Sci Fi December Ratings Place

[CosmicTheorist]

I told you all previously that the first 2 weeks in December would be an unfair year ago comparison for Skiffy. Now you're going to see what I mean. For the first time I'm including the 18-34 demographic numbers; previously these numbers were left out because Skiffy never placed in this demographic table. Without further ado, here are the numbers.

Medialifemagazine.com has their report on the first week of December here:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/dec03/dec08/3_wed/news5wednesday.html

Summarizing, SciFi's performance in Primetime for the week ending December 7, 2003:

Primetime (PT)
Households: 802,000 (14th Place) {-64% Year Ago (YAG)}
Adults 18-34: > 280,000 (not placed) {-53% YAG at least}
Adults 18-49: > 562,000 (not placed) {-65% YAG at least}
Adults 25-54: 654,000 (8th Place) {-67% YAG} <== 82% VPH

Total Day (TD)
Households: 409,000 (17th Place) {-45% YAG}
Adults 18-34: > 174,000 (not placed) {-7% YAG at least}
Adults 18-49: > 304,000 (not placed) {-40% YAG at least}
Adults 25-54: 327,000 (8th Place) {-46% YAG} <== 80% VPH

Here's the report for the same week in 2002:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/dec02/dec09/3_wed/news5wednesday.html

Summarizing, SciFi's performance in Primetime for the week ending December 8, 2002:

PT
Households: 2,233,000 (1st Place)
Adults 18-34: 590,000 (3rd Place) <== 26% VPH
Adults 18-49: 1,588,000 (1st Place) <== 71% VPH
Adults 25-54: 1,967,000 (1st Place) <== 88% VPH

TD
Households: 738,000 (7th Place)
Adults 18-34: 188,000 (9th Place) <== 25% VPH
Adults 18-49: 505,000 (4th Place) <== 68% VPH
Adults 25-54: 603,000 (1st Place) <== 82% VPH

In the first week of December, 2002, Skiffy had the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 15th, and 16th placed shows in Media Life Magazine's top 25 ad-supported cable programs; I haven't been listing cable programs before because Skiffy never made that list before in these analyses. Skiffy had the 3rd and 10th most watched shows in the 18-49 demographic. And all 5 parts of Taken placed in the top 10 most watched shows for the 25-54 demographic: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th.

I told you it was unfair.

;)

[Tiriel]

If they somehow manage to spin this such that their "longest uninterrupted ratings increase" string stays in place, I'll vote them for president.

Love and Peace and :eek:

Tiriel :bounce:

[CosmicTheorist]

That streak ended with October of this year. October was Skiffy's 17th consecutive month of year-over-year ratings growth, and undoubtedly some kind of television record. It was a very good and long run for them and it ended in November of this year. For November of 2003 Skiffy's monthly household ratings average was 6% lower then the average household ratings for November of 2002.

;)

[Digger]

It will be interesting to see how they perform starting in January when SG1 starts up again. Aside from the monster of the week movies every saturday night all they'll have for a while is SG1 right? If SG1 should slip even just a little......

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by Digger
It will be interesting to see how they perform starting in January when SG1 starts up again. Aside from the monster of the week movies every saturday night all they'll have for a while is SG1 right? If SG1 should slip even just a little......

Yep. Until March, their schedule on Friday will be SG1, reruns of Tremors (which are surprisingly doing 0.9's, and a series they acquired from the UK that is new to the U.S.

It kinda reminds me of 1st Quarter 2002.

[Stargate2077]

Is the show that they acquired possibly called Tripping the Rift?

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by Stargate2077
Is the show that they acquired possibly called Tripping the Rift?

No. It's called "Code Name: Eterrnity". Their programmers do have a knack for finding stuff that is already produced, but has had limited exposure to fill in spots when they need them. Like "Tracker" last year.

"Tripping the Rift" really is a SciFi-produced series. It doesn't premiere until March.

BTW--I wanted to tell those here who are interested in watching the ratings, that the Programming Insider has added cable network ratings to his daily overnight reports. It's not by program but they do show the Primetime average and its difference from the previous year. It's not the final national overnights, but the earlier ones that are just the major markets(AKA "Primetime Metered Market Ratings). Still, it is a directional hint of how they are doing and its shown almost daily.

The column is at mediaweek.com, but you can sign up for an e-mail that is sent to you directly every day.

Here's an example for Thursday night's ratings:

Cable Overnights:

What follows are ratings for the key competing cable networks in primetime (with percent change versus the comparable year-ago week in parentheses):

USA: 1.8 (+50), TBS: 1.7 (+89), TNT: 1.6 (+33), Lifetime: 1.5 (-21), MTV: 1.4 (+56), History: 1.1 (+38), FX: 0.8 (+33), TLC: 0.8 (+33), A&E: 0.8 (-33), Sci Fi: 0.8 (-74), Discovery: 0.7 (-22), Comedy Central: 0.6 (-25), Spike TV: 0.6 (-33), Bravo: 0.3 (-40)

Source: Nielsen Media Research


The "-74" percentage is indicative of the change from having Taken last year. Only Monday and Tuesday, which were dominated by Battlestar Galactica did well on a year-to-year basis.

Because of BSG, this second week of December is likely to not have drastic a decrease from the previous year as last week's did.

[Davesnothome]

"Code Name: Eterrnity" description sounds a bit like "Tracker". Aliens come to earth with evil plans. Good guy aliens, with the help of human allies attempt to stop them. Billy Dee Williams is a prominient guest star.

The other unique thing about this series is, production was on The Isle of Man. Either 24 or 26 episodes were produced.

Dave

[CosmicTheorist]

I think I understand Skiffy's advertising strategy for BSG. I mostly watch The Cartoon Network now that I no longer watch Skiffy. I saw one ad for BSG and that ad was not during "Adult Swim"; Adult Swim is the Cartoon Network's late night block of programming that attracts a lot of 18-34 eyeballs. Skiffy wasn't as interested in those eyeballs for BSG as they were for Tremors and Scare Tactics, and they were right. BSG did best in those demos with people old enough to recognize the name "Battlestar Galactica." Without further ado, here are the numbers.

Medialifemagazine.com has their report on the second week of December here:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2003/dec03/dec15/3_wed/news5wednesday.html

Summarizing, SciFi's performance in Primetime for the week ending December 14, 2003:

Primetime (PT)
Households: 1,417,000 (7th Place) {-30% Year Ago (YAG)}
Adults 18-34: 423,000 (5th Place) {-29% YAG at least} 30% VPH
Adults 18-49: 1,068,000 (3rd Place) {-25% YAG at least} 75% VPH
Adults 25-54: 1,279,000 (1st Place) {-27% YAG} <== 90% VPH

Total Day (TD)
Households: 511,000 (12th Place) {-22% YAG}
Adults 18-34: > 168,000 (not placed)
Adults 18-49: 369,000 (7th Place) {-11% YAG at least} 72% VPH
Adults 25-54: 424,000 (7th Place) {-17% YAG} <== 83% VPH

Here's the report for the same week in 2002:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/dec02/dec16/3_wed/news4wednesday.html

Summarizing, SciFi's performance in Primetime for the week ending December 15, 2002:

PT
Households: 2,017,000 (1st Place)
Adults 18-34: 593,000 (3rd Place) <== 29% VPH
Adults 18-49: 1,430,000 (1st Place) <== 71% VPH
Adults 25-54: 1,747,000 (1st Place) <== 87% VPH

TD
Households: 738,000 (7th Place)
Adults 18-34: > 174,000 (not placed)
Adults 18-49: 414,000 (7th Place) <== 64% VPH
Adults 25-54: 512,000 (4th Place) <== 79% VPH

Part 2 of BSG ranked number 15 among ad supported cable programs; the first part did not make into the top 25 list of programs. In fact the first part only made it into the top 10 programs for the 25-54 demographic. However, Part 2 did rank number 7 for the programs watched by the 18-34 demo, and it ranked 3 for the 18-49 demo. Part 2 ranked number 2 for the 25-54 demographic, and Part 1 ranked number 8 for this demo. Media Life Magazine did not even mention Skiffy or its Battlestar mini-series in this article.

By contrast, for the second week of December in 2002, Media life Magazine devoted 3 paragraphs to the second week of Taken. Taken Parts 9, 10, 6, and 8 ranked as numbers 2-5 of the top 25 ad supported cable programs, and Taken Part 7 ranked number 14. Interestingly, none of Taken's parts made it into the top 10 programs for the 18-34 demographic, but all 5 parts made it into the top 10 lists of programs for both the 18-49 and the 25-54 demographics.

There was a Farscape mini-marathon on Monday December 8, but I would not have a clue how to extract a "Farscape" effect from all the "noise" made by BSG and Taken in this data.

This may be the last ratings report for December; last year Media Life did not publish any ratings articles for the 3rd and 4th weeks of December. In fact, they didn't publish until after New Year's. Those inconsiderate folks must take this holiday season stuff seriously. Imagine.

;)

[Digger]

"Code Name: Eterrnity" description sounds a bit like "Tracker". Aliens come to earth with evil plans. Good guy aliens, with the help of human allies attempt to stop them. Another rip-off of "I Come in Peace".

[Davesnothome]

Hey, ripping off a good 'B' movie isn't such a bad idea! Especially if it's done with some flair! "I Come in Peace" has its moments!


Dave

[Digger]

"I Come in Peace" has its moments! I thought so too. Some good unintentional comedy due to the acting talents of Dolf Lundgren. It also has the very cool Brian BenBen who starred in the HBO series "Dream On".

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by CosmicTheorist
There was a Farscape mini-marathon on Monday December 8, but I would not have a clue how to extract a "Farscape" effect from all the "noise" made by BSG and Taken in this data.


The average rating for all programs running in the M-F Noon-4P daypart is a 0.3. The average rating that Farscape delivered for the maathon was a 0.3.

[Dominar of Action]

Can someone remind me what times the FS marathon aired? I've tried to look in other posts but can't seem to find it. Just curious as to whether the overlap with the 12-4 time period is 100% or not.

[stlscape]

I'm pretty sure it started at 11:00 Eastern and ran until 4:00.

[SynapticSurge]

I'm pretty sure I watched a 11-4 block of Farscape on the 16th (yesterday) on Sci Fi while I was bored at home.

Anyone know why Sci Fi seems to be pulling so many Scape re-runs these days?

Is it filler until the new programming in Jan kicks in?

Just curious.

-Syn

[Stargate2077]

Originally posted by MediaSavant
The average rating for all programs running in the M-F Noon-4P daypart is a 0.3. The average rating that Farscape delivered for the maathon was a 0.3.

Is a rating of 0.3 normal for the sci-fi channel in the daytime? Are Farscape's demographics younger than the average demographics for that time period?

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by Stargate2077
Is a rating of 0.3 normal for the sci-fi channel in the daytime? Are Farscape's demographics younger than the average demographics for that time period?

It's average. The range between various shows they put on in Daytime is only a 0.2-0.4.

The demographics are about the same as the other shows in daytime. At these low levels, breaking the data down to demographics REALLY gets statistically dicey, but they appear to be all about the same.

[MediaSavant]

(decided not to add a new thread for this)

Year-end Cable Ratings Show Overall Boost
Mediaweek
By Megan Larson

DECEMBER 18, 2003 -

This year has been a good one for cable, with the majority of basic cable networks posting gains over last year.

Turner Broadcasting's TNT completes the year (through Dec. 14) on a high note as the No. 1 network among persons 2 plus, persons 18-49 and persons 25-54 in primetime. TNT grew 12 percent among persons 2 plus to deliver 2.3 million viewers. The two key demos of 18-49 and 25-54 each grew 13 percent and 11 percent to deliver 1.12 and 1.18 million people, respectively.

Some top tier networks including USA and Lifetime were down from last year (8 percent and 21 percent, respectively) due to the declining ratings of some signature series.

However, second tier nets have experienced significant growth, due to subscriber gains as well as improved programming and scheduling. Thanks in part to more contemporary movies, Rainbow Network's AMC has grown 11 percent over last year to deliver 858,000 viewers 2 plus. Sci Fi Channel grew 4 percent to deliver almost 1.1 million viewers 2 plus, FX grew 9 percent to deliver 957,000 viewers, Court TV grew 14 percent to deliver 836,000, HGTV grew 20 percent to deliver 817,00 and Hallmark Channel grew 45 percent to deliver 506,000.

Animal Planet, Food Network, BET, VH1, Fuse, Soap Net and National Geographic Channel have also grown their total audiences this year and, as a result, lifted their delivery of key demographics. A&E was flat for the year among persons 2 plus with 1.1 million viewers.

Though the Disney Channel is not ad-supported, the network has made great inroads this year to tie with Nickelodeon for second place in primetime, with 1.9 million viewers 2 plus. Nick was down 2 percent to deliver 2 million viewers. During the total-day time period among kids 2-11, Nickelodeon delivered 897,000 viewers, followed by Cartoon Network with 658,000 and Disney Channel with 641,000.

In prime, Cartoon is No. 1 with 1.06 million viewers aged 2-11, followed by Nick with 1.04 million and Disney with 1.03 million. It's among tweens (9-14) where Disney take a strong lead, delivering 725,000 viewers to Nick's 503,000.

Interest in news viewing has tapered off, which has resulted in lower ratings during fourth quarter, but the majority of cable news networks were up for the year. Fox News Channel showed the greatest gains, increasing its delivery of viewers 2 plus by 46 percent to deliver 1.7 million during primetime, and took a place among the top 10 most-watched cable networks this year.

CNN fell just outside the top tier, delivering 1.1 million viewers --23 percent better than 2002. MSNBC grew 24 percent to deliver 446,000 viewers and CNBC fell 26 percent to deliver 188,000 viewers.

[icknarkcls]

Originally posted by MediaSavant
(decided not to add a new thread for this)
However, second tier nets have experienced significant growth, due to subscriber gains as well as improved programming and scheduling. Thanks in part to more contemporary movies, Rainbow Network's AMC has grown 11 percent over last year to deliver 858,000 viewers 2 plus. Sci Fi Channel grew 4 percent to deliver almost 1.1 million viewers 2 plus, FX grew 9 percent to deliver 957,000 viewers, Court TV grew 14 percent to deliver 836,000, HGTV grew 20 percent to deliver 817,00 and Hallmark Channel grew 45 percent to deliver 506,000.


A question on growth, how does an increase in cable/and or satellite customers figure in ratings when compare to, say a year ago, work? If, due to more people gaining cable or satellite, or through more cable systems adding a channel like Sci-Fi to their lineup, is that considered growth even if the number of Neilsen households tuning in remain the same?

Are there any figures on how many households can get Sci-Fi and how that has changed over the last year or two? Was that less than 4 percent, more than 4 percent or pretty much unchanged?

[CosmicTheorist]

MediaSavant gave some numbers for Skiffy's number of households to a fellow Scaper, dominarfan, in October of 2002 for a ratings analysis that dominarfan was doing. In the summer of 2002, Skiffy was available in 78 million homes. According to the article that MS just posted, Skiffy is now available in 83 million homes. I think Skiffy was available in 80 million homes at the start of 2003, but I'm not sure and I don't know where to find that number to check.

If we use the 78 million number for August 2002 and the 83 million number for December 2003, then Skiffy increased its total number of homes by 6% in those 16 months.

;)

[icknarkcls]

Has the number of Neilsen households increased or do they just adjust each household so that it is now representing a greater number of people so that if the same number of Neilsen's watch Sci-Fi they translate that into a greater numer watching without actually getting a change in the number of Neilsen's tuning into Sci-Fi?

It seems to me that if the number of people watching Sci-Fi has increased by 4% but the number of people who could be watching Sci-Fi has increased by 6%, then their programming is actually attractive to a lower percentage of the possible viewers now as compared to a year ago.

[CosmicTheorist]

In August of 2002, Nielsen estimated there were 106.7 million TV households. In August of 2003, Nielsen estimated there were 108.4 million TV households. That's approximately a 2% growth in TV households for Nielsen's estimates for that year.

;)

[MediaSavant]

As long as the U.S. population keeps growing and more "households" are created, the Nielsen household universe estimate usually goes up year-to-year.

SciFi's household penetration rose about 4% December to December from 79.5 million in December '02 to 82.9 million in December '03. Cable coverage is adjusted monthly. I don't know what the total year averages were. Spot-checking 2nd quarter and October, the year-to-year differences were 3%.

While coverage and population growth is a blessing to TV networks, the "curse" is the growth of "channels receivable". In 2001, the average household received about 80 channels. That figure grew to 100 channels in 2002. Nielsen will release the 2003 number next year. So, the number of channels competing for viewing has been growing faster than the the population.

This generally leads to erosion in average ratings overall. If you divide a pie into 100 pieces, you get smaller pieces than 80. So, when you see some of those smaller networks having the biggest increases, it's coming from somewhere. Most of the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.) have been seeing ratings erosion due to channel proliferation for years.

If "channels receivable" would stop growing, all networks could see more growth due to the population growth. But, as it is, it's a struggle just to keep the same numbers ever year. If there are going to be share gainers, there are going to be losers like USA and Lifetime in that article.