Network cancels Stargate SG-1 as 200th episode airs

While fans and the media celebrate the airing of the milestone 200th episode of Stargate SG-1, Solutions has learned from its sources that the SciFi Channel has cancelled the show. The timing could not be worse for such a decision from the network and is sure to rebound on them disastrously in PR terms.

The news was reported by the authoritative cable industry bible Multichannel News on its website today: click here to read the full story.

“People close to the production of Stargate SG-1 said Sci Fi Channel canceled the series on the eve of its 200th episode, which aired last Friday night, making the show the first cable scripted series to reach such a milestone.

The announcement came in sometime before cast, crew and executives gathered to celebrate the historic airing at a Saturday-evening bash held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the series is shot.

Spinoff series Stargate Atlantis — which also airs Friday nights on Sci Fi and shares producers and production facilities with the older SG-1 — was said to be unaffected by the cancellation. Atlantis is currently in its third season.”

Fans have been well aware of the recent silence from SciFi Channel, always so quick to publicise ratings in the past. Season 10 premiered to lower ratings than previous seasons and has gone on to garner a series low. In fact, Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 has earned ratings similar to those which led to the cancellation of Farscape by SciFi Channel as Stargate SG-1 was launching on SciFriday.

The ratings battle

The complicated US Nielsen ratings system has baffled fan commentators on many genre shows. There may not be one single cause contributing to the ratings slide, but more likely a combination of factors, such as:

First, the SciFi Channel dismantled its three-hour SciFriday block of original programming – the showcase of the network. The airing of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica not only helped SciFi compete, but win tough Friday night ratings battles. This year, SciFi chose to hold back Battlestar Galactica, which won’t air until October 2006, reducing their three-hour block to a two-hour block of programming.

Any fan with Tivo or a VCR could have told the SciFi execs it’s common sense to watch the three-hour block and record the shorter two-hour block for convenient viewing later. Taking that third hour out of the equation removed an impetus to make SciFi the network to watch live on Friday nights.

An additional ratings factor is acknowledged by Mark Stern, SciFi Channel’s Executive Vice President of Original Programming. Interviewed by Mary McNamara for the May 8 issue of Multichannel News, Stern “believes some of the show’s tech-savvy, toy-loving, time-shifting audience gets missed in ratings compilations. ‘Part of it is the DVR,’ he explains, citing digital video recording devices. ‘Nielsen’s sampling is not representative of the larger universe yet. They’re sampling 3% and the larger [DVR] universe is something like 10 to 13%.”

Second, new timeslots for the shows have put Stargate SG-1 in direct competition with the cable ratings powerhouse Monk, and locked both SG-1 and Atlantis on SciFi in a head-to-head with Monk and strongly performing new show Psych on parent channel USA. Ironically, Bonnie Hammer is President of both the SciFi *and* USA networks!

The ratings of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have dipped and there is no guarantee that without their strong lead-in, Battlestar Galactica will fare any better when it finally airs in October. With all the advantages of the original three-hour programming block behind it, its ratings were only on par with those of Stargate last season. No one can predict how it will perform solo. SciFi Channel’s Farscape was equally beloved of the critics but was unable to sustain a financially viable audience.

Financial considerations

Of course, the economics of the respective Stargates also have to be taken into consideration. In its tenth season, Stargate SG-1 is much more expensive, much less cost-effective than Atlantis in only its third. And Atlantis has to survive to at least the end of a fourth season to generate a lucrative syndication deal.

In the television industry, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is commonly said in the U.S. industry that “syndication is where the real money is” when producing a TV show. In other words, while the initial run of any particular television series may theoretically lose money for its producing studio, the ensuing syndication will generate enough profit to balance out any losses. [Source: Wikipedia]

Stargate SG-1 has passed the magical “100 episodes” mark twice over; Atlantis has yet to meet it. With similar ratings this year, Stargate SG-1 is being cancelled by the network while Atlantis is headed for a fourth season.

Another economic consideration is that SciFi Channel doesn’t own the Stargate franchise as it does Battlestar Galactica or new show Eureka. It’s MGM, rather than SciFi, that benefits financially from merchandise, DVD’s and other franchise revenues. SciFi only garners the broadcast advertising income. They have more to gain with Battlestar Galactica and Eureka, and it shows in the amount of promotion they receive compared with the Stargates. Word is that SciFi will use its parent NBC affiliates to promote Battlestar Galactica, while Stargate never got a television ad except on SciFi itself.

One other possible financial constraint on the SciFi network was suggested in the May 8 2006 issue of Multichannel News: “In February, Variety reported that the NBC broadcast network’s ratings woes are filtering across to the NBC Universal-owned cable networks, and that such cable properties as USA Network, Bravo and Sci Fi are being pressured to favor NBC Universal Television Studios-produced content, thereby keeping revenue in-house.”

Solutions’ view

It’s extremely disappointing that the SciFi Channel, a science fiction network ‘flexible’ enough to introduce wrestling to its line up, can’t come up with a more creative response to the scheduling difficulties it has imposed on Stargate SG-1 than to cancel the show that has been so instrumental in boosting its profile, its ratings and its credibility.

Our hearts go out to all the members of the cast, the writers, the crew and the producers of Stargate SG-1. We’ve loved being with you these past ten years and we thank you for inspiring so many of us to join online communities and to create in our own right.

Care to comment?

Stargate fans are renowned for their passionate loyalty to the show, the characters and the cast. Solutions is owned by a former Save Daniel Jackson Campaign Steerer and started out as the headquarters of that campaign at its old web address – savedanieljackson.com. The Solutions editorial team don’t know at this point if fans will rally to a ‘Save Our Show’ type campaign, but for those who’d care to share their response to the cancellation of Stargate SG-1 by the SciFi Channel, we offer the following addresses for letters:

Bonnie Hammer, President
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

Mark Stern, Executive VP Original Programming
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

David Howe, Executive VP and General Manager
NBC Universal | Sci Fi Channel,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York, NY, 10112

Based on our considerable experience of fan campaigning, as referenced in the “200″ episode of Stargate itself, we urge you to write and mail a polite, constructively phrased letter to each of the above SciFi Channel executives. Emails, web petitions and polls are so open to rigging, stuffing and other forms of manipulation, they are worthless – don’t waste time on them.

Telephone calls are also a useful tool, as the switchboard operators of MGM could attest during the Save Daniel Jackson Campaign. These are the numbers listed for NBC Universal in New York: (212) 757-5294 and (212) 956-2395.

Letters of support?

If you would like to see Stargate SG-1 have the opportunity to end properly – or continue on – with mini-series or direct-to-DVD movies, then please write a letter of support and encouragement to MGM:

Charles Cohen, Executive Vice President
MGM Television Entertainment,
10250 Constellation Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA, 90067

You can address letters of support for members of the cast and the production care of:

Stargate SG-1 Productions
Bridge Studios
2400 Boundary Rd, Burnaby, BC
Canada, V5M 3Z3

© Copyright Stargate SG-1 Solutions, 2006. All rights reserved. Please link back to this page and credit Stargate SG-1 Solutions as the source when replicating this news item on your website.

© Cited extracts copyright, Stargate 200.(Stargate SG-1 from Sci Fi Channel). Mary McNamara. Multichannel News 27.19 (May 8, 2006): p24. & SciFi’s Stargate Said To Be Axed, Breaking News, Multichannel News website, 8/21/2006.