Sanctuary Ratings Discussion

[mzzz]

I thought I read somewhere that the move was so that when the show comes back or something, it'll try to pick up some of the Warehouse 13 or Eureka audience. Seemed like a logical long term thinking in mind.

 

[Gatefan1976]

If Syfy is trying to air their shows in the summer, why didn't Sanctuary air in the summer? I want it to either.

1. Go back to Fri, with a proper lead in, maybe SD?
2. Stay on Mon, but in the summer. It seems the show does well on Fri, and Mon in the summer.

Do you mean fall at the bolded bit?
Thus far only Caprica and SGU have been trialed in the fall, and (this is just my thoughts, nothing solid or backed up by facts), but it stands to reason that the fall seasons would be worth more money to Syfy advertising-wise, perhaps they felt that the rise in ad revenue would offset lower viewer numbers?? Both Caprica and SGU were mega expensive for Syfy to air and both were losing numbers pretty fast.

as much as I HATE to say it, we should wait and see how the finale goes. :p But yeah, I still want it back on Fri, because I in order for them to air next summer, the show will be off the air for a year. I would love for SD to be there lead in again, it's change the routine of giving it a new lead in every year.

I would wait to see if MS comes out with L+7 numbers for the finale to be honest.

I have a friend who can't stand them, and she said she's never come across another network that's done this anyway. IMHO, they are silly, and the shows are better off without them, and I believe S5 of SGA almost or didn't have a mid season break.

Not sure on that one, perhaps someone else can wade in on that point?

It seems Eureka and some other shows will get a 13 ep order, so the episode cut back doesn't seem to be because of how the show has done, if other shows are getting cut back. What do you want to have happen in S4? I already gave you my answers.

I have a theory on that as well

I think Sanctuary will go back to friday nights after SD when S4 starts, it makes the most sense for Syfy to do that (even though I know Syfy has done some arguably silly things with it's lineup times)

Wait, what if S4, goes back to Fri, and if it has a mid season break, it airs in the summer?

I don't think it will have a mid season break, and if it does, I'll hand you the hammer to drop on Syfy myself

UL bombed on it's first night, it got, like, a 0.4, the ratings for it have been so-so, and I know if it's gotten a S2, since the ratings for it haven't been out for 3 weeks. I like the filler eps, they're fun. Some of the best SG-1 eps were filler eps, like, WoO and Upgrades. I have a lot of faith in the show, and I want it to be safe.

You worry too much mate, see what happens in S4, if it starts low or gets a dodgy timeslot, then worry

Btw, Syfy was answering questions on twitter today, and someone asked-

@2kkb324 @Syfy outlook for sanctuary future?

@Syfy Q) @kkb324 outlook for #sanctuary future? A) Good! Already been renewed for another season.

Oy, that seems to be all Syfy can say. :p

still too early to say anything solid I would imagine

 

[THX1138]

Sanctuary was never alone on Fri, in S1 it had SGA, S2 it had SGU and for the most part of S3, it had Smackdown.

<snip>

One reason why I think Syfy took the risk to try out how it would do on Mondays )while they saved the show that was tanking there); it was safe as it had already been renewed and was shown to be a steady performer by itself.

As for Sanctuary NEVER being alone on Friday that's simply not true as it had new shows scheduled in front of it most of the time but not all the time.

In Season 1 it was paired for 10 weeks out of 12 with SGA and Sanctuary out performed it every night except for the series finale when I think SGA got around 30,000 viewers more.

In Season 2 it aired after SGU for 8 weeks and showed different patterns to variations in audience than SGU. It even increased it's audience for the last 4 weeks without a lead in.

In Season 3.0 it aired after Smackdown for all 10 episodes and showed a distinctly different pattern of viewer variations. It frequently went in opposite directions than the Smackdown viewership.

And we're all familiar with S3.5 numbers...

Having a lead in or not doesn't seem to matter too much to Sanctuary. I think it's a quirky little show and you'd have difficulty matching it with a show that would share an audience and feed it numerous viewers.

SGU didn't crack the 1.2 mil mark until the finale on mondays and never upticked the way Sanctuary has Rocky. Does it have less competition, sure, but again, it's live numbers just don't matter right now, it has been renewed.

Actually it never hit 1.2 mil viewers on Monday the highest it went was 1,134,00 for the finale.

But otherwise I tend to agree with you.

 

[mzzz]

Sanctuary has one positive going for it maybe, casual viewers? Hence the hope to pick off WH13 and Eureka stragglers?

 

[Joelist]

Sanctuary has one positive going for it maybe, casual viewers? Hence the hope to pick off WH13 and Eureka stragglers?

It's never been paired with them, and thematically they would go well together. They instead are putting Alphas after W13 and Eureka.

 

[mzzz]

Well meant when one show ends and they show another show the next week doing heavy promotion when the previous show was getting lots of viewers, might make people want to tune in. Kinda like what they did with SGU and that Tuesday experiment. But the difference here is that the genres are kind of the same, family friendly and casual friendly which SGU really wasn't compared to WH13. Makes the transition easier.

 

[Gatefan1976]

It's never been paired with them, and thematically they would go well together. They instead are putting Alphas after W13 and Eureka.

W13 yes, Eureka not so much IMO.
IF Alpha's is good, I think the combo is pretty solid. W13 tends towards the more "steampunk/Pulp" side of Scifi, Alpha's towards the "superhero/Pulp". Eureka tends towards the "harder Scifi in a Drama/comedy cloak", yet it lives in the same universe as W13 so there's an obvious connection there.
Thematicly though, Sanctuary would probably fit better with W13 and Alpha's (assuming it is Hero-esque pulpy) as a block, but thats because I see Sanctuary as another pulp-esque show.

 

[Rocky89]

Do you mean fall at the bolded bit?
Thus far only Caprica and SGU have been trialed in the fall, and (this is just my thoughts, nothing solid or backed up by facts), but it stands to reason that the fall seasons would be worth more money to Syfy advertising-wise, perhaps they felt that the rise in ad revenue would offset lower viewer numbers?? Both Caprica and SGU were mega expensive for Syfy to air and both were losing numbers pretty fast.

No, I meant the summer. I read read somewhere that the show seems to be doing OK now that it's in the summer, and I also read that Syfy does well in the summer. IF the summer time is doing well for Sanctuary, as well as the other Syfy shows, then I wouldn't mind seeing it air in the summer.

I agree about Caprica and SGU, they both cost a lot to make, and I read that they were some of the more expensive shows to make.

I have a theory on that as well :p

I think Sanctuary will go back to friday nights after SD when S4 starts, it makes the most sense for Syfy to do that (even though I know Syfy has done some arguably silly things with it's lineup times)

I don't think it will have a mid season break, and if it does, I'll hand you the hammer to drop on Syfy myself

You worry too much mate, see what happens in S4, if it starts low or gets a dodgy timeslot, then worry

still too early to say anything solid I would imagine

S2 had a mid season break, and I don't remember how long it was for (maybe a bit longer then the one we just had?) but I know we had one. I don't even remember if there was a break in S1. IMHO, the breaks should only last a few weeks because of the holidays, then the break should be over. I try not to worry, but it's hard, bro. :p

Squall says it'll go back to it's old time in S4, so I'm trying to focus on that.

One reason why I think Syfy took the risk to try out how it would do on Mondays (while they saved the show that was tanking there); it was safe as it had already been renewed and was shown to be a steady performer by itself.

As for Sanctuary NEVER being alone on Friday that's simply not true as it had new shows scheduled in front of it most of the time but not all the time.

In Season 1 it was paired for 10 weeks out of 12 with SGA and Sanctuary out performed it every night except for the series finale when I think SGA got around 30,000 viewers more.

In Season 2 it aired after SGU for 8 weeks and showed different patterns to variations in audience than SGU. It even increased it's audience for the last 4 weeks without a lead in.

In Season 3.0 it aired after Smackdown for all 10 episodes and showed a distinctly different pattern of viewer variations. It frequently went in opposite directions than the Smackdown viewership.

And we're all familiar with S3.5 numbers...

Having a lead in or not doesn't seem to matter too much to Sanctuary. I think it's a quirky little show and you'd have difficulty matching it with a show that would share an audience and feed it numerous viewers

OK, it may have always had a lead in, but it did. On Space, when S3 was airing, the lead in for Sanctuary was Smallville, I show I'm also a fan of, and to me, it was a great pairing, since I could watch them back to back. Also, and this is a personal reason for me, over the last 3 and a half years, the US and Canada have been able to watch the show on the same night, and enjoy it together as a fandom, but now with it airing on the US on Mon, and it airing on Fri in Canada, I feel the fandom is divided. Had Syfy though of this sooner, before the break ended, perhaps Space could have moved it to Mon also?

 

[THX1138]

S2 had a mid season break, and I don't remember how long it was for (maybe a bit longer then the one we just had?) but I know we had one. I don't even remember if there was a break in S1. IMHO, the breaks should only last a few weeks because of the holidays, then the break should be over.

Season 2 did not have a mid season break. Just like in Season 1 it paused in mid December for the holidays and returned in early January for the last couple of episodes.

 

[Rocky89]

Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover

"But it’s still below the show’s Friday night average. Sanctuary‘s tough time during the spring broadcast season — and its big improvement after the Monday night competition went away — further proves our theory that Mondays (and Tuesdays) just aren’t friendly to Syfy Channel dramas during the network broadcast season"

The title of this article is "Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover" and it's exactly that, it recovers without competition. It had competition on Fri, and it did even better, I still think that W13 and Eureka could be getting an easy/free ride in the summer when they air the rest of their seasons. If Syfy feels their shows do better on Summer, why didn't Sanctuary air when Summer is here like the other shows?

I either want to see in S4...

1. The show goes back to it's old time next season.
2. If it does good for the finale, than it could show that it also works on Mon night in the summer time.

Either way, I want it to have a real lead in, not go a whole season without one like it is right now.

 

[YoshiKart64]

Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover

"But it’s still below the show’s Friday night average. Sanctuary‘s tough time during the spring broadcast season — and its big improvement after the Monday night competition went away — further proves our theory that Mondays (and Tuesdays) just aren’t friendly to Syfy Channel dramas during the network broadcast season"

The title of this article is "Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover" and it's exactly that, it recovers without competition. It had competition on Fri, and it did even better, I still think that W13 and Eureka could be getting an easy/free ride in the summer when they air the rest of their seasons. If Syfy feels their shows do better on Summer, why didn't Sanctuary air when Summer is here like the other shows?

I either want to see in S4...

1. The show goes back to it's old time next season.
2. If it does good for the finale, than it could show that it also works on Mon night in the summer time.

Either way, I want it to have a real lead in, not go a whole season without one like it is right now.

Doesn't this argument kind of suggest that SGU shouldn't have been moved either, since it would have no chance of regaining an audience outside of Friday? I seem to remember that if SGU needed to be moved to specific times to survive then it wasn't worth keeping, it should have been able to maintain an audience wherever it goes. Theoretically this should be the same for Sanctuary; if it needs summer or Fridays to survive then Syfy should find something that doesn't.

Of course this goes against what I believe but those points were made.

 

[Rocky89]

Doesn't this argument kind of suggest that SGU shouldn't have been moved either, since it would have no chance of regaining an audience outside of Friday? I seem to remember that if SGU needed to be moved to specific times to survive then it wasn't worth keeping, it should have been able to maintain an audience wherever it goes. Theoretically this should be the same for Sanctuary; if it needs summer or Fridays to survive then Syfy should find something that doesn't.

Of course this goes against what I believe but those points were made.

SGU started going down long before it was moved, I think it was even before S1 ended. Same with Caprica. Both those shows cost a lot to make, like, a lot, and they were taking more than they were giving back to Syfy, I think Syfy couldn't keep them around much more since they were costing them too much, and getting little in return.

It took Caprica one season, and SGU two seasons to lose viewers fast, and I THINK (correct me if I'm wrong) they were on Fri at some point. Sanctuary has proved that it works on Fri, and now it's proving it can do good on on a Mon is the summer, so Syfy must see that those 2 things work. SGU didn't work on Fri, Tues or Mon. I don't know much about Caprica, so I can't say much.

 

[THX1138]

Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover

"But it’s still below the show’s Friday night average. Sanctuary‘s tough time during the spring broadcast season — and its big improvement after the Monday night competition went away — further proves our theory that Mondays (and Tuesdays) just aren’t friendly to Syfy Channel dramas during the network broadcast season"

The title of this article is "Without network competition, Sanctuary‘s ratings recover" and it's exactly that, it recovers without competition. It had competition on Fri, and it did even better, I still think that W13 and Eureka could be getting an easy/free ride in the summer when they air the rest of their seasons. If Syfy feels their shows do better on Summer, why didn't Sanctuary air when Summer is here like the other shows?

I either want to see in S4...

1. The show goes back to it's old time next season.
2. If it does good for the finale, than it could show that it also works on Mon night in the summer time.

Either way, I want it to have a real lead in, not go a whole season without one like it is right now.

Do us all a favour and don't repost BS GW articles here please, just leave a link and we'll all ignore it without having to read the damn thing.

What we have here is another fanboy with a website printing rubbish.

Wormholeriders and Gateworld aren't known for their accurate reporting nor analytical abilities. According to the article Sanctuary is "proof" about airing nights and SGU and yet totally ignores several pertinent things :
Being Human "proves" the exact opposite (if you subscribe to that particular strain of faulty logic).
Sanctuary's ratings have been all over the place and recorded a series low of 656,000 with no competition.


I could go on but Darren's fanboy drivel is not worth the effort.

 

[Joelist]

Actually the series low was not unopposed; it was opposite the NBA playoffs among other things.

 

[THX1138]

Actually the series low was not unopposed; it was opposite the NBA playoffs among other things.

Primetime broadcast scheduling had finished for the midseason.

<added>
NBA playoffs averaged 7.4 million viewers over about 3 hrs
Clash of the Commercials 6.84 mil
L&O:LA 5.91 mil

they were the only shows of note which constitutes not much competition.

--------------------
compared to the high 2 weeks later :
Extreme Makeover 5.87 mil
Hawaii Five-O (R) 7.56 mil

and nothing else of much note on, so pretty much the same competition.

 

[Joelist]

Primetime broadcast scheduling had finished for the midseason.

True but the NBA playoffs were indeed on and had a very real effect. I'm not saying GWs stuff is correct just that we need to be careful on our end as well.

 

[THX1138]

True but the NBA playoffs were indeed on and had a very real effect. I'm not saying GWs stuff is correct just that we need to be careful on our end as well.

NBA playoffs didn't pull enough numbers to have "a very real effect". Overall the competition for the highest and lowest nights was about the same thereby negating the poor logic used in the article.

 

[Joelist]

NBA playoffs didn't pull enough numbers to have "a very real effect". Overall the competition for the highest and lowest nights was about the same thereby negating the poor logic used in the article.

Actually they did. The NBA playoffs had unusually high viewership this year (due in part to the NFL labor issues and the Miami Heat hype machine) and as they were also on cable they directly impacted things. However, that does not prove the silly GW article correct at all.

Sanctuary dropped at least partly because they shuffled it around with no plan and no advance notice. It appears it took the viewers about 4 weeks to catch up with it as far as Live viewing goes (the Live +7 numbers stayed consistent pre and post move). I would also credit the Sanctuary fan base who went out (in places like Facebook) and beat the bushes big time to get people to watch Live instead of recording.

If you want to assign SyFy a goat label here it would be for foolishly trying to hard to keep a poorly made reality show (Urban Legends) on the air. They moved that to Sanctuary's Friday slot, but it never pulled Sanctuary numbers. Basically SyFy forfeited about 4-500.000 Friday night viewers by trying too hard to salvage that show.

 

[Rocky89]

Sanctuary dropped at least partly because they shuffled it around with no plan and no advance notice. It appears it took the viewers about 4 weeks to catch up with it as far as Live viewing goes (the Live +7 numbers stayed consistent pre and post move). I would also credit the Sanctuary fan base who went out (in places like Facebook) and beat the bushes big time to get people to watch Live instead of recording.

If you want to assign SyFy a goat label here it would be for foolishly trying to hard to keep a poorly made reality show (Urban Legends) on the air. They moved that to Sanctuary's Friday slot, but it never pulled Sanctuary numbers. Basically SyFy forfeited about 4-500.000 Friday night viewers by trying too hard to salvage that show.

One thing I never liked about the move was that it was too fast, within, like, 3 days of it's last episode on Fri, and with little promotion. For about 3 weeks now, the ratings for UL haven't been out, which I wish they were so we could see them.

I want the show back on Fri, it always did good there, it's the shows home, and it's easier for a lot of people I know to watch it on Fri, than on Mon. Does anyone know the ratings for UL? I mean if it gets canned, or whenever the season ends, I WANT Syfy to put Sanc back where it belongs in the fall. WITH a proper lead in.

 

[Rac80]

Doesn't this argument kind of suggest that SGU shouldn't have been moved either, since it would have no chance of regaining an audience outside of Friday? I seem to remember that if SGU needed to be moved to specific times to survive then it wasn't worth keeping, it should have been able to maintain an audience wherever it goes. Theoretically this should be the same for Sanctuary; if it needs summer or Fridays to survive then Syfy should find something that doesn't.

Of course this goes against what I believe but those points were made.

nope sgu was a "new" show and didn't have an already established audience following it. Sanctuary has been around several years and the fans have followed it. sgu was bleeding fans from the start. I still don't beleive it should have been given the second season from the start.