Us Viewers Embrace Sci Fi's 'galactica'

TCamen

Released by Sci Fi

VIEWERS EMBRACE SCI FI'S "GALACTICA"

WEEK 1 January 14th 2005

Show Debuts @ #1, 3.1 Million Viewers Tune In

SCI FI Channel kicked off 2005 with a bang, with the series premiere of its critically-acclaimed new original, 'Battlestar Galactica.' The gritty two-hour debut (Friday, January 14, 9-11pm ET) was the #1 cable program on Friday for P25-54, P18-49, M25-54, M18-49 and M18-34. It also delivered the best January performance of any program in the history of SCI FI.

With a 2.6 HH rating and 3.1 million viewers P2+, Battlestar staked its claim as:

#1 for cable (8pm-11pm) among P25-54

#1 for cable (8pm-11pm) among P18-49

#1 for cable (8pm-11pm) among M25-54

#1 for cable (8pm-11pm) among M18-49

#1 for cable (8pm-11pm) among M18-34

#2 for cable (8pm-11pm) P2+

#2 for cable (8pm-11pm) among P18-34

#4 for cable (8pm-11pm) among F25-54

#7 for cable (8pm-11pm) among F18-49

SCI FI's highest-rated January program ever

SCI FI's highest-rated 1st quarter series telecast ever

SCI FI's second highest-rated series telecast ever, behind only Stargate Atlantis' series premiere in summer 2004

The series also scored high with coveted demos, delivering 2.2 million P25-54s and 1.9 million P18-49s.

Battlestar won a decisive victory over UPN's 'Enterprise,' outperforming its new episode in total viewers, P25-54 (2.2 million vs. 1.7 million) and P18-49 (1.9 million vs. 1.5 million). In M25-54, Battlestar delivered 1.5 million viewers – beating 16 of the top 20 programs on the six broadcast nets that night, including 'JAG' and Fox's premiere of 'Jonny Zero.'

SCI FI owned Friday night among M25-54, more than doubling the demo for the nearest competition – 'CSI' on Spike TV. Also among M25-54, SCI FI claimed the Top 3 cable telecasts of the day (Battlestar's 9pm premiere and the 8:30pm and 11:30pm broadcasts of 'Battlestar Galactica: The Lowdown').

Battlestar Galactica will join SCI FI Channel's powerhouse night of original programming, "SCI FI Fridays," on January 21, assuming its regular time slot of Fridays at 10pm ET/PT. With the proven ratings muscle of 'Stargate SG-1' (8pm), 'Stargate Atlantis' (9pm) and now 'Battlestar Galactica,' Fridays are destined to become the biggest night of sci-fi on television.

WEEK 2 -- January 21st 2005

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis returned with solid ratings on January 21, though the franchise has been dethroned as The SCI FI Channel's top-rated programs by their new companion series, Battlestar Galactica. The network built on its ratings every hour of primetime.

Stargate SG-1 led off the new SCI FI Friday line-up with a 2.0 household rating in its new timeslot (8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific), drawing 2.5 million viewers for "Gemini." This was an improvement of over 80 percent from the same timeslot's first quarter average a year ago, and an increase of two-tenths of a point from the last original episode ("Endgame," September 17) and even with the season average to date.

Stargate Atlantis built on the audience at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific with a 2.1 household rating. About 2.6 million viewers tuned in for "The Eye," a 24 percent improvement over the timeslot a year ago. Atlantis also gained two-tenths of a ratings point from the summer finale ("The Storm," September 17). This week's rating is slightly down from the show's 2.3 average rating to date, boosted by the record-setting, 2-hour premiere last July.

Finally, the third episode of SCI FI's new Battlestar Galactica took the crown for the night with a 2.3 household rating at 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, down three-tenths of a point from the previous week. 2.9 million viewers tuned in for "Bastille Day," a whopping 109 percent ratings improvement over the timeslot's first quarter 2004 average.

It is the first time that new episodes of a Stargate series have aired on SCI FI and not been the network's highest-rated show since SG-1 relocated from Showtime in 2002.

The success of the network's new SCI FI Friday line-up made The SCI FI Channel number one in primetime among cable channels for the evening in several key demographics. SCI FI also ranked third overall (among viewers age two and older).

The debut of 'SCI FI Friday' - the biggest night of sci-fi on television - led SCI FI Channel to its second consecutive week as the #1 network on cable among P18-49, P25-54, M25-54 and M18-49 in Prime (8-11pm). It also marked the highest-rated and most-watched Friday SCI FI has ever delivered in first quarter.

The Winter Premieres of SCI FI's perennial viewer favorites 'Stargate SG-1' (8pm) and 'Stargate Atlantis' (9pm), combined with the critically-acclaimed 'Battlestar Galactica' (10pm), have made the Channel a viewer hotspot on Friday nights. For Friday Prime (8-11pm), SCI FI:

--Ranked in the Top 5 cable nets among P2+ (#3), P18-34s (#2), M18-34 (#2), F25-54 (#5) and F18-49 (#5), in addition to the #1 finishes reported above in P18-49s, P25-54s, M18-49s and M25-54s.

--Ranked in the Top 10 among F18-34 (#9)

--Claimed two of the Top 3 telecasts in cable among P25-54s and placed all three 8-11pm telecasts in the Top 5

--Claimed two of the Top 3 telecasts in cable among P18-49s, and placed all three 8-11pm telecasts in the Top 10

--Claimed three of the Top 4 telecasts in cable among M25-54 - including the #1 telecast of the day ('Battlestar Galactica,' 1,378,000 M25-54)

--Claimed the Top 2 telecasts in cable among M18-49 ('Battlestar Galactica', 1,254,000 M18-49; 'Stargate Atlantis' 983,000 M18-49)

--'Battlestar Galactica' at 10pm was the #2 program in cable among P18-34

SCI FI, along with sister network USA, led NBC Universal cable networks in dominating the night. With the combined strength of 'Monk' (USA), 'Battlestar Galactica' (SCI FI), 'Stargate Atlantis' (SCI FI) and 'Stargate SG-1' (SCI FI), the networks claimed four of the Top 5 shows among P25-54 for the night.

'Battlestar Galactica'

With a 2.3 HH rating/2.9 million P2+, 2 million P25-54 and 1.8 million P18-49, 'Battlestar' faced and defeated its competition. Among M25-54, the series delivered 1.4 million viewers - more than 13 of the 20 programs that aired on the broadcast networks that night, including 'Star Trek Enterprise' on UPN and 'Jonny Zero' on Fox.

When compared against SCI FI's 1Q04 time period average (10-11pm), 'Battlestar' was up:

+109% in HH ratings
+137% in P2+
+222% in P25-54
+256% in P18-49

Fenster

Damm, BSG trounced SG1 and SGA? That takes some doing.

TCamen

Damm, BSG trounced SG1 and SGA? That takes some doing.

I guess beating Stargate, plus killing 'Enterprise' makes BSG the #1 sci-fi show on TV @ the moment -- hope it keeps it up.

Nukem

Jaysus it cleaned up. Looking good for Season 2 already.

davej

Glad to see the ratings are good.

According to this article a decsion about a new series will be made at the end of this week..


http://www.syfyportal.com/article.php?id=1695

davej

Sooner or Later

fingers crossed

Nukem

Nukem does a little dance *click* *click* look at im go.

Yipeeeeee