SGU Cancelled

don ramo

TonyD79 wrote: »

If they had any sense they would move the last 10 episodes back to Fridays and see what kind of figures they get before cancelling it. So are we gonna get a 3 minute ending like we did in Caprica?

i was thinking that to but theyd would have started reving up production for season 3 in january, so they didnt have much of a choice,

i just hope they keep sanctuary now, its been doing ok on fridays, noting epic ratings wise, a bit stronger than caprica and SGU, its really the only serious sci-fyey show they have left, eureka, haven and warehouse 13 are kinda more fluffy sci-fi, which i dont mind at all, but you need a bot of seriousness aswell, the only current offerings are Fringe and Sanctuary for me,

Antar Bolaeisk

meep wrote: »

I'm curious though, how many of the people posting here bemoaning the loss actually watch the show as aired or on a ratings-counted pvr such as sky+ or whatever.

I'd be willing to bet that a significant majority obtain the show by alternate means that count nothing towards ratings.

Could it be that real the fans, eager to see first, fastest and without advertisements are actually a contributing factor in it's demise?

I like the idea earlier in the thread of embracing the net and publishing online, globally. Would people pay for this though? Or continue to seek out the workaround?

Wouldn't make a damn bit of difference as I doubt any of us are in homes with Nielsen boxes and since they're the only people who count towards ratings I shall continue to get my sci-fi via alternative means until the studios catch up and start providing a better service than torrents or iTunes.

As far as I recall SyFy get little to nothing from DVD sales or airings in foreign markets as most of that money goes to MGM. This means the only thing which counts are those people in Nielsen homes tuning in live.

ixoy wrote: »

Oh and, as an aside, let's just prepare ourselves for "Fringe"'s cancellation too.

The world couldn't be so cruel

Anita Blow

Johnmb wrote: »

We'll get to see how good their editors and directors are. It's not that difficult to (re)cut an ending so that instead of being a "tune in to see" cliff- hanger, it is an open ended finish, completing that particular story, but leaving the overall story arc up to the imagination of the viewer.

I'd imagine it's quite difficult considering the scenes have already been shot and would be very specific to what their intended story for the season finale was.

Syfy won't give them any more money to re-shoot scenes or re-edit CGI scenes.

Apparently, and take this with a giant grain of salt, CTV in Canada, the big network that owns the channel SGU airs on over there, is considering purchasing the series as it was a huge money maker for them over there and apparently using it as a way to break into the American Market.

somuj

Anita Blow wrote: »

I'd imagine it's quite difficult considering the scenes have already been shot and would be very specific to what their intended story for the season finale was.

Syfy won't give them any more money to re-shoot scenes or re-edit CGI scenes.

Apparently, and take this with a giant grain of salt, CTV in Canada, the big network that owns the channel SGU airs on over there, is considering purchasing the series as it was a huge money maker for them over there and apparently using it as a way to break into the American Market.

My heart actually skipped a beat or two when I read this. I wish I didnt know tho because now I'm going to be doubly disappointed if they don't purchase it.

Kiith

Just saw this now, and i'm pretty damn pissed off. It seems the only tv that gets renewed these days are reality ****, and teen drama bull****. I wish i could say i'm surprised, but most of the people i know only watch x-factor and the apprentice. Literally no one i know, other then boardsies, watch things like Fringe or Stargate. Gone are the days of well written shows that people regularly watch.

If Fringe gets cancelled, TV can **** right off as far as i'm concerned.

Sod'o swords

I'll admit for the first few episodes i was disappointed by the lack of generic Sci-Fi action, but as the first series developed i really began to like it, now i'm loving it then this bomb shell drops!

I've loved all the Stargates but this was my favourite because it didn't just seem like the story was wrapped up after ever episode, not saying the previous were that simple, but SGU seemed like a long movie just with big add breaks!

Conor108

Anita Blow wrote: »

Apparently, and take this with a giant grain of salt, CTV in Canada, the big network that owns the channel SGU airs on over there, is considering purchasing the series as it was a huge money maker for them over there and apparently using it as a way to break into the American Market.

Oh my frakking gods please let this happen

Anita Blow

Don't hold out too much hope for it. All I've read is that CTV began negotiations with MGM Studios. Doesn't mean they'll actually pick it up!
Brian Jacob Smith said on Twitter also that a network change has been on the cards for a while

ixoy

Now my hopes are up too! It worked for other shows (like "Southland" and "Buffy") so maybe... just maybe...

Conor108

Maybe a stupid question but does the USAF contribute anything to production? I know they review all scripts and have a production-liason team but financially? Probs not but they are kinda represented...

Tar.Aldarion

hope this happppens

Anita Blow

As far as I know, no. They have people from the Air Force review the military continuity and then NASA I think for the sci-fi stuff.
SGU Costs over 2 million an episode. Over 1 million of that comes from Syfy, I'd imagine around 700,000 comes from Canada and UK between them and then 300,000 from DVD sales/iTunes downloads etc.

They're all guesstimates but I'd say the general breakdown of who contributes what is decent enough

RolandIRL

you're getting my hopes up with this. please let it be true

ixoy

Right - new forum rule. We now do shoot the messenger, so if this doesn't happen Anita Blow is in a lot of trouble

Here's a relevant section about financing from the article linked above:

It’s become increasingly obvious over the last five years that fans of television don’t watch television any more. What in the world does that mean?! Sci-fi fans tend to be younger and technologically savvy, and so among the earliest adopters of new technology. We got DVRs first and stopped watching our favorite shows live. We were the first users of Hulu and iTunes, and sci-fi fans were torrenting new episodes illegally before most people even knew such a thing existed.

Destiny brought its crew -- and viewers -- to stunning new vistas. From ''Light''

Nielsen Media Research and the networks have tried to keep up with the times, revamping the TV ratings system to include some time-shifted, DVR viewing in separate ratings reports. “Live + Same Day” counts those who recorded the show and watched it by 3 a.m. that night. “C3″ numbers count those who watch recorded commercials within three days of broadcast. And “Live + 7 Days” measure viewers who recorded the episode and watched it at any time the following week. (Stargate typically adds 40 to 50 percent to its Friday night viewer numbers here.)

But those in the Nielsen sample group who took longer to catch up, or who watched online instead (legally or illegally), currently don’t get counted. And that’s to say nothing of the millions in other countries who watch on their own networks (or online).

Is it fair for Syfy to cancel the show when execs know that they can’t count all of its true viewers? Sure it is. Syfy’s bottom line is determined by how much it can charge advertisers for 30 seconds of air time during SGU. Can it make more money than it pays for the show? MGM owns Stargate and licenses it to Syfy — so Syfy doesn’t see a nickel from iTunes or Amazon or Hulu, or from DVDs or international distribution. As much as we talk about ratings on this site, we all need to remember that the renewal decision is not based on a show’s viewership — it’s based on how much money the network can make from the show. That means it’s based on Syfy Channel’s viewership, and heavily weighted toward those viewers most likely to not fast-forward through ads (“Live + Same Day” and “C3″ ratings).

Simply put: DVR time-shifting and online availability are directly opposed to the current system of ad-supported television. New technologies are great for putting the viewer in control; but the broadcaster’s profitability is still tied to the network being in control (i.e., making us watch commercials).

Anita Blow

Yea I'm gonna feel personally responsible now if SGU doesn't get renewed :P

If we don't get news by end of January at the very latest, then it's not happening. That's when production would need to start for SGU S3 to return on time for Autumn 2011

Johnmb

Anita Blow wrote: »

I'd imagine it's quite difficult considering the scenes have already been shot and would be very specific to what their intended story for the season finale was.

Do you honestly think they stop the shooting at the point of the cliffhanger? They usually will have enough outtakes to either change the hanger, or even the resolution. How often has a cliffhanger been resolved with a one minute long piece slotted in at the start of an episode which then goes on to tell a new story (and often that resolution is a complete let down!). They filmed a lot more than they needed to, and will have enough to play with now that they know they're finished, once they have a bit of skill.

Antar Bolaeisk

Anita Blow wrote: »

Yea I'm gonna feel personally responsible now if SGU doesn't get renewed :P

If we don't get news by end of January at the very latest, then it's not happening. That's when production would need to start for SGU S3 to return on time for Autumn 2011

I keep thinking you're me. Change your name! :mad::p

No reason why negotiations couldn't take longer. Later is always better than never.

Anita Blow

Also, that article is very true
But at the same time, the more money MGM makes from iTunes and Amazon sales and Hulu, the less it has to charge the channels for the show and the more incentive it has to work to get it renewed. Using my example above, if the money they get from DVDs/downloads grows to 600,000 lets say, then the money it charges Syfy can fall to below 1 million, meaning they make more of a profit from the show.
MGM have 500 million of a credit line now to finance projects and SGU is their only reliable income stream (and the only thing they have in production) as they get the 40 million up-front to finance production so I'd imagine they're working hard to get it onto another network

don ramo

2 million an epsiode seems a bit much, i honestly dont see where that bill would come from, id love to see some sort of breakdown of the costs, like actors wages, stunt people, CGI people,

if they change network id say the actors might have to take a pay cut, carlyle is the only one id say would have any leverage, i read somewhere that a leading role in a show by any SAG actor is at least 25K, but this is a canadian developed show, so i dunno if it counts or what,

it would be great maybe if they at the very least made a film to round it off, im still pi$$ed off that they havent nor do the seem to intend on making the atlantis film,

Anita Blow

Carlyle was the one who said it costs over 2 million per episode. Brad Wright confirmed it and said Stargate budgets never go down as the seasons continue. Always up. I'd say majority is spent on CGI.
I'm pretty sure what happens is they don't always spend the 2 million budgeted per episode but would cut back a bit on each episode and then use the money saved for big CGI sequences in the mid-season and season finales.
Actors like Carlyle, Louis Ferriera, Ming-Na and Lou Diamond Philips would all command a high wage I'd say.

Conor108

So from reading the gateworld forum there it seems the most likely way it could be saved is some kind of sharing of production costs between Sky and CTV's Space channel.

aidan_walsh

Anita Blow wrote: »

Yea I'm gonna feel personally responsible now if SGU doesn't get renewed :P

We'll have L31mr0d take you to Canada to explain to Chloe why she doesn't have a job any more

somuj

I'm so happy My midichlorians are telling me theres going to be a third season (at the minimum).

I'm gonna go on a pre celebratory piss up today.

Antar Bolaeisk

don ramo wrote: »

2 million an epsiode seems a bit much, i honestly dont see where that bill would come from, id love to see some sort of breakdown of the costs, like actors wages, stunt people, CGI people,

That sounds about right considering they are trying to keep costs down. If I remember correctly Star Trek: Enterprise was costing about 3-4 million dollars an episode and that was over five years ago.

Richard Dower

somuj wrote: »

I'm so happy My midichlorians are telling me theres going to be a third season (at the minimum).

I'm gonna go on a pre celebratory piss up today.

It won't happen, please accept this.

somuj

Richard Dower wrote: »

It won't happen, please accept this.

IT WILL have faith. There is a disturbance in the force and it needs to be re-aligned.

ixoy

Richard Dower wrote: »

It won't happen, please accept this.

It happened for "Southland". Let's have some faith - it's Christmas! Denial is welcome at the moment.

Memnoch

FutureGuy wrote: »

My brother (huge SGU fan) made a good point this morning that Sci-Fi is facing a massive threat to it's survival on TV. Casual fans are simply not watching intelligent sci-fi, and hardened fans are becoming sick of having good shows cancelled halfway through their lifespan without any proper ensings and emotional payoff.

Best case scenario is another channel sees the show for what it is (a great character driven show) and pick it up or perhaps a TV film to wrap up things as best possible.

Fringe will be next for the chop imo, and that's pretty much the best sci-fi out these right now.

I'm sure it will be replaced by garbage suce as Warehouse 14: The spinoff to Warehouse 13.

The problem is that SGU wasn't intelligent. It was dumbed down, over emotional, over the top soap opera.

I kind of agree about the problems faced by SCI-FI on TV and am also distressed by the idea that it might very well be on its last legs. But this situation isn't helped by rubbish shoes like SGU and to a lesser extent, Caprica.

The other issues can be worked around, but if a show doesn't have quality then there is no remedy.

Antar Bolaeisk

Richard Dower wrote: »

It won't happen, please accept this.

You are overly pessimistic, please accept that

Anita Blow

I feel sorry for the likes of Brian J.Smith, Alaina, Brad and Elyse because they were doing a promotional trip on an Aircraft Carrier so had no communication with anyone. They only found out about the cancellation yesterday by checking their Twitter on the plane back!