Ratings for Columbus Day...

[frobisher]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Demon:
UK Sci FI has never, to the best of my knowledge, shown Crusade. It's been shown on Sky satellite<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've got a nagging feeling that the SciFi channel did show it about a year ago for a brief run, but Sky One did show Crusade on Terrestrial Digital as well (I had to tape half of the episodes that way as they were shown as I was moving house and we didn't get the Satellite re-installed for a month and a half).

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Paddy Sinclair

"I think it's an excellent plan. But then, I've been shot through the head on five or six occasions"- Troop Leader Keitel, The Corps

 

[frobisher]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
Sky onme showed it? Must have been before we got digital. Sadly Im pretty sure theyre the ones who are going to be showing Rangers. Youve gotta love VHS.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

'Fraid so - Sky were only about six weeks behind the States in showing it (and as they didn't pause for repeats, finished the run about a week after in the end).

As (initially) it's going to be a one off, the chances are that the SciFi channel will pick it up (not that that helps you either...).

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Paddy Sinclair

"I think it's an excellent plan. But then, I've been shot through the head on five or six occasions"- Troop Leader Keitel, The Corps

 

[Kaleb]

Yeah, not having sci fi aint no fun. Im ok now tho. HMV had a sale on and I got the Crusader entire series box set for £20!

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As it is, such is life.

 

[GKarsEye]

<sigh>, I envy your optimism and sincerely hope you're right. Sadly, it seems to me that most people, including sci-fi fans, want the explosions and the cleavage (except for us, of course, we're all sophisticamated and all

), wereas I want story, characters, and cleavage.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[bakana]

I guess I just know a better class of SF Fans. <G>

Of course, I tend to go to the sort of conventions that invite Authors & Artists to be their Guests Of Honor instead of TV actors.
They are frequented by people who read Lots of BOOKS!
And the people who Write them.

For instance, one of the people I hang around with Online teaches SF at MIT.
Another has a PhD in medieval Lit, is a former college professor, writes books and works on Wall Street as a financial editor.
Another friend is an aeronautic engineer working on the Space Shuttle program and helped get several Astronauts hooked on Babylon 5.

See, I bet you wondered how I was going to get this back on Topic.

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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!

 

[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> I just hope that “target” audience doesn’t start to eliminate the more literate and interesting aspects of sci-fi. Science fiction is the one area that can almost literally explore any scenario it wants to.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

With a little luck, the Babylon 5 audience will demonstrate to them that the Literate SF Audience is Much Larger than the "mindless violence and endles explosions" demographic audience.

This could only be a GOOD thing for TV & Movie SF in general.

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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!

 

[GKarsEye]

On topic, feh

It's cool that you do all that stuff bakana. Most regular schlubs like me just read what we read and watch what we watch, and there are more regular schlubs than literate PHD types and astronauts. Though I like to think of myself as a high-class schlub.

Seriously, though, there is a big market for intelligent sci-fi. A key demographic is women. Sci-fi generally ignores that half of the population with all the explosions and cleavage and such. All of the women who frequent this board is evidence that sci-fi, when done right, can appeal to women, not that chicks just don't dig it at all, which is how many think of it.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[Jomar]

I'm lost. What is the topic? Neilson ratings, women who like scifi, Crusade in the UK?

I believe the increase in female fans started when women became prominent in writing scifi, such as Anne McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin, Andre Norton, and others. Now I think the ratio of fans is about 60/40 of males to females. This has made a huge impact on the type of scifi we see on tv.

Since I don't get the SCIFI channel, I can't comment on the Crusade marathon.

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[Kaleb]

One topic? This isnt the attempt to fit an entire forum into the one thread?

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As it is, such is life.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hypatia:
I've never heard that before, but it does make sense, doesn't it? Ads are (always were and always will be) very expensive on television. That's why I feel that cable/satellite will only continue to improve science fiction. Cable seems to be able to handle lower ratings and perhaps a more specific “target” audience.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

T:OS ratings isn't something I know a whole lot about. I seem to remember that the problem was actually a combination of lack of audience and the fact that they didn't do the demos like today. So you couldn't tell that the numbers were low but you were hitting a significant number in an interesting audience demo. Sort of like the WB numbers today. Taken as a whole they don't look fantastic but they are successful with their target audience.

I've never heard that there was a demo that said folks watching ST:TOS were too poor. Does someone have a reference for that? I can't imagine what that demo would even look like. It would have to be folks so poor they couldn't afford to buy anything yet had a TV. That wold be an odd demo. I'd have guessed that ST:TOS would have had a young, middle-class male demo. You know, those same folks that now watch Enterprise.

Best,
Alyson

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[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> I've never heard that there was a demo that said folks watching ST:TOS were too poor. Does someone have a reference for that? I can't imagine what that demo would even look like. It would have to be folks so poor they couldn't afford to buy anything yet had a TV. That wold be an odd demo. I'd have guessed that ST:TOS would have had a young, middle-class male demo. You know, those same folks that now watch Enterprise.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It wasn't "Poor People". It was Kids and Teenagers.
Who depend on their parents for income.
Unlike today, most TV advertisers were selling stuff aimed at Adults.

Even the commercials for stuff FOR kids were aimed at the Adults because it was assumed that the Adults made all the important purchasing decisions.

Things have changed. Adults today will buy the kids stuff because the kid asks for it and advertisers Know it.

Back in the 60s, advertisers didn't think that way.



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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!

 

[bakana]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> Most regular schlubs like me just read what we read and watch what we watch, and there are more regular schlubs than literate PHD types and astronauts <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But, there are a lot more literate PHD types and Astronauts among the Science Fiction audience than among the general population of Schlubs.
One of the things that Attracts people to SF is the word Science.
It sort of selects for a higher level of intellect.
Even regular schlub intelligence.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR> I believe the increase in female fans started when women became prominent in writing scifi, such as Anne McCaffrey, Ursula LeGuin, Andre Norton, and others. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Which goes back further than most people realize.
Of the books by Andre Norton on my shelf, the earliest copyright date is 1938.
Her first published fiction was in 1934.

A complete bibliography is at: http://www.andre-norton.org/books/date.shtml

McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang" was published in 1961. Pre Trek.
She won a Nebula award for "Dragonrider" in 1968.

The campaign to get the Original Trek back on the air after the first cancellation was Organized and Led by Bjo Trimble, a woman.
BTW, that name is pronounced "Beejoe".



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The 3 most common elements in the Universe:
Hydrogen, Greed, Stupidity!