Comments | cisaac: Why BSG Is Getting Cancelled

cisaac

Why BSG Is Getting Cancelled

Feb 09, 2009 08:45

In the realm of the 'well, duh!' I'm just going to discuss some interesting numbers that revolve around the primary reason for Battlestar Galactica getting the cancellation treatment (remember, RDM and Eick, the showrunners, said they had originally planned 5 seasons, not 4). You can argue about convoluted storylines and character development ( Read more... )

bsg, television

Comments 4

sabaceanbabe February 9 2009, 15:11:52 UTC

I am appalled that something on the Food Network beat out BSG. But, then again, everyone has to eat, right? :P

I don't think it's necessarily accurate to place all the blame on Moore and Eick, though. They're the creative reason that people left, but Skiffy is the practical reason. Year+ hiatuses? Not at all conducive to people coming back. They're trying like hell to bring people back now - for the first time EVER I've seen BSG advertised on other networks - but who wants to check out the last 10 episodes of a show that they stopped watching because they thought it was cancelled when the first year-long hiatus hit?

I'm just sayin'... :)

cisaac February 9 2009, 15:33:26 UTC

I will admit that maybe I'm a bit rough on Moore and Eick. There are some real plot issues I have with the two of them (especially the dreadfully bad first half of season 4 -- that's a way to NOT retain viewers, regardless of hiatus), and I feel that while the hiatuses have done no favors whatsoever and have contributed to the decline, the quality of the show that would be necessary to sustain it through the long hiatuses wasn't there. From about 2/3rds through season 3 until the beginning of season 4.5, it's felt like "Black Market" writ large. Vast, out of character angsty bullshit.

So, I think it's fair to say that both long hiatuses and RDM/Eick's storylines have been at fault.

rkc_erika February 9 2009, 17:23:05 UTC

BSG makes up things when DVR numbers are counted in. That's one of the factors that Fox is going to have to face as a huge part of judging TSCC and Dollhouse's performances on Fridays. People go out on Fridays but will DVR stuff.

cisaac February 9 2009, 17:31:11 UTC

BSG does make up some on the DVR side, but it's still only a percentage. I've never seen a show make up more than half it's original audience in DVR viewing. Most typical shows are in the 20-30% additional viewers range. Also, Nielsen includes same day DVR viewing in their initial ratings.

So, my best guess is that BSG is maybe getting another 400-500K (33%, which is a LOT) from DVR viewing over a three day period from the initial showing.

That's still barely 2 million viewership on the best of days.

Legend of the Seeker routinely doubles that number with its live viewership. And it's much, much cheaper to produce. Hence LotS got renewed and BSG was cancelled.