… good way to p**s the fans off. And i agree… Read more »
That was a really awesome episode. Loved the use of characters on this one, and the two stories combined nicely at the end with Perry helping out TJ in the surgery. No gate travel or action …. pah, who cares. When you’ve got TV this good it’s great just to sit back and see where it takes you. I recently went through an SG-1 phase (while SGU was on hiatus), watching episodes while I train on my bike. I tell you … there were some stinkers in those first few seasons. Really pointless, boring, ham-fisted episodes that had no business… Read more »
I think there should be something for everyone, it’s just a shame that fans of cerebral adult thought provoking sci-fi shows like SGU get short changed by a market that is thought to be just for children and needs a toy line to succeed. Sad part is many of the adults prefer the children show style.
I agree Kayzersoze, SGU is the most rewatchable as there is so much going on that is relevant to future episodes. Take an episode out of SGU is like taking a chapter out of a book whereas the other shows are full of stand alone short stories so once you know the outcome there is less there to rewatch.
for the rewatch … how many times sg1 and sga have had marathons and reshowed rewatched … they still are good .. i have seen every sg1 and sga episodes over 4-5 times some episodes more then 10 times and still love them … on the other hand i have rewatched sgu episodes like one or two episodes cause if there is only drama in a ep it’s not interesting to watch more then one time
@Skiznot If “many of the adults prefer the children style show”, it’s perhaps because what you call “children style” is really adult style and you’re confusing the two. Ever thought about that? Entertaining is not the opposite of cerebral! A show can and should be both. I won’t argue whether SGU is cerebral or not, but the ratings show us how entertaining people are finding it. Other shows being obviously more entertaining doesn’t automatically make them less cerebral. The actual rewatch value of a show will be proven by the success of its reruns and the DVD sales. Star Trek… Read more »
kayzersoze is right above [again]. SGU is the most deep show of the three and has the most rewatch value for those who get it. For those still loving episodic TV might never be, but thankfully fewer and fewer people like episodic drivel. If anything, I wish that SGU had gone even further with its serialized plots: we should have seen Volker feeling a bit ill but alright in the last few episodes. Same with TJ’s baby, we should have seen her throwing up a few epis prior to the episode we find out that she’s pregnant. Apart from that,… Read more »
I can attest that I and probably many others have switched to viewing online or DVR. I don’t know about the demographics for this show, but out of the people I know that love the Stargate franchise many of them are pretty big geeks and spend more time then average on PC’s. It doesn’t seem at all odd to me that these people who spend more time online are simply not watching as much TV since broadband and services like Hulu. This isn’t even considering DVR watching, which is what I normally do, just so I can skip some commercials… Read more »
@Skiznot: “cerebral adult thought provoking sci-fi shows like SGU”
LOL! If my disliking SGU makes me a shallow not-adult, I’ll happily stay a shallow not-adult for the rest of my life, thank you 8D
@AscendedTauri — There wasn’t any sex in Monday’s Being Human. There were more than a few murders though. Add in a bit of action, good acting and a somewhat surprising plot turn and you get a decent episode. @tb1342 — We are just going to have to disagree on UK Being Human. I live in the UK and have seen the original through the end of Series 3. — The remake has its high spots. Herrick is good but Bishop is a better villain. Rebecca’s storyline plays better in the remake too. I do wonder where the remake is going… Read more »
@Skiznot and ELQ: Umm, you do know that being episodic makes it much more appealing to the average viewer? Someone who doesn’t perfectly follow the series and watches in occasionally. It’s a series, not a movie.
@kayzersoze: Can you pro-pro-pro-SGU fans please evolve from your arrogance? Hasn’t SG taught you anything? Arrogance was the downfall of the Goa’uld. Having different preferences does not equal better or more evolved. And it’s not like SGUs first season was a shining beacon of tv history. Most episodes in season are the same. Life, Earth, Angst, who cares, it’s the same.
Another great episode, so sad the show is being cancelled.
I don’t see the point in discussing what effect these episodes can have on the ratings though. SGU’s ratings were permanently destroyed by the half-dozen or so utterly awful episodes which filled the first half of season 1. The blame lies 100% with those episodes, only very committed fans stuck with the show after 2 months of nothing episodes.
@janet99: I agree with that, no viewer is going to return if they were bored the first time they watched.
@janet99 – If not for these discussions, we couldn’t watch people claim their superiority by being fans and exalting the greatness of SGU. :P Seriously, the idea that SGU is more ‘adult’ is laughable. I am an adult. I don’t sit around and whine and pine my days away. If I were on a spaceship on the other side of the universe, I still wouldn’t sit around and whine and pine my days away. There’s nothing adult about that whatsoever. Becoming an adult means learning to cope with the hand dealt and making the most of it. Most of the… Read more »
@Micheal Sacal yeah sure the showed ships heaps in the last 3 seasons but they still used the Stargate just as much not like Sgu were its never seen
also @kayzersoze that may be for you but i grew up on Sg1 and then Atlantis as did most people who watch the show which is why you scratch your head over the fact other SG fans dont like it, Simply put Sgu is not like the original and for that main reason it failed i know i wanted to see alien races and a team going through the gate with some funny jokes on the side but they changed the direction yeh sure you might like it but what about us hardcore fans that have watched it from the… Read more »
SGU fans seem to often claim to be superior compared to everyone else. No SG-1/SGA ever says that just because they like those shows they are better and more intelligent than everyone else.
For those who think the ratings are not done correctly please see this link from Craig Engler
http://blastr.com/2011/01/the-truth-about-tv-ratings-online-viewing-and-sci-fi-shows.php
@AscendedTauri well played sir. sci-fi should change their slogan to IMAGINE LESSER. with all the ghost reality shows and wrestling i dont even recognize it anymore. a cooking show on syfy are you kidding me? i better not see anybody defending that show either. Im sick of people bashing sgu on this site, then turning around and promoting other peice of **** shows. SGU is a top notch syfy show, if your not a fan then stay off of STARGATE sites and go on ghosthunters.com or whatever it is you do. SGU blows BSG out of the water and its… Read more »
Remember the erectile dysfunction scene from SGU hope episode? lol,i’m the only one who uploaded it to youtube so far xD, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcrx9ubHYlc
Oh cool, penis jokes, how evolved………
Now all they need is a few fart jokes and they will be on a winner.
NEXT EPISODE IS WITH DAVID HEWLETT AND PICARDO!!!
IM SO WATCHING THAT ONE!
LOVE RODNEY MACKAY<3
@mythos First of all how on earth can you know what would you behave like on a spaceship on the other side of the universe,knowing that you’d probably never be able to come home? Secondly,I don’t know how old you are,but if by now you still haven’t noticed and learned that people in real life are mostly quite childish and selfish and not noble,hero type,then I don’t know what planet you’ve been living on. So I think SGU IS more realistic presentation of such situation than the previous two.Especially since the previous two didn’t even go there.And in this case,just… Read more »
@Jim: Nice comment, but please use spaces after a , or . It would make it so much more something.
I just dont understand why so many people hate SGU. Unlike the previous incarnations, SGU is much more realistic given the situation. Someone here said it’s about the “gate” first then the characters. WRONG! It’s always about the characters plain and simple. Perhaps the people who hate SGU just haven’t grown up yet. Still clinging to the old way of doing things. They’re like kids who want to watch the same movie over and over again desperately trying to get that feeling agian. Clearly I have to pay the price for people with child like minds only looking for stuff… Read more »
@ FrakU, et al (others who voice opinions akin to this)– You said: “Perhaps the people who hate SGU just haven’t grown up yet. Still clinging to the old way of doing things. They’re like kids who want to watch the same movie over and over again desperately trying to get that feeling again. Clearly I have to pay the price for people with child like minds only looking for stuff to blow-up…” (More ‘adult’ –like childish batter mercifully snipped from this point.) Clearly, ‘adult’ viewers like yourself- and other posters like you on this forum- have put us “low… Read more »
EDIT: I meant to say, “I find immensely annoying COMING FROM a few of my own friends”…