They didn't come right out and say " All you who whined about the rebranding, HA!" But they probably wanted to... Via Syfy press release:
FUELED BY BRAND EVOLUTION, SYFY POSTS MOST WATCHED THIRD QUARTER IN 17-YEAR HISTORY
Places 4th in Adults 25-54 – Highest 3Q Ranking Ever
Warehouse 13 Sets All-Time Syfy Series Marks in
Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Household Ratings
Soars 18% Among Upscale Adult 18-49 Viewers
Syfy.com Pacing for New Third Quarter Highs in Key Metrics
New York, NY – September 29, 2009 – Underscoring the broad-based appeal of its new brand identity since launching on July 7, Syfy amassed the largest third quarter audience in its 17-year history, establishing a new mark in total viewers with 1.36 million.
The record viewership from June 29th through September 27 catapulted Syfy into fourth place among Adults 25-54, its highest ranking ever in third quarter, versus all basic cable entertainment networks.
Syfy also posted all-time third quarter highs in Women 18-49 (292,000) and Women 25-54 (332,000).
Syfy dramatically improved among upscale Adult 18-49 viewers (versus third quarter ’08), gaining +18% in Adults18-49 with $75K+ Household Income.
The gains were driven by the diverse powerhouse primetime schedule, sparked by summer sensation Warehouse 13, Syfy’s most watched series ever in total viewers (4.02 million), Adults 25-54 (2.1 million) and HH ratings (2.9), and Eureka, which soared over three million total viewers for the first time ever.
Fueled by Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth -- both on pace for series ratings records -- Syfy captured the third quarter Wednesday 9-10PM (ET/PT) time period among Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49, while winning the Tuesday 9-10PM (ET/PT) time period in Adults 25-54.
Third Quarter Highlights
- In total viewers, Warehouse 13 topped new cable series such as TNT’s Hawthorne (4.0 million) and Dark Blue (3.5 million), and Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva (3.1 million). The series finished second in the 2009 freshman class behind only USA’s Royal Pains.
- The second half of Eureka Season Three delivered a 2.3 HH rating, 1.38 million Adults18-49, 1.72 million Adults 25-54 and 3.17 million total viewers. In addition to breaking the three million total viewers barrier, this is also the series' best performance ever in Adults18-34 and Adults 25-54.
- To date, the current season of Ghost Hunters is averaging a 2.1 HH rating, 3.0 million total viewers, 1.9 million Adults18-49 and 2.0 million Adults 25-54. This marks the first time it has averaged more than two million Adults 25-54 and more than three million total viewers.
- Destination Truth is also enjoying a strong ratings performance in its third season. The September 9 premiere set record highs in all key demos including Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 as well as the first time the show averaged more than two million total viewers.
Users also flocked to the new brand identity online:
- Syfy.com is on pace to hit new third quarter highs in uniques (3.1 million), visits (5.1 million), page views (30.0 million) and video streams (5.2 million).
- Syfy.com is also on pace to deliver its best quarter ever in engagement as users average 17 minutes per visit and 28 minutes per unique.
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 95 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)
As much as it pains me to say this, I’m happy SyFy is doing well. Their idiocy resonated with the general public’s idiocy and now we’ve got some super genre network thing.
That being said, this makes it harder for Caprica to survive, doesn’t it?
Good for SyFy. Jayme, I do not like the Ghost Hunters crap that airs on SyFy, but I have to admit that shows like Eureka and W13 are not bad shows. In fact, I watch both.
I’m disappointed Syfy is moving away from space operas. I loved Stargate SG1 & Atlantis, Farscape, and even some of the cornier ones like Lexx and Andromeda. However, in fairness, Syfy is running SGU and Caprica, both of which fit that category.
My guess is Caprica will do fine as long as it’s well written. In my view, BSG was conceptually flawed from the start. It is not realistic to run a long term series off the premise that the remainder of humanity is 30,000 people in 12 old ships. You quickly run out of plot points, no matter how good of a writer/showrunner you are. Caprica doesn’t have that kind of limitation and should, therefore, do much better.
I think if they would have left the channel named SciFi it would have done just as well as SyFy. The channel does well cause it’s niche programming and they continue to introduce better content Y/Y. Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, SGU, Caprica and the list goes on all of it is new programming.
branding has nothing to do with it
ppl will watch gd shows period
they happened to get a couple warehouse,sanctuary
branding to Syfy had nothing to do with it
Good to see Eureka make the transfer to Friday night pretty smoothly. Friday night is much more of a cable destination now.