The fourth episode of Stargate Universe‘s second season made for the franchise’s first trip south of the 1 million mark for live viewing. “Pathogen” drew an estimated 974,000 viewers yesterday, according to sources at PIFeedback.com. This is a drop of over 20 percent from the previous week’s season high.
Caprica didn’t fare any better, following up at 10 p.m. with 718,000 viewers. Like SGU, it’s a series-low for the Battlestar Galactica spin-off.
On the big networks, ratings champs NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) and Dancing With the Stars (ABC) owned the night once again in the 9 p.m. time slot, with 16 million and 15.5 million viewers, respectively.
Adding to the competition this month are the Major League Baseball postseason games on FOX and TBS. Stargate and Caprica faced off against Game 4 of the ALCS (Yankees vs. Rangers), which grabbed 9.846 million viewers.
The good news for Stargate is that most of the U.S. viewers are still there, but are catching up on DVR or online later in the week. Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi reports on his blog that the new DVR numbers (Live + 7 Days) for the season premiere, “Intervention,” show a 78 percent jump from the live, 9 p.m. viewing number and around 40 percent from the “Live + Same Day” (which is what we report here).
That means that around 1.65 million people are still watching SGU on Syfy Channel — just not on Tuesdays.
Meanwhile, Syfy’s Sanctuary proved last week that there is still science fiction (and ratings) to be had on Friday nights. The season premiere drew 1.787 million viewers (1.3 household rating) on October 15, 17 percent higher than last season’s average. That episode followed Syfy’s new 2-hour block of WWE Smackdown (2.876 million viewers).
Tune in next Tuesday at 9 p.m. (8 Central) for another brand new episode of Stargate Universe, “Cloverdale!” And keep your browser locked on GateWorld throughout the week as we roll out our full coverage of “Pathogen,” including a summary and plot analysis, a complete episode transcript, HD screen captures, updates to The Stargate Omnipedia, and next Monday’s podcast.
Thats all folks.
This is awful.
So long SGU. It was nice knowing you. :'(
So You Think You Can Dance is on FOX and on during the summer. You must be thinking of Dancing With the Stars.
I think they will cancel SGU after this season.
end it with the second half of the season. this show has the chance that sga did not. there will not be a season 3
Honestly, I’m not at all surprised, moving it against NCIS was a really bad move. Combined with the overall lower ratings from SGU than Atlantis pulled, and that SGU costs twice as much per episode as Atlantis did, I think SGU’s going to get canceled. It gets less ratings but costs more. Very clearly, a bad expenditure for Syfy channel. With MGM’s financial trouble, they’ll probably have a hard time starting anything again with the Stargate franchise. Syfy isn’t likely to pay for a sinking ship to make something new. I’d hope they’d try to bring back Atlantis, or a… Read more »
Number of people who DVR the show? Approximately 500k, the same number as last season. Viewers that were lost didn’t timeshift, they dropped the show altogether or they watch it during a time that’s not counted by Nielsen anymore.
Like I said, the Lucian Alliance? Pffffft. Congratulations to Mr. Anderson.
I think they will move it back to Fridays
Shame…I actually really like this episode too!
I never watch TV live anymore. I prefer Hulu and Verizon Video on Demand.
They really need to move SGU back to Friday. The audience is obviously still there, and there are people who watch the show, but there is just too much competition on Tuesday nights during this time of the year. A lot of people seem to like Caprica as well, but given that its first couple of episodes for this season are also below 1 million it makes sense to air both Caprica and SGU on Fridays which is the traditional night for Stargate and BSG.
I’m hoping that DVR numbers drive that final number back up and that this is a sports related glitch.
Damn. This spells the end of SGU unless they decide to give it one more shot and move it back to Friday maybe with a shorter season.
Well I hope they werent hoping to bad the ratings with online viewings. New eps will now be delayed 30 days! Online ratings will tank now along with live lol so sad
@xxxevilgrinxxx
They do take competition into account when renewal decisions come about but sadly DVR is not counted.
If this isn’t a clear signal to the shows producers that the new format is not working I think we will soon see an end to the Stargate franchise. I loved SG1 and SGA and in some ways SGU however I do think the original format was more watchable for the established Stargate fans. I really hope this is not the start of the end for Stargate and hope they can turn it around back into the show we all hoped it would be. I beleive the shows success upto this point has been from the existing fans from SG1… Read more »
Wow… this is a shocker for me… It could spell the end. But, I think it will get a third season and the second half will be moved back to Friday nights, and they will probably only order half of a seaons for season three, the second half pending.
No big surprise, SyFy is exercising their infinite wisdom and putting this show up against some hard hitters. It was perfect on Friday night but no, let’s get some wrestling in there. Nice job SyFy, way to loose an audience
Warehouse 13 got on Tuesday against the same strong competition in the week before SGU’s premiere 2.23 million viewers live + SD. The viewers are there on Syfy, if there is a good series. A lot of people just don’t like SGU and Caprica. Stop blaming the time slot. And they won’t moved SGU back to Friday. Last Friday Syfy got the following ratings: WWE Smackdown (120 minutes) – 2.876 million viewers – 1.6/3 HH – 0.9/3 A18-49 Sanctuary – 1.787 million viewers – 1.1/2 HH – 0.6/2 A18-49 Syfy is very happy with the current Friday ratings. There was… Read more »
The show has continued to grow on me and here is hoping for season 3 renewal. Syfy just needs to move it back to Friday or shift the show to a totally different airing schedule (e.g. during the off months). The competition on Tuesday nights is just too stiff during the fall. Even I am guilty of not watching live on Tuesday nights, all because my wife wants to watch Dancing with the Stars (ughh) instead. Maybe SGU should be paired with Sanctuary instead. I also don’t understand why Syfy thinks that Star Trek TNG is an ratings boosting lead… Read more »
This episode was the first epidode of Stargate in a long time that really did not interest me at all. So I didn’t watch. I might eventually, but people have been infected with alien skin things before. I wish SyFy would air SGU in the summer like it used to. For some reason they seem to think that they can compete with networks. They’re wrong. Cable never does as well, and on top of that sci-fi programming never does as well as more traditional shows. They can’t honestly expect SGU to compete on a Tuesday night during the regular TV… Read more »
Here’s a grand idea: move the story along! & whoever the genius was that decided Tuesday was a great night should be fired. Another thing, we’ve all seen STV, & BSG so let’s actually use the gate an visit a few worlds and learn a few things. The “drama” is getting old.
It’s not necessarily good news that fans are watching not watching on Tuesday. Yet, it’s not like others shows aren’t experiencing the same effect of viewers no longer watching it live. I hate to be the downer, but moving it back to fridays would not work. They’ll lose even more viewers. IMO, SGU wasn’t strong enough to move to Tuesdays in the first place, yes their are more fish to hunt, but their are also more sharks in the water as well.
why, why do you ppl keep killing me shows!!! is that hard just to left the tv on???
The next episode will be do or die for SGU.
I tried to get into SGU, and still watch it occasionally; but I still will be sad to see it go, if only because it will mean the franchise will likely lie dormant for some time.
On the bright side: maybe the Syfy execs will look into bringing better Sci fi shows over to the network. Maybe even *crosses fingers* bringing Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles to this this channel. TSCC even at the end of the run, still did over double the ratings of SGU. And on Syfy it would probably do even better.
SGU seriously should go back to being a summer show, being paired with Warehouse 13 or even going back to Friday’s. Honestly guys, why did they move SGU to Fall / Winter?
I must admit. As much as i would like to see Stargate universe. I would rather watch both Ncis, and Nci LA, first. Then i come back and watch stargate at 11pm. this way i get to watch all 3 without having to record anything.
SyFy needs to do a better job and scheduling these things. Maybe they should try Wed, or Thursday nights?
SGU would be fine if they could just solve the problem of THE AWFUL PLOTS. They have twisted the concept of “story arc” into a long drawn out soap opera on a prison ship. How many episodes in a row do secrets need to persist, situations go unresolved, mysteries continue to annoy. You can see the actors are trying and doing an OK job but their hands are tied. No more “stones” episodes. No more Rush’s secret inner world please! Stick to cool new planets, aliens, different sets, and why is it always SO DARK in destiny? The format for… Read more »
@New Guy I think they might bring in Low budget sci-Fi, which are poorly written and extremely cheesy because the thing is SGU is a high budget show and yet for some reason they are not pulling in the number. The show needs some adventure, I personally think it’s poorly written. Some of the plots end too quickly and there is very little gate travel. They need to kill off Camile Wray she is useless character and also a couple of the other characters as well. SGU is just too depressing and it’s pretty much the same old boring stuff… Read more »
It’s amazing that people want to watch such brain-dead TV like Wrestling.
@Chevron Atlantis
I couldn’t disagree more. I love Wray she is a great character and I personally think SGU is written very well. I just think it is too different for most Stargate fans which IMO is too bad since it means it will likely end with season 2.
That’s it. That’s the end.
SyFy is much like FOX in the way they knee-jerk and cancel things at the drop of a hat, so this will be the catalyst that brings SGU to an end.
There won’t be a 3rd Season.
BYE
The downward trend from season one continues. Can we just put this show out of everyones misery and go back to some fun and upbeat Stargate now? Please?
Also is there any chance we could get the numbers for Star Trek TNG? It would be interesting to see how many people tuned in to that.
Since when does Live +7 mean a damn thing? As we were told *many* times during SGA’s run “Live +7 does not get shows renewed.” So really, that’s a moot point. I’m not sure why people insist on using that number as some sort of positive spin, like it carries any weight whatsoever. And the previous shows in the franchise faced things like Baseball playoffs, Olympics, Presidential Debates, and the sort and they didn’t fall below 1 million viewers *live*. Sanctuary is sitting up at, I think for last week, 1.8? So its not that people aren’t watching scripted Scifi… Read more »
I don’t believe SyFy will actually cancel SGU based on these silly rating numbers. SGU has a LOT of viewers, they just don’t have those stupid Neilson boxes. This is a turning point for television… networks will have to learn that the old rules don’t apply, and that an ever-increasing number of people do not watch live television no matter what it is. Sci-fi fans are even less likely to play by the antiquated rules. I’m optimistic SyFy will realize how worthless these ratings are, and SGU will not be in any jeopardy. It is the most awesome incarnation of… Read more »
Completely wasted the momentum and interest from last week. This is exemplary of what is wrong with this series, awful pacing… I loved BSG so I’m accustomed to a drawn out story arc but this is beyond the pale… The writers/producers screwed this one up and wasted a great premise…
I can’t watch this show live and only using my DVR/SageTV.. Not because I’m not avail when its airing, but because I have got to be able to fast forward through the slow parts – this show drives me nuts and the only reason I even tune in is because it is stargate.. and once in awhile I’ll get some sort of tidbit of a fix, but not too often..
What’s more stupid is that a number of people will see this as:
1. Vindication.
2. A chance for Atlantis to come back.
… neither of which are true.
No Stargate on the air is bad for everyone.
BYE
This is not just SGU, it’s the network as a whole. No one even realizes good science fiction exists when you’re marketing “WRESTLING” as your main focus and some guys looking for a ghost (aka fart-riffle) in an attic. The years of “syfy” being SCI-FI were gone about 4 years ago!!
Awww thats to bad, i rally like the show.
Well i guess its it for the franschise, we might get a movie or two,hopefully, but i will surely miss stargate as a series, and i doubt we will get a nice reboot as the star trek franschise.
Unfortunate news for Stargate Universe, but not at all unexpected. This show simply does not have the wide appeal that SG-1 and Atlantis had. Robber-faced, English speaking aliens and all. If viewers want “dark and gritty drama in space”, there are always reruns of Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5. Where do we go for Stargate? Certainly not Stargate Universe. So, for me…a 15 year fan of the franchise, Stargate ended with the cancellation of Atlantis. This show was never popular with fans, and TPTB were told by the fans that doing SGU was a mistake. But even more infuriating is… Read more »
I feel bad for the fans of the show, I don’t think it will see Season 3. Hopefully now the writers can write a fitting ending and wrap up the series in a satisfactory fashion.
@Sylvia: Nope, not gonna happen. IIRC, they are already working on the season finale script or maybe it’s already done. Mallozzi said that the season finale will be just that, a season finale, even if the show doesn’t get picked up for S3. If it doesn’t, they plan to push for a movie.
Well, I already accepted that it is very likely it won’t get session 3. I sweeten it with thoughts how high class and watchable these series have been.
However, I would like to point out that this episode was very well known for using stones. Afaik those guys who don’t like them skipped it (or recorded for watching it later). So it might be very possible that for next episode we will be back to old numbers.
@Mitchell82 well there is very little gate travel in the show, the name of the show is stargate isn’t? ;) Anyway I just feel she has no relevance in the show as she does nothing but moan and is depressed pretty much most of the time. She might be a great actress in other roles but in the role of Camile Wray she’s terrible. Guys like Rusch and Eli are at least decent to watch in the show and they have some relevance in the show.
Anyway it’s a sad day for stargate, I don’t think this show will get renewed for a 3rd season. They cancelled a perfectly good show like SG-1 or SGA for this which cost more money and is pulling in less number. I’ll watch the remaining episodes though.
Some people keep bitching that “My wife or significant other/ life partner wanted to watch Dancing with the stars or Live with Emeril”. WTH? haven’t anyone heard the concept of having 2 TV’s in a house? I have 2 kids and we have 3 TV’s. You don’t need to have a 58″ 1080i Plasma for everyone, even a 20″ which cost about $250-300 if YOU really want to watch YOUR crappy show, or banish your life partner to watch their crappy show on the crappy TV. If there’s a will there’s always a way. Enough with the lame excuses. You… Read more »