OK, as a Stargate fan I must ask if there has even been a Stargate Franchise premiere in four years? (update: these numbers beat season premieres of Stargate SG-1 Season 10, Stargate Atlantis Season 3, Stargate Atlantis Season 4, and Stargate Atlantis Season 5).
It edged out Dollhouse in viewers between 9pm-10pm (and calls that out!) and also details the numbers from 9p-11p. Via Syfy press release:
**RATINGS ALERT**
SYFY CONTINUES RATINGS ROLL AS Stargate Universe POSTS BEST STARGATE FRANCHISE PREMIERE PERFORMANCE IN FOUR YEARS
SGU Outdelivers FOX’s Dollhouse at 9PM
New York, NY – October 3, 2009 - Following record ratings for Warehouse 13, Eureka, Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth during its most-watched third quarter ever, Syfy’s viewership surge since the July 7 brand evolution continued on Friday, October 2, when Stargate Universe premiered to the best franchise premiere performance in four years, drawing more than 2.3 million viewers – and besting FOX’s Dollhouse at 9PM (ET/PT).
Stargate Universe, which stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na, grabbed 2.35 million total viewers along with a 1.7 HH rating, 1.32 million Adults 25-54, and 1.12 million Adults 18-49 during its two-hour debut episode from 9-11PM (ET/PT).
Stargate Universe Premiere Highlights
- This is the best performance for a Stargate franchise season premiere on Syfy since season 2 of Stargate Atlantis on 7/15/05.
- Among Adults 18-49, the 1.12 million viewers is the best performance for a Friday series premiere since Battlestar Galactica debuted on 1/14/05.
- Stargate Universe's 2.3 million total viewers surpassed the 2.1 million total viewers that watched Dollhouse on FOX at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Edgier and younger in tone, SGU takes the franchise in a dynamic new direction, appealing to longtime Stargate fans and first-time viewers alike. The two-part premiere of Universe was directed by Andy Mikita (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1) and lensed by Rohn Schmidt (The Shield, The Mist). The series also stars Alaina Huffman, Louis Ferreira, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Jamil Walker Smith and Brian J. Smith.
SGU follows a band of soldiers, scientists and civilians, who must fend for themselves as they are forced through a Stargate when their hidden base comes under attack. The desperate survivors emerge aboard an ancient ship, which is locked on an unknown course and unable to return to Earth. Faced with meeting the most basic needs of food, water and air, the group must unlock the secrets of the ship’s Stargate to survive. The danger, adventure and hope they find on board the Destiny will reveal the heroes and villains among them.
Robert Cooper and Brad Wright, of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, serve as executive producers and writers. Stargate Universe is distributed by MGM Worldwide Television Distribution.
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.)
About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching approximately 120 countries and territories around the world. MGM ownership is currently as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), Texas Pacific Group (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit www.mgmchannel.com
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More like a RickRoll…
It seems like SyFy is happy with it. Usually companies wait until monday for these press releases if they aren’t happy with the performance.
or issue no press releases at all…
it beat dollhouse hahahahahahaha
Atleast 1 season of Sg-1 and 2 seasons of Atlantis have premiered since then and that was in the summer season afaik.
I think they are managing publicity differently now at SyFy, witness the media and internet exposure they gave this premier. Craig Engler has been a Tweeting machine on Twitter and many of the actors/producers/stunt folk/crew were recruited to get in on the act.
It looks to me like they feel the best defense is a good offense, and want to get out ahead of the slightly disappointing numbers for the premier with a rah rah press release.
Rather than let folks pick them apart on the net all weekend.
I added it to the text above, but according to Syfy it beat the *season* premieres of Stargate SG-1 Season 10, Stargate Atlantis Season 3, Stargate Atlantis Season 4, and Stargate Atlantis Season 5.
I guess I don’t get the thinking around why SGU premiering as well as BSG finished (against similar competition) is disappointing, but my expectations for Syfy Fridays in the normal broadcast season may be tamped down more than others
And didn’t the record SGA get was when it premiered in the summer? So they can’t be compared.
Has anyone else noticed that, of SyFy’s original shows, the ones that are further away from traditional SyFy seem to do better?
Assuming SU drops a little from it’s premiere (every show does) that will put it under Eureka which itself is under Warehouse 13. To me that’s a clear hierarchy in that Startgate is traditional SyFy, Eureka is traditional SyFy in the real world (still dealing with technology, other dimensions, etc…) while Warehouse 13 is basically a character drama with fantastic elements as the backdrop.
It’ll be interesting to see how this influences future series decisions for SyFy
That’s not too bad at all, really. Maybe I’m just letting the excellent PR work in that article get the best of me, I’m ready to admit that. But it does make some decent enough points, such as blatantly bragging about besting Dollhouse. Heh.
It’s good to see it posted the best 18-49 numbers since BSG’s original series premiere and all, but is 1.12 really all that stellar by any means, though? I have a feeling Skiffy (I’m still going to call them that, dangit) was hoping for a good bit more in that regard, considering it’s no secret they were aiming for a big buster there.
But Robert, it’s a series premier although I love the spin and agree ‘the best defense is a good offense’ because saying it was the best premier in 4 years is’ huh’? Love PR people though, glass is always half full. lol
Jeff, it will depend on the DVR numbers, but by my math 1.12M is pretty much right between a .8-.9. adults 18-49 rating
“I guess I don’t get the thinking around why SGU premiering as well as BSG finished (against similar competition) is disappointing, but my expectations for Syfy Fridays in the normal broadcast season may be tamped down more than others”
I don’t think comparing the two is wise, because any serialized show is going to see a drop in viewership from start to finish. I also found it interesting that the press release didn’t actually publish the hour by hour 18-49 rating share. It only gave the raw number total for 2 hours, which by itself means very little. I’m guessing it was a 0.8 rating share for 18-49, which is not that great for a premiere. Next week will be the real test.
@ Tom:
I, too, have noticed that throughout the more recent years with the network. They themselves said they really wanted a replacement ‘space-themed’ show back when SGU was first being touted as ‘watch this!’ material, and they can’t possibly be oblivious to what you and I have seen. That said, hopefully they feel it’s worth it, even if this show has got to be the most expensive of the three to produce.
If the network and parent company are hellbent enough on having a ‘space staple’ in their lineup, and are willing to shell out the extra money to attract clientele there that might be hesitant to watch Eureka or Warehouse 13, then I say let this continue. Let’s just hope the dropoff isn’t terrible.
Thanks, Robert. Oh, and Big Boss, great user name. I love that character.
I think the reason why I would feel they are a bit disappointing is that Universe was promoted as brand new and exciting, a show that even those who weren’t in to the other Stargate shows would tune in to watch.
That they are getting almost the same numbers as the others did after several years of being on air begs the question as to why make a new, more expensive series in the first place?
If all they are going to do is get the same numbers?
Now if the demos are better, then they will have reason to be happy.
Are they markedly better? Enough to justify 1 million more spent per ep?
And since shows usually (not always) loose viewers after the premier, it will be interesting to see if Universe follows that trend too.
But I wish them luck with it, there are too few original scripted shows out there as it is.
Well, I wouldn’t watch a spin-off of a show that I didn’t like or watch, and it looks like other people wouldn’t either.
And if I never watched SG1 or SGA, then SGU would have confused the hell out of me.
So, I think it was a pipe’s dream trying to get new fans interested.
Well, remember that SYFY’s ratings have gone down since the mid 2000′s, I think because of increased competition in Friday night programming and increasing use of DVR’s. I could remember when Stargate SG1 would get 1.8-2.0 ratings every single week.
Be that as it may, good for SGU. I hope the show does well. I was very disappointed when Stargate Atlantis was canceled and am glad that a third show has taken up that banner.
I can see why they put out the press release though, even though the numbers probably aren’t what they wanted; how could they not after all the promotion they’ve done? If they didn’t say anything everybody would assume the numbers are worse than they are so they had to get them out there and try and spin this thing into a win.