via press release:
MGM's 'Stargate Universe' Ratings Blast Off
New Installment of Fan Franchise Favorite Scores Impressive Ratings in U.S., UK, Australia and Canada, While Attracting a Whole New Generation of Young Fans Best Franchise Premiere Performance in Four Years - U.S. Biggest 'Stargate' Audience in Almost Five Years - UK Highest Rated Single Episode Ever - Canada One of the Highest Rated Shows for the Week on Pay Television - Australia
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Edgier in tone and sporting a versatile and high profile cast, MGM's hour-long, sci-fi series Stargate Universe (SGU) is on the fast track to becoming the most successful installment in Stargate franchise history. Reporting impressive debuts in the U.S., the UK, Canada and Australia, SGU is attracting a large number of younger viewers and proving that a new generation of fans is embracing the next era of Stargate.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011119/MGMLOGO)
"With this success, SGU continues to be a very important franchise in the MGM family along with James Bond, Pink Panther, The Hobbit and Rocky," said Gary Marenzi, Co-President, MGM Worldwide Television. "We anticipate global success for the series as SGU continues its roll out around the world and we are thrilled that younger audiences worldwide are discovering and embracing our very addictive series."
"Many of our characters are younger, inexperienced and should not be on this mission," added Brad Wright, co-creator of SGU. "This opens the door to relationships and storylines that younger audiences want to see."
SGU debuted in the U.S. on Syfy to the best franchise premiere performance in four years, drawing more than 2.3 million viewers. The series grabbed 2.35 million total viewers with 1.32 million Adults 25-54, and 1.12 million Adults 18-49 during its two-hour debut.
In Canada, SGU premiered on SPACE with a record breaking audience of 565,000 making it SPACE's highest rated single episode ever. SGU was the #1 non-sports specialty program of the day for Adults 25-54 and A18-49. SPACE is the Canadian English language cable television specialty channel owned and operated by CTVglobemedia.
Launching on Sky1 in the UK, SGU delivered 1,042,000 viewers for episode one and 961,000 for episode two, earning the series the biggest "Stargate" audience in almost five years.
In Australia, SGU was the best performing show on the Sci-Fi pay television platform, posting a 6.4% share. This performance represented an increase of 411% in the time slot (Fridays 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.) versus the previous programming of the last four weeks. SGU is well on its way of being one of the highest rated shows for the week on pay television in Australia.
SGU represents the next frontier for the legions of Stargate fans. The series is decidedly smarter, edgier and more youthful in tone and takes the franchise into a dynamic new direction. The dramatic series is fueled with complex plot twists, suspenseful cliffhangers and an all-star cast that includes Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting, 28 Weeks Later), Lou Diamond Phillips (Che, La Bamba) and Ming-Na (ER, Vanished).
Based on the 1994 feature film "Stargate," MGM's sci-fi franchise was born in 1997 when "Stargate SG-1" (SG-1) made its television premiere on Showtime. After five seasons, the series moved to the Sci-Fi Channel where the award-winning drama ran until 2007. With 10 seasons and 214 episodes, SG-1 surpassed "The X-Files" in 2007 as the longest-running North American science fiction series on television. The next chapter in the Stargate franchise, "Stargate Atlantis," premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel and The Movie Network in 2004. With five seasons and 100 episodes under its belt; the series ended its successful run in January 2009.
Great news! I don’t know if its reliable or not, but a post at Gateworld provided Air part 3 ratings:
Air, Part 3 ratings:
1.8 HH rtg.
2.4 million viewers
1.4 million Adult 18-49 viewers.
Something is odd here. Why is MGM jumping in so soon? Hmmmm. I will be watching this show’s rating very closely. There’s entirely too much PR involved and every time I’ve seen that happen something has always been ‘off’ somewhere.
MGM is jumping in so soon because they are almost bankrupt. They desperately need a hit right now, and SGU’s numbers are impressive enough (so far) to give them hope.
@dsfjr1190 that’s what I mean. The numbers are respectable and the 18-49 are certainly higher than the old SG shows towards the end but the numbers aren’t that great for a premier. W13 and Eureka did much better. I think everyone wants this show to look really good because of the money spent on PR and because of the situations MGM and NBCU find themselves in. I don’t trust companies when they start blowing the PR horn with so little to go on. These numbers for the US only look good if you didn’t know the numbers for the previous shows or for Syfy’s other shows that lately premiered. If Sanctuary kicked SGU’s behind with its premier well, hmmmm.
3 hours in and Ming-Na & Lou Diamond Philips are totally underused in the story so far.
This show is sort of like a mash up of House(unlikable genius running things), BSG(edgy anti-military/heroes themes), & tech provided by previous Stargate shows. Like BSG, I could see ratings start to trend down and probably get ths hook a lot earlier than previous SG shows.
@Cimmer
I don’t think MGM has anything to do with Eureka, W13.
The fact is Stargate is one of MGM’s most profitable franchises. They are pleased with how its doing.
SYFY seems pleased so far as well.
@dsfjr1190 I know MGM has nothing to do with W13 and Eureka, I should have made clear that as premiers go on the Syfy channel it’s not that great compared to aging Eureka and freshman W13. Syfy is spinning so far. Those numbers only look good if you can’t compare them to previous numbers although the 18-49 is up. I’ll just keep an eye on it. I have a feeling about this show. I can’t put my finger on it but something is off.
It did FANTASTIC in Australia. #6 Pay TV show for the week and the highest ratings for SCI FI ever
Keem in mind that Eureka and W13 were both in the middle of summer against repeats pretty much. While I expected a little more from SGU it’s ratings seem pretty good for going up against mostly new programming even if it is Friday nights.
Also while I agree about Lou Diamond Philips I see how you can bring him in more considering he’s not even on the ship. I don’t think you want to go overboard with the communication device body swapping.
Make that I don’t see how.
Ack, evil stylesheets are back!
You notice that they didn’t provide the dates. These are not LAST FRIDAY’s (OCT 9th) ratings. They are regurgitating the numbers from Oct 2nd, which is a BAD sign.
@dsjr1190 – I am sure that those numbers are wrong because if they were true, MGM and Syfy would be singing them from the roof tops to say that the show is gaining viewership. In reality, this show’s ratings must have tanked week 2, and that’s why they haven’t released those ratings.
If it really did 1m+ on Sky that’s a huge reach and possibly Sky’s biggest numbers of the year.
Other sources are saying 1.8
SG-U is more a mix of Lost, BSG and a large amount of interpersonal drama like ER. They “lost” the “Lost” bit when they allow them to talk to home so quick with those black stones.
Unfortunately, they began with a filler episode. Nothing really happened on that Sahara planet. I hope the come into gears quickly, because that stupid “counting clock before FTL jump” trick isn’t going to last long.
But I can see, that they try really hard to get off that core fanbase somehow. If they can keep that mix, they can probably get even more people to tune in. See the truth: I can’t see any other big true scifi show currently running weekly, at least until “V” starts.
When i first saw the preview for this i though BSG and Voyager, most of my family liked it but is still have to watch the rest of the first episode
I think it is the best science fiction show since Battlestar.
The fact that this show is only on pay-tv in Australia is ridiculous. They could at least put it on GO! or replace the time-slot channel seven fills with the Amazing Race, and put that at an earlier time like they did when Atlantis was in it’s third season.
Good numbers, anyway the show is really boring at all.
Its like watching BSG + Firefly, but WITH NO BATTLES.
Dont get me wrong, the CGI, are nice, the ship design, gosh, its GREAT, being in an ancient ship, AWESOME, traveling faster than light, WOOHOO., but still, is just talking (4 episodes till now, and the same bla bla).
I guess the idea was to renew the fans, but honestly, the show is not working for someone who watch the Saga since the movie.