In spite of a nearly complete lack of commercial promotion, Friday’s 5th season premiere of Stargate Atlantis garnered good enough ratings for an early report:
‘Atlantis’ Rises In Ratings
Season-Five Premiere Pulls 1.8 Million Viewers
— Multichannel News, 7/14/2008 4:24:00 PM
Sci Fi Channel said the Stargate Atlantis season-five premiere—introducing new cast member Robert Picardo—drew 1.8 million total viewers, up 6% over the season-four premiere in September 2007.
Sci Fi said the episode’s 1.05 million viewers ages 25-54 marks a 9% improvement over the season-four premiere and that the household rating of 1.3 was 8% better than the S4 start.
Sci Fi said SGA was the fourth-ranked program for Friday, July 11 among 25-54s and that among males 25-54, Sci Fi won the 10 p.m. ET timeslot among cable networks.
Picardo, as Richard Woolsey, replaces Amanda Tapping as commander of the Atlantis-based Stargate crew in the show.
Tapping, who also starred in predecessor Stargate SG-1, has moved on to oversee a new show on Sci Fi, called Sanctuary. For more and a review of the Atlantis premiere, please click here.
From Joseph Mallozzi’s blog entry for July 15: