New Sci-Fi Press Release

[MediaSavant]

I've been periodically checking the PR Newswire for an official announcement on Farscape. Of course, no luck on that.

However, this new press release from SciFi did show up today:

Television

2003: The Year of SCI FI

SCI FI Channel Celebrates Its Best Year Ever
Channel Delivers Record Ratings
Ranks Within Cable's Top 10 in Key Demos for the Year

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- SCI FI Channel's success grew to galactic proportions in 2003. In addition to taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries Event for Steven Spielberg Presents TAKEN, SCI FI secured development deals with Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Bryan Singer, Dean Devlin and Gale Anne Hurd. SCI FI also delivered its best-ever primetime rating, with an average 1.0 for the year. The Channel scored with viewers in nearly every key demographic, ranking within the Top 10 of all basic cable nets for P25-54, M25-54, M18-49 and W25-54.

Now fully-distributed at 83 million homes, SCI FI punctuated its
phenomenal 2003 with the premiere of Battlestar Galactica, basic cable's highest-rated dramatic event of the year.

Highlights for 2003 include:

* A 1.0 primetime average -- SCI FI's best-ever primetime performance, up 11% from 2002
* SCI FI's best-ever cable broadcast season with HH rating up 25% over last year's performance, 36% growth in average HH audience vs. 2002, and up 29% in total viewers over 4Q01-3Q02
* Driven by the continued success of Stargate SG-1, SCI FI had its best Summer ever with a 1.6 average for new episodes of this SCI FI Friday original series.
* Primetime viewership (M-Su, 7-11pm) grew considerably among M18-34 (+11%)
* Fueled by the Stargate SG-1 stack, Monday nights grew across every key demo: HHs (+31%), P25-54 (+18%), P18-49 (+17%)
* While most networks struggled to find young male viewers, SCI FI jumped 24% among M18-34 for total day (M-Su, 6am-6pm)

Battlestar Galactica
This highly-anticipated miniseries event premiered to critical praise and stunning ratings. Battlestar Galactica earned an average 3.5/4,177,000 P2+. Cable's most-watched miniseries of 2003, Battlestar Galactica outdelivered HBO's Angels in America by more than 600,000 viewers. The two-night, four-hour drama drew a broad audience, garnering SCI FI's best demographic
ratings for the year among: P25-54, P18-49, M18-49, M18-34, W25-54, W18-49 and W18-34. Night One of the miniseries, which premiered to a 3.2/3,902,000 P2+, was outdone by Night Two of the mini, which jumped to a 3.8/4,460,000 P2+ premiere. SCI FI's highest-rated program for 2003, Battlestar Galactica took
its place as the 3rd-highest-rated original event in the Channel's history, behind only Steven Spielberg Presents TAKEN and Frank Herbert's Dune.

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune
This three-night epic, a continuation of the Dune saga, earned an Emmy Award (Outstanding Visual Effects) and drew an average rating of 2.41/2,700,000 P2+. The five airings of the miniseries delivered an aggregate audience of 18,200,000 P2+.

SCI FI Original Series
Stargate SG-1
* SCI FI's highest-rated original series, new episodes averaged a 1.7, for the full year -- a 42% improvement over the 2002 time period average (Fridays 9pm, 1.2)
* The season 7 premiere (June 13) set a number of SCI FI records: the highest HH audience (1,544,000) and most viewers (2,433,000 P2+) for a June telecast, and the highest viewership of any season premiere of any series on the Channel
* The continuation of the SG-1 Monday stack (7-11pm) resulted in a 71% improvement in ratings (vs. January-September '02, 0.7)

Scare Tactics
This Shannen Doherty-hosted series continued to attract younger viewers, with original episodes averaging a 0.7 among P18-49 and a 0.8 among P25-54. The show's 0.6 among P18-34 is a 20% improvement over the April-December 2002 time period average. The show's two-episode series premiere on April 4 was
watched by 1,370,000 A18-49 -- the largest audience in this demo for a series premiere in SCI FI history.

Movies & Specials
* SCI FI premiered 20 original Saturday night movies in 2003, solidifying the Channel as the largest producer of original movies on television
* Saturday night original movies averaged a 1.4 rating -- up 17% over the non-original movies that aired in the same time period, and 40% higher than the network's 1.0 primetime average
* With a 2.2/2,735,000 P2+, Riverworld's March 22 premiere exceeded its time period average (Sat. 9pm-11pm) by a whopping 86% - and became the most-watched original movie to air on SCI FI on a Saturday night
* The New Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed garnered a 1.5/1,835,000 P2+ (Oct. 24 at 9pm) -- the highest-rated non-fiction program to air on SCI FI in 2003

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCIFI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic website (http://www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and
currently in 83 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a program service of Universal Television Networks, part of the Universal Television Group(http://www.universalstudios.com), a division of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, qualifications available upon request

[vhsiv]

Battlestar Galactica earned an average 3.5/4,177,000 P2+. Cable's most-watched miniseries of 2003, 'Battlestar Galactica' outdelivered HBO's 'Angels in America' by more than 600,000 viewers. Is this really a *fair* comparison to be making in a press-release?

HBO and Skiffy are in entirely different leagues - one is Premium Subscription cable, the other is Basic cable. Secondly, it's not as if they were competing against one another on the same night. And I doubt that Galactica is going to win any Emmys this year, whereas 'Angels' might be a shoe-in.

MS are people in the industry likely to take comments like these at face-value, or are they going to rightly recognize that Skiffy and HBO are on two different tiers?

'Angels' is still running on HBO, albeit in hour-long installments until the end of the week. Is Skiffy going to retabulate the viewing numbers for 'Angels' at the end of the week, and compare the numbers to the three days that 'Galactica' ran last week?

I find it interesting that SciFi chose 'Taken's anniversary as the date to run this press-release: A couple of days later, and it's unctuous conclusion would be out-of-date. Other than SG-1 Mondays, it seems to me that the channel's 'growth' has been pretty flat since last year's 'Taken'.

[Antrobus]

Now, if someone would rewrite the article without the spin.....

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by vhsiv
MS are people in the industry likekly to take comments like these at face-value, or are they going to rightly recognize that Skiffy and HBO are on two different tiers?


Right now, it's just a press release. It remains to be seen who prints it and how much of it gets printed.

To answer your question, though, people in the industry will know that it's not really a fair comparison.

[vhsiv]

Sorry for the typo.

[AnnieBW]

In other words, "we're doing better since we cancelled Farscape and replaced it with Scare Tactics." :rolleyes:

I feel like our boycott isn't making a damn bit of difference.

- Annie

[Antrobus]

Well, if its not making any difference then at least we can say that we're preserving out minds!

[Farsight]

I feel like our boycott isn't making a damn bit of difference.

Which is why there was never a serious attempt to organize a widespread/public boycott - the Nielsen system makes such gestures pointless. If they're not being counted, it doesn't matter if there's 10 or 10 million people doing something.

This is one reason 'a la carte' programming is gaining public support. People don't like paying $50 or more for a few channels they like and dozens they detest, with no voice about either. It will likely take government intervention to force an 'a la carte' system to be implemented, since it's not in the cable companies' best interest to stop extorting their customers for those few channels they like...

I don't watch SciFi, but it's not because I'm trying to make a statement - it's because the channel has nothing on that is worth my time.

[waltersgirl]

I feel like our boycott isn't making a damn bit of difference.

focus on getting people hooked on Farscape via dvds, not trying to get people to not watch Skiffy. this isn't about Skiffy. it's about Farscape.

[MediaSavant]

This was written prior to the press release. It illustrates the differences of perspective between these two mini-series. Everything's about what a particular network is accustomed to:

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
December 12, 2003, Friday
Zap2it.com

Two big cable events _ Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica" and HBO's "Angels in America" _ debuted to about the same number of viewers in recent days. The results were great for the former and okay but not spectacular for the latter.

The first part of "Angels in America" _ adapted by Tony Kushner from his award-winning play and one of the most universally praised TV projects of the year _ debuted Sunday (Dec. 7) to a little less than 4.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures. The two nights of "Galactica," a reworking of the 1970s TV series, averaged about the same number of viewers Monday and Tuesday.

The "Angels" premiere was HBO's highest-rated original movie or miniseries this year, but it fell below the viewership for a typical episode of "Sex and the City" or "Six Feet Under." In fact, it won't even be HBO's most-watched program of the week; Saturday's (Dec. 6) heavyweight fight between Vitali Klitschko and Kirk Johnson takes that prize with about 4.3 million viewers.

Sci Fi, on the other hand, is ecstatic over the performance of "Battlestar Galactica." Its average audience is the third-best in the channel's history, trailing earlier miniseries "Taken" and "Dune." After drawing just under 3.9 million people for Monday's premiere, "Galactica" averaged 4.46 million viewers Tuesday.

Tuesday's installment was the most-watched show on cable for the night and also beat broadcast networks UPN and The WB in total viewers. It was Sci Fi's best night of the year in total viewers and all key demographics.

[vhsiv]

Something that I've refrained from mentioning here is that 'Angels in America' is almost sine qua non in terms of 'niche' audience - moreso than any of the 'edgy' gender shows on Showtime - 'Queer As Folk', 'The L Word', etc.

'Angels' is almost the polar opposite of 'Galactica'. If not for Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson and Mike Nichols, I don't think that it would have garnered the rating it got. And absolutely none of those principals save possibly Pacino correspond to the 18-34 demographic unless they're amateur film historians or Merchant & Ivory buffs. 'Angels' was a rare instance of high culture on 'commercial' television, whereas 'Galactica' was pop-expoitation for an audience that generally wouldn't bother with a homosexually-themed show of any sort.

HBO and Skiffy should both be proud, but for entirely different reasons. J. Sixpack was not watching 'Angels' unless a) he/she was gay; b) had an interest in the original play or its themes; or, c) knew someone who was involved in the production. 'Galactica' had none of those prerequisites.

[Farsight]

And I think we can guess which network will be making press releases about their show when the big TV awards are handed out. :)

[Selena]

Originally posted by MediaSavant
......SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. ....

They got that right ... it's definitely their approach to program scheduling. Although it would have been more appropriate to have stated ... "when if" ... for few people can work out what's on and when it's going to be aired. Is it Monday night 8pm? :huh: Friday night 9pm??? ... all day marathon :dunno: midnight??? If you can actually find it - you might be able to watch it.

..... SCIFI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming .....

:spew: :snicker: :roflmao: Over the last year, skiffy's brain fuel has been in the "Gerber" group. It's for the simple minded and the brain dead ~ Dream Team, Crossing Over, Scare Tactics, BSG ...

.....as well as a dynamic website .... and magazine

:eh: Dynamic! Where? They've had the same message up for almost 12 months about upgrading one area. The magazine however is okay... although I stopped buying it when Farscape was cancelled.

[fermicat]

I didn't decide to watch Angels in America until I read a few media articles about it during the week before it was on. I saw the HBO adverts on their channel, and it wasn't clear exactly what the show was about (but very clear that it starred Thompson, Streep, and Pacino). The little blurb in the program guide was also not helpful and not something that would have made me want to watch. I watched after reading from multiple sources that this was something special that was worth my time. Joe Sixpack may not have seen the articles (or cared if he did).

Clearly apples and oranges - with respect to BSG. Totally different animals.

[Ammit]

I can't believe they used the word "whopping" in a press release. :rollin:

[evilnos_unholy]

it is amazing that in this day and aage, with autoimobiles and supersonic jets and broadband internet... that people can ride on such a high horse....

what is skiffy thinking? I read that press release and I can't find an ounce of truth in it, most of my friends can't even remember what channel sci-fi is on since about 7 months, I have asked countless people if they watch the channel and I get this puzzled look "sci what?" and they do get it in their homes as part of their cable service, they simply always skip it because there is nothing good on. so unless someone is feeding bonnie hammer a nasty putrid tube steak
... or maybe perhaps this is just like what terrorists do when they are about to killed, they raise their arms and say

"they are not killing us, we are destroying all our enemies, we are better than all"

this is so much BS:rollin:

[fermicat]

Every company puts of these kind of self-congratulatory press releases and will puff up every conceivable "accomplishment." Skiffy's is no surprise.

[vhsiv]

Having just arrived back home from a matinee screening of 'Return of the King', I am reminded of one of Bonnie's 'Hammerisms':Hammer says the channel has realized that traditional science-fiction shows that try to portray the future via space odysseys and gee-whiz technology are no longer as appealing to tech-savvy viewers as Earth-based twists on modern-day reality, such as "The Sixth Sense" and "The Matrix."
- Suzanne Ryan, "Sci Fi Channel to go where it hasn't gone before",
The Boston Globe, 03/19/03
http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/5422110.shtmlWhat Hammertime fails to mention or acknowledge is that the multi-billion dollar-a-year world of genre entertainment is populated by works that are actually good - as in well written, plausibly performed, and intelligently conceived. Sadly, few of the entertainments she offers fall into the former category. In fact the LoTR trilogy directly contradicts many of her 'too-inside' sensibilities: Notice that Peter Jackson and company provided no recaps or flashback as to what had happened in previous installments. And LoTR is one of the more heady flavors out there - there are no Cliff's Notes, no stand-alone episodes and as many as three or four storylones running at once.

If she wants more of those technical non-fans who contribute billions of dollars to flmed entertainment each year, she's going to have to 'smarten-up' her fare substantially.

[Farsight]

Just to follow up, "Angels in America" led all TV programs with 7 Golden Globe nominations, while HBO led all networks with 20 (no other network received more than 10). SciFi received 0.

SciFi probably shouldn't try comparing themselves to HBO, it's just sheds light on how tepid and unimportant their own programming is by comparison.

[Stargate2077]

Um, don't the network who played the show/mini-series have to front serious money in order to get a Golden Globe nomination? I know this is the case with some award shows.

[RydraWong]

"they are not killing us, we are destroying all our enemies, we are better than all"

this is so much BS

That's the nature of press releases. No company or group is ever going to issue a press release which says "actually, we're not doing really well and we've made some stupid decisions and frankly we're a bit rubbish".

Press releases are always going to try to put the best possible face on what's going on, even if that means using unfair comparisons or misleading presentation. SciFi's press release is nothing out of the ordinary in that respect.

[AnnieBW]

Then again, how much do the GG's really matter for TV? From what I understand, the group that votes on them has fairly low standards for membership. I've always assumed that they were more important for feature films, since they occur right before the Oscars.

[Farsight]

All major awards (including Emmys/Oscars) have a 'schmooze' factor to them, with studios spending major money to promote their shows. Movie studios buy expensive ads in trade magazines to promote their Oscar hopefuls to the academy.

The Golden Globes are basically the 2nd most prominent award in each field, behind the Emmy/Oscar. I agree far more often with the choices for Golden Globe winners than I do for the Emmys or Oscars. The Oscars always go to the 'safe' choices, and the Emmys just go to the same people/show every year, unless they die or get cancelled.

Awards suck. :)

[MediaSavant]

Originally posted by AnnieBW
Then again, how much do the GG's really matter for TV? From what I understand, the group that votes on them has fairly low standards for membership. I've always assumed that they were more important for feature films, since they occur right before the Oscars.

I don't get the Trio network, but I saw they recently did a special expose` on the Golden Globes and how they have managed to gain prominence despite a shaky background for the organization that runs them. I heard the special was pretty good.

Chalk it up to the industry's love of awards. The Saturn Awards have a shaky background, too, in that *anyone* can vote who decides they want to dish out the cash to join, but we can still love it that Farscape gets those statues.

People like to win stuff. Similarly, a lot of the polls that people rush to vote in online are meaningless, but people get caught up in them anyway.

[akimbo]

Originally posted by MediaSavant
The Saturn Awards have a shaky background, too, in that *anyone* can vote who decides they want to dish out the cash to join, but we can still love it that Farscape gets those statues.


I don't appreciate the "industry" respect for science fiction (or rather their obvious lack of respect). Science Fiction is generally relegated to second class or special effects only status (just like animation was before the Simpsons started to refocus some attention).

IMO anything people actually interested in Science Fiction can do to raise its status (included the Saturn Awards and professional fan based campaigns) is goodness. Even though we are just *anyone*.

[Shipscat]

Originally posted by MediaSavant

The Saturn Awards have a shaky background, too, in that *anyone* can vote who decides they want to dish out the cash to join, but we can still love it that Farscape gets those statues.

People like to win stuff. Similarly, a lot of the polls that people rush to vote in online are meaningless, but people get caught up in them anyway.

On the other hand, as far as I know no one has to pay to be on the list for the Saturns, and there aren't expensive ads and promo kits being sent out (you can correct me if I'm wrong) so they do have a different type of integrity-whether someone wins or not does not depend on how much money they've spent to do it.

and hey, we're not caught up in polls-it's a strategy! We're doing it on purpose! It gets Farscape's name out there..anyone who wants lots of hits at their site just has to put up a poll with Farscape as a contender, and we're there! ;)