Farscape, Sci Fi, Vivendi, the Future, etc...

[Umbran]

This comes a bit too late to help Farscape, but it's interesting....

The Sci Fi Channel was owned by Vivendi Universal. Vivendi had some debt problems. So, there must have been some serious pressure from Vivendi to cut costs.

Some follks now claim that Bonnie Hammer doesn't like "space shows". That's pretty nonsensical, as she brought us Farscape in the first place. Others claim that Vivendi execs don't like space shows. That's more credible, but perhaps still not very meaningful. When their debt load makes them want to sell all their US media assets, including things like Universal Studios and a whole bunch of cable channels, we don't need to turn to personal explanations. The economic reasons seem strong enough.

But now, Vivendi is largely out of the picture. Instead of outright selling the assets, they've done a merger with NBC. In essence, Vivendi keeps 20% ownership of the new NBC/Universal. They keep their hands in, but not a majority interest.

So, perhaps with different hands on the top-level controls, we'll see Sci Fi start to stink less? Maybve a better chance for a Farscape telemovie or the like? Who knows?

 

[John Crichton]

I have no idea what this means but I am interested to see what happens with the SciFi Channel and their programming choices. I am hopeful (but doubtful) that it means something for Farscape because a good ad campaign and a solid time-slot coupled with all the repeats they have been showing could translate to the show coming back. I admit that I have been ignoring the ratings for the repeats and they haven't exactly been aired at a great timeslot but I firmly believe that if SciFi got behind the show again that it would do well and would give them a good return on their investment...

Or it could mean nothing and the SciFi Channel will continue to wallow in mediocrity....

 

[Hand of Evil]

It means nothing! SciFi has posted some of its best ratings ever this summer, that was without Farscape and with crap like Temors and Scare Tactics. I fear this shows they hit the target with their shows and only the same will come from them in the future.

 

[Umbran]

It means nothing! SciFi has posted some of its best ratings ever this summer, that was without Farscape and with crap like Temors and Scare Tactics.

Yes, Sci Fi posted their highest-rated Auust ever this year (news article here). However, they didn't do it with Tremors and Scare Tactics. They did it with Stargate SG1.

Look at the ratings. For the week of August 11 to August 17 "Stargate SG1" got a 1.5 household rating. Darned good for a Sci Fi show. But "Scare Tactics" brought in a 1.0, and "Tremors: The Series" brought in a 0.8. Tremors was beaten out by such stunning movies as... Anaconda, The Faculty, and Tremors 2 & 3 (ironic, that).

So, Scare Tactics and Tremors aren't doing any better than Farscape was when they killed it.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Yes, Sci Fi posted their highest-rated Auust ever this year (news article here). However, they didn't do it with Tremors and Scare Tactics. They did it with Stargate SG1.

Look at the ratings. For the week of August 11 to August 17 "Stargate SG1" got a 1.5 household rating. Darned good for a Sci Fi show. But "Scare Tactics" brought in a 1.0, and "Tremors: The Series" brought in a 0.8. Tremors was beaten out by such stunning movies as... Anaconda, The Faculty, and Tremors 2 & 3 (ironic, that).

So, Scare Tactics and Tremors aren't doing any better than Farscape was when they killed it.

You are right, thanks for those numbers. If I remember Farscape had better numbers than a 0.8.

 

[Green Knight]

If I remember right, Farscapes' numbers tended to hover around a 1.2 for the most part, with the occasional upsurge for season premieres and the like, which would put them around 1.7-1.8.

*sigh* I miss Farscape.

 

[LightPhoenix]

IIRC, most analysts believe this won't affect the child companies one bit, so let's all look forward to continued suckage from SFC for a long while.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I admit that I have been ignoring the ratings for the repeats and they haven't exactly been aired at a great timeslot but I firmly believe that if SciFi got behind the show again that it would do well and would give them a good return on their investment...

That was one of the big problems with the cancellation of Farscape - they just simply stopped promoting it at all, focusing instead everything on their new flagship series, Stargate: SG-1. If they had even done a little promotion for the show, it would have been getting much better numbers.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Some follks now claim that Bonnie Hammer doesn't like "space shows". That's pretty nonsensical, as she brought us Farscape in the first place.

I have to disagree. Just look at SFC's current line-up. Bonnie is responsible for promotional decisions, she's responsible for cancellations and renewals, she's responsible for green-lighting new shows, and she's responsible for pretty much every other executive decision that goes on at the network. I'm also firmly convinced she has no clue what she's doing, because it's just poor management cancelling a show that's consistantly getting you high ratings, and in their top five shows most weeks.

Vivendi may have put pressure on her and the rest of the SFC because they were going down in flames. But she was the one making the decisions, and she is accountable for them. Instead of axing the show completely, she could have tried cutting their budget, or *gasp* spending some money on advertising instead of jreck like Tremors: The Series.

I would like to believe that Bonnie suffered under the yolk of Vivendi, and that she'll do as much as possible in the next year or so to bring Farscape back. And while NBC hasn't been the most risk-taking network when it comes to Sci-Fi, they may (hopefully) put a good deal of money into the SFC. But really, I just can't put that much faith in a women that seems to know less about running a network than I do, and I certainly don't know crap.

 

[Aaron L]

Sci-Fi has actually said that they wanted to get away from space shows, it wasn't just a hint some people got. And then Bonnie herself said recently that they wanted shows that required less thought to watch.

I haven't watched anything on Sci Fi since they cancelled Farscape. They don't show anything worth the effort of changing the channel to them.