Syfy Channel launched its brand new line of Monday night original dramas this week, drawing an average of more than 2 million viewers over three hours and growing its audience hour-to-hour.
New superhero drama Alphas premiered at the top of the pack, ratings-wise, while Eureka and Warehouse 13 returned with strong numbers — despite some year-to-year erosion.
Eureka began the night with the start of the back half of its fourth season, picking up an estimated 2.02 million viewers (Live + Same Day) in the 8 p.m. time slot and a 1.5 average household rating, according to Syfy. (Check out our sister site, SciFi Stream, for a full set of interviews with the Eureka cast!)
The series has already been renewed and is currently filming its fifth season in Vancouver.
At 9 p.m. Warehouse 13 returned for its third season, with 2.34 million viewers and a 1.74 rating.
Syfy capped off the night with the premiere of Alphas at 10 p.m., averaging 2.52 million viewers (a 1.84 rating) for its 90-minute premiere. That’s the strongest original series premiere Syfy has had since Warehouse 13 bowed in 2009. (Not coincidentally, it’s also the first original, scripted drama since then to premiere in the summertime.)
But the move to Monday wasn’t all flowers and candy for the two returning shows. Eureka‘s premiere was down 10 percent from last summer’s finale, and 20 percent from the season premiere last July (Fridays). Warehouse 13 dipped 2.5 percent from September’s Season Two finale, and 21 percent from last July’s premiere (Tuesdays).
The new Monday night line-up is the first time (that we can remember) since the Friday night line-up of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica that the cable network has stacked three original, scripted dramas on the same night, which surely helps retain audience members from one hour to the next. Syfy’s strategy in recent years has been to spread out its original programming to cover more nights of the week.
The big premiere numbers demonstrates not just viewers’ love for these shows, but further proves that Syfy’s original dramas perform markedly better during the less competitive summer season — especially when they aren’t airing on Friday nights.
Later this week, Syfy will premiere unscripted originals Ghost Hunters and Legend Quest (series premiere) on Wednesday, followed by the second season premiere of scripted Haven on Friday. Since that show enjoys the post-wrestling time slot, we’ll be very interested to compare Haven‘s ratings with the new Monday night block next week.
So…. not as good as SGU started out.
ESPN had the home run derby and History’s ‘Pawn Stars’ Records Net’s Second Biggest Audience During Crossover Event at History’s The Pick, The Pawn & The Polish crossover event, featuring its popular thrifting shows American Pickers, American Restoration and Pawn Stars, averaged 6.7 million total viewers from 9 p.m. to11 p.m. Monday night. American Pickers led the 9 p.m. premiere with 6.3 million total viewers, including 2.6 million persons 18 to 49. American Restoration followed at 10 p.m., rising to 6.7 million total viewers and 3 million viewers with the aforementioned demo, according to Nielsen data. The last part of… Read more »
Syfy has ALWAYS belonged to the summer. If this were fall, those ratings would be SO much lower.
it always starts at 2mil then they mess with the show and it ends up 400 and getting cancelled.
Wasnt the Alphas premiere 60min, it says 90 min in the post. Just letting you know
This is a good point by Darren: Sci-Fi Fridays was a great example of doing a smart programming move– that is, stacking original scripted shows together on the same night to keep as much viewer erosion as possible to a minimum. (And, perchance, do exactly what Sci-Fi Fridays actually DID do: *increase* those same viewers over the course of time.) While I don’t think that a Monday night will get the same pure numbers for sci-fi fans as a Friday, I think bundling all three of these shows together on any night (sans Tuesday– bad memories!) will increase the chances… Read more »
I wholeheartedly agree Greenfire. I loved that SyFy aired their programs in the summer because that means less programs for me to have to keep track of during the fall. There’s some great sci-fi airing right now with Eureka and Warehouse 13 (I haven’t seen Alphas yet so can’t comment) and the return of Torchwood! Who says there’s nothing to watch during the summer? I’m almost watching as much now as I do during the fall when you add Deadliest Catch to that mix! On a completely un-related note, when are we going to see the next Gateworld podcast? You… Read more »
didn’t SGU premiered with greater numbers? AND it wasnt even summer!!! their “highest” ratings for alphas’ were SGU’S normal average-ish rating per episode (close)….i don’t get it
Alphas does not excite me.. I found at least 2 characters annoying… and made me wish Heroes was still around…
SGU shouldve been a summer show.
SGU’s highest rating was 2.447 million viewers live + SD for episode Air, Part 3. SGU’s premiere got 2.346 million viewers. So a little worse than Alphas. Not that this matters much. Alphas may still be a failure, if it will lose too many viewers in the next episodes, like SGU did. We will see.
“Wasn’t the Alphas premiere 60min?”
No, it was 90 minutes, when you include commercial time.
@asgarder
They ran the premiere an extra 30mins. You know how some new shows do a 2 hour premiere like Falling Skies did. Well they did a hour and a half long premiere.
Say what you will about my last post, but this one really has nothing to do with Stargate. And before you all get ready to write down a response to rebuff me, here me out. Despite what you may think, I really don’t care if Darren chooses to report non-Stargate news, in fact I totally understand if he chooses to do so; with Stargate gone goes the frequency of Stargate news. Maintaining a site like this costs time and money that would be wasted covering exclusively what meager Stargate news trickles out. What Darren should do is simply re brand… Read more »
Yeah..SyFy was always strongest during summers,glad to see they’ve realised it’s the best they can do.And stacking hit shows the same days as well is a proven concept.
I still can’t say anything about Alphas..from what I’ve seen in the Pilot,it’s nothing special and I’m sure the ratings will fall,but we’ll see soon enogh,in the next few eps.they deserve that much,as they’re better than Falling Skies,even this unoriginal.At least imo they’ve more charm to them.
I agree with The Admiral.
THE NAME CHANGE CAMPAIGN STARTS HERE!
i’m not gonna watch this.
reasons:
#1) it will be cancelled in season 2
#2) syfy probably will mess with the schedule
#3 an the most important ) i have cancelled my TV cable since SGU finale :D
all three of those shows are horrible. alphas is the worst of them.
I am totally against changing the name of Gateworld, it has no need what so ever to do that. What could be done thought is changing “The Complete guide to Stargate” to “The complete guide to Sci-fi” so it can for example in google, to stand out that we also cover general sci-fi.
@bhorwith22: Yes, but this show didn’t have “Stargate” in front of it, did it? I have not seen Alphas yet. I wonder if it’s “dark, gritty and cerebral” like SGU, and wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time..
I agree totally with far2005
I <3 how Darren is keeping us updated as he feels is right. I've been visiting this site every day forever and I'm glad it's still going to be relevant and updated.
That said, any non-stargate news post is going to get the same "this ain't Stargate" comments; my suggestion is a note somewhere on the home page saying:
"Since there isn't much Stargate news at the moment we will keep you updated on Stargate actors' other projects and Sci-Fi in general".
Or something like that :)
I too want to see these numbers..Keep up the good work Darren!!! I would also like to see these three moved to the Fall schedule and see how well they do…and I have subscribed to Stars just to watch Tourchwood…there is nothing on the SiFi channel I want to watch and if I could pay individually for each channel on my Satellite then I would stop paying for the SiFI channel..but I can not wait to see the numbers tank over the next few weeks, even with the Summer boost
@The Admiral:
“Despite what you may think, I really don’t care if Darren chooses to report non-Stargate news, in fact I totally understand if he chooses to do so”
Which is why you said:
“Does this have anything to do with Stargate?
No.
So then why report about it?”
Fail on your end dude. Fail on your end.
@steelbox:
I could see that working, but Gateworld would REALLY have to start putting up more content for other shows. Otherwise, it’s still just a complete guide for Stargate.
I can care less about anything syfail channel, If they would have put sgu on in the summer it would still be on.Put these shows on in the fall and they would fail as well.
@The Admiral – You’re wrong on every level.
1) Gateworld would be a cool name even if Stargate didn’t exist.
2) What do you think scifistream.com is?
3) This site has always fostered news and talk about other sci-fi related shows/topics.
4) This isn’t at all like what Syfy did.
5) Make your own site if you want it to be different.
6) If all you can do about it is whine, why bother?
Wow big surprise. They heavily dumb down their shows (making them “superhero” shows rather than sci-fi shows) and so of course the audience figures go up. There are simply far more dumb people out there. However they haven’t got the resources to compete for this mainstream “dumb” audience, so it’s a big gamble. Sci-fi Channel had a long-term, stable audience with its sci-fi niche, whereas Syfy will loose a lot of their wrestling, ghosts & superhero loving audience when the next series of Jersey Shore or the myriad of other brainless shows resume. By that time, the executives responsible will… Read more »
who watches scifi? i don’t, i download what I want. Since, what we foreigners watch isn’t considered important (at least according to ratings, and keeping our franchises on the air, since we don’t exist). Thus, I’ll download what I like, and don’t d’l what I don’t like. I’m not downloading or watching anything from syphilis.
I’ve seen this movie before….
I’m glad that it did good can’t wait until the next ep.
I know it will get a second season.
@janet99 So, Syfy asks other shows to dumb down their dialog? What other shows? Here’s another question, does Syfy cut the theme songs for any other of their shows, or is Sanctuary special? :/
Ther’s no shows here to talk about as in new shows.The only thing new is Alphas.WH13 and Eureka are already long established brands.Talking about this monday nigh..Alphas suck..those other two..I’ve liked since before and are the last remains of the old SciFi.
Gateworld is totally cool name and needs no change..those of you who are bothered by it,or it’s content,go somewhere else,or buy your own site and call it what you like.
Also if you want D&D to do extensive work on all things sci-fi.maybe you should start paying them and their new 20 employees..
About ghosthunters,ghostbusters and such pile of exellent tv work..it can work only as a comedy..always a same thing,a group of studends with amateur grade equipment picking up EM waves.and there you go..proof of ghosts,lol!Works every time!Why,because there’s probably more EM radation everywhere around us than the visable lenght one.Not to mention ultrasound..etc,etc
“Alphas” was okay. But knowing that Ira Steven Behr is the showrunner for the rest of the season, I have a lot of hope that the series will get a lot better.
I don’t know about any of you, but I fell asleep in the middle of the Alphas premier—it was that exciting… (YAWN). Unfortunately, the time for grand space opera Si-Fi shows, like the Stargate series, has passed. I doubt even Battlestar Galactica, or Babylon 5 would stand a chance today, and both had 5-year runs. Even a mediocre (after a great season 1) show like, Earth-Final Conflict, managed to last 5-years back in the day. Falling Skies, which is promising, got renewed, I’m sure, in part due to the Spielberg/Dreamworks production/backing. I hope they can keep developing and make it… Read more »
“all three of those shows are horrible.”
Excuse me? “Eureka” is the best show on TV right now. And “Warehouse 13” is third best. But I have to admit, “Alphas” was certainly the worst of the night. It didn’t start off as good as I wanted it to. But you can’t judge a series by its pilot episode. Sometimes the pilot is great and series stinks. And sometimes the pilot stinks and the series is great. It just depends on who’s writing the stories for the episodes, I think.
SyFy thinks that what made sci-fi Fridays so popular was that there were three sci-fi shows in a row. They’re PARTLY correct, but what really made it popular among fans is that it was three quality space-based action series in a row. Still, Eureka is good. Warehouse 13 is good, don’t know about Alphas. I want to watch Alphas, but a part of me wants to avoid the pilot. Why? Because from the scenes we saw, it looks like they copied an episode of the X-Files. We see a guy who gets subliminal message to kill…wow, didn’t the X-Files do… Read more »
I have kept my word and not watched the network since the last episode of SGU, but I hope SyFy sees the errors of the past and learns from them. These numbers again show that Sci-Fi and Fantasy shows do better in the summer. The drop in Eureka and Warehouse 13 can be attributed to their move from their old nights to Monday (tbh, if you don’t watch SyFy or read up on things, you didn’t know they were being moved – I saw 0 ads on other channels). Those who have stated that these numbers would be worse in… Read more »
SGU by far the best show on that channel fell victim to SyFy’s inabillity to learn that simple truth..and their greed.
“it looks like they copied an episode of the X-Files. We see a guy who gets subliminal message to kill … wow, didn’t the X-Files do an episode like that back in the 90′s?”
I was thinking of that exact episode when I watched the pilot. The “X-Files” episode was the Season 2 episode “Blood”, I believe.
@far2005 I did the same thing. The only reason I had Cable was for Sci Fi Channel, FC, and AMC. I used to turn on the Sci-Fi and leave it running in the background. Now That the only 6 shows that I watch are available via iTunes, I don’t need cable any more. With the exception of the Stargate Franchise and the biggest loser, the shows I watch are either 6, 10, or 13 episodes long. At least I can thank Syfy for saving me money…. until the Stargate Franchise returns, I won’t have to spend the money on Cable.
I watched the Alphas. I found it cliche, and old-style, and hurried-up too. They had a good director (Jack Bender, the main LOST director), but if the script is so weak, a director can’t do much about it.
>“Eureka” is the best show on TV right now.
“Eureka” is an old style show, episodic, feel-good mumbo jumbo. It’s the non-deep-thinker’s show. It’s shallow.
The best show on TV in the past few years is “Breaking Bad”, with SGU being the best sci-fi show. Now that SGU’s gone, I find all the rest sci-fi shows left behind just terrible. I’m looking forward to Terra Nova though, hopefully the 20 mil dollars they paid for it will pay off.
So as not to be a hypocrite I had someone record alphas… I managed to make it all the way through, and it was just TERRIBLE – 10X worse than I ever thought it was going to be (and I expected it to be pretty bad)… It’s not Scifi… it’s not really even Superhero…. its like a reality show without the reality – not-quite normal people in a normal world get hired to do something normal people could do just a little faster/better….Yeah thats entertainment… uhhh no…. To quote the show “It’s time to kill…. Alphas” – I hope the… Read more »
Well, that’s just another proof how SGU got shafted by being aired in fall.
As to “Eureka being the best show on tv” – hardly. I realise it’s just your opinion, but apparently you don’t watch much tv. IMO Eureka – tedious, not very-well acted, cheap-looking, shallow show – isn’t even the best show on SyFy (I find Sanctuary much better), let alone on tv in general, with shows like Dexter, GoT, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire etc.
You could call Eureka shallow,but it’s not pretencious and not trying to be anything more than just that,funny little show.
Alphas actually annoyed me with that guy that sees all the wave lenghts,but while doing it moves his hands as a retard.Also the adrenalin dude with a serious need for anger management.
The show is a joke.
Best shows on tv..imo;True Blood,Breaking Bad,Game Of Thrones.Also I’m not a Doctor Who guy,but am very glad to have been introduced to Torchwood by a friend,I like it a lot!
I see the haughty elitism of SGU fans is still going strong. I guess when your show is a ratings failure, a critical failure, and a failure even within the Stargate fandom then your only rebuttal is to slam other shows and their viewers while playing the pseudo-intellectual.
For me Gateworld is the “gateway” to Sci-fi news. I see no reason to change the name.
@Jim: The “retard” character is actually autistic, so the “retard” hand movements were there on purpose. The adrenaline guy having anger management issues is, again, intentional.
=====
Sheesh, I’m kinda amused reading these comments and watching people pat each other on the back about how bad these shows are. Nothing shows your support better than bad-mouthing another show.
I just wishes I liked any of these shows – I’m still looking for something to watch . . .
I thought “Falling Skies” would work for me, but it just didn’t hook me for some reason.
As for “Alphas” numbers, they are very close to what SGU started with. The real question – will they keep those numbers? SGU couldn’t.