The national overnight ratings for the 5 August 2005 SciFi Friday lineup are in, and SG-1 is still going very strong, beating both Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica once again. While SG-1 has held nearly steady since its 9th season premiere, the other two shows have seen their ratings decline, with Battlestar losing over 25% of its audience.
The Aug. 5 ratings of SG-1 are of special interest because the episode that aired, the humorous 9.04 “The Ties That Bind” followed a 3-part opener. While one might have expected a bit of a drop as casual viewers didn’t feel compelled to tune in, in fact they stuck with the show.
The Atlantis episode, 2.04 “Duet” has been embraced and lauded by the on-line fan community across many forums. However it was marketed by SciFi Channel as a Ronon Dex-heavy episode, with no mention at all of the strong role that Rodney McKay would play, as acted by the exceptional David Hewlett. This may have backfired for SciFi Channel as McKay’s many fans failed to tune in.
SG-1’s second airing ratings also remain very strong, and taken together, SG-1 has beaten the other shows in total ratings every week this year.
The ratings to date for the SciFi Friday lineup are as follows, with each episode followed by the first airing rating, second airing rating, and total. Recall that the rating is the percentage of households with SciFi Channel that were tuned to the channel at some point during the broadcast.
15 July 2005
9.01 Avalon Part 1 2.1 1.4 3.5
2.01 The Siege Part 3 2.2 1.0 3.2
2.01 Scattered 2.6 0.7 3.3
22 July 2005
9.02 Avalon Part 2 2.1 1.2 3.3
2.02 The Intruder 2.0 0.9 2.9
2.02 Valley of Darkness 2.0 0.7 2.7
29 July 2005
9.03 Origin Part 3 2.0 1.1 3.1
2.03 Runner 2.0 0.9 2.9
2.03 Fragged 2.0 0.6 2.6
05 August 2005
9.04 The Ties That Bind 2.0 1.2 3.2
2.04 Duet 1.9 0.9 2.8
2.04 Resistance 1.9 0.7 2.6
Thanks to Gateworld for the 5 August ratings info