UK Viewing Figures For Galactica 2003

[Ian_W359]

FYI, The viewing figures for Sky Movies 2's UK premiere of the 2003 Battlestar Galactica mini-series should be publicly available from March 2nd. This is when BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Ltd) - the company that calculates TV viewing figures in the UK post the channel's top ten programmes for that week on their public website - http://www.barb.co.uk/ ).

If you like, I can post the figures here (or in the news section) when they are available (with a selection of other channels for comparison).

This is dependant, however, on the showings of the mini actually getting into the top ten (which may not be difficult if it has proven to be popular).

All the best,
Ian W359
:)

[jewels]

feel free to post them if you can get them, Ian.

[Dawg]

Yes, Ian, by all means; more grist for the conversation mill.

:thumbsup: :salute:

I am
Dawg
:warrior:

[Ian_W359]

I may be a day late, but here they are - the UK figures for Battlestar Galactica 2003 - courtesy of http://www.barb.co.uk

These figures are from the Sky Movies 2 Top Ten - with their chart position (note - the figures were originally presented in millions, so are approximate) -

1 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Mon 9pm - Part 1) 520,000
2 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Tue 9pm - Part 2) 500,000
3 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (Sun 8pm - Complete) 290,000

Most weeks - there is usually only one big ratings winner on this channel ie. the movie of the week, otherwise the other positions are repeat showings.

To look at this in the channel's context - here are the top movies from January onwards

W/e 04/01/04 - 350,000 - Bad Company (Sat 8pm)
W/e 11/01/04 - 200,000 - Austin Powers in Goldmember (Mon 8pm)
W/e 18/01/04 - 380,000 - Unfaithful (Sun 8pm)
W/e 25/01/04 - 600,000 - Reign Of Fire (Sat 8pm)
W/e 01/02/04 - 470,000 - Not Another Teen Movie (Sat 8pm)
W/e 08/02/04 - 470,000 - Signs (Sat 8pm)
W/e 15/02/04 - 510,000 - Windtalkers (Sun 8pm)

As for the competition, given the somewhat fragmented nature of UK satellite TV (ie. hundreds of channels), real competition is hard to find. You could compare the figures to terrestrial TV (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 & five) but it would be like comparing a mosquito to a battlestar. ;)

Despite this, Monday night's Part 1 seems to have overpowered its rivals, with the closest show to actually record a figure in a top ten being 'Only Fools And Horses' (UK Gold, 9pm-9.30pm) with 400,000 viewers (Note - No Sky One show after 9pm made its top ten (over 650,000 viewers) - that nights 'Enterprise' season 3 episode 'The Shipment' (8pm-9pm) got 680,000).

On Tuesday, however, losing 20,000 viewers probably wasn't too bad, but something else seemed more appealing - Nip/Tuck (Sky One, 10pm-11pm) garnered 760,000 viewers (No figures available for 'Angel' at 9pm). 'Only Fools and Horses' dropped down to 320,000.

Finally Sunday (the complete edition), given that anyone who would have seen it earlier in the week probably already had, the figures went down to 290,000. (Sky One may have beaten it - but with 'Simpsons' episodes featuring often in it's top ten, who knows?). Entertainment channel E4 has a strong line up on a Sunday evening with 'Friends' and 'ER' both coming in with reasonable figures, (Friends 9pm-9.30pm - 300,000.... ER 9.30pm - 10.30pm - 250,000).

In conclusion, being put onto a premium movie channel may have restricted its possible audience, but it seems to have done well - I guess people in the UK were willing to give this new show a chance, who may or may not know the full story behind it's creation.....

All the best,
Ian W359
:)

[shiningstar]

Thanks for posting the figures Ian

[nccdee]

Thanks Ian.

Do I understand by the list, Galactica came in second after Windtalker for that month? I guess you can compare the Sky Channel to HBO. Would that be accurate?

What is buzz with the British media?

As for comparing to terrestial channel (as we call the "network" here), I don't think that would work to well. Sci-Fi Channel average viewership is about 1.5 to 2 million viewers, while network top 20 show would average about 10 million to as high as 23 million. (a sample nielsen rating for last week http://tv.yahoo.com/nielsen/ (http://)).

The question is, did the show meet Sky's expectation. This is important since Sky is an associate partner for Galactica.

nccdee

[amberstar]

Thanks Ian, that was interesting.

Amber

[Ian_W359]

nccdee, the first part of Galactica 2003 (Monday night) scored 10,000 more viewers than Windtalkers, but part 2 (Tuesday) scored 10,000 less - you could say they could be more or less equal - the Galactica figures are from week ending 22nd February.

The BSkyB network could be compared to HBO - but much larger. Controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation - Sky has expanded from a 4 channel line-up in 1989 to 2003 figures of -

As at 3 June 2003, there were 386 channels on digital satellite. These channels can be categorised as follows:

92 basic channels retailed by Sky digital
29 premium, a la carte and bonus channels retailed by Sky digital
98 free to air TV channels
19 third-party subscription services
63 free to air radio channels
85 pay-per-view channels

Sky itself operates channels providing general entertainment, a 24 hour news channel, sports channels (both subscription and pay-per-view/season ticket), multiple movie channels (subscription & pay-per-view), travel features, music channels, and recent additions include a gambling channel?! (Sky Vegas Live). Sky also transmits via cable (some of the free to air TV channels can also be received via the 'Freeview' terrestrial digital TV service).

As for the media, I think they view the mini as an update of a 70's curio, outside of the SF/Fantasy press - who are more willing to look at all sides of the story (original, mini, even DeSanto! but please note, I have been somewhat wary of coverage of the mini in any magazine... ;) nuff said!) despite this, they approached the mini with something of an open mind (SFX magazine gave it 4 stars out of 5!). I think that it's representative of the UK SF media, in the idea that not having had Galactica engraved on the collective psyche of it's readership in a similar way to what the US audience had on Sept 17,1978 (not to mention the couple of thousand miles of ocean, namely the Atlantic) - they seem to look on it from an outside perspective - although there are exceptions.

All the best,
Ian W359
:)

[nccdee]

A little confuse, some clearity please.

I have Cox cable in my area (I could get DISH or Echol Satellite, which I think is the equivalent to Sky service). I pay for Basic, which gives me 75 channels, including USA, Sci-Fi, CNN, FOX Channel and the networks/local stations. If I want HBO, Showtime and the like, I would need to subscribe to premium service (pay more, and get a box).

My question, is the channel that aired Galactica on Sky's basic service or premium?

nccdee

[Ian_W359]

Sorry about that, nccdee, Galactica was aired on a premium channel, which at a minimum comes in a set of 4 movie channels, in addition to a basic or budget package.

Hope this is of help,

Ian W359
:)

[nccdee]

Thanks for the info Ian. Just out of curiosity, are there new British Sci-Fi shows airing over there but not here (US)?

nccdee