Caprica mid-season finale ratings hit series high with key demo

Press release, from SyFy:

SYFY’S CAPRICA MARCH 26 MID-SEASON FINALE SETS SERIES RECORD WITH MORE THAN ONE MILLION ADULTS 18-49 INCLUDING LIVE +7 DATA

Culminating a premiere season of ratings growth, the Friday, March 26 season finale of Caprica set a series record by delivering 1.1 million Adults 18-49 (including Live + 7 DVR playback data). The episode, airing from 9-10pm, also scored 1.7 million total viewers, 1.16 million Adults 25-54 and a 1.3 Household rating.

These achievements capped off a successful end to Caprica’s first nine episodes. Compared to the first five episodes, the final four averaged 1.0 million Adults 18-49 (+21%) and 1.15 million Adults 25-54 (+12%). These programs were also Caprica’s top individual telecasts in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.

For the first season including all DVR playback, Caprica averaged a 1.3 HH Rating and 1.8 million total viewers, including 906,000 Adults 18-49 and 1.1 million Adults 25-54.

The fate of humanity takes a sudden twist when tragedy upsets the lives of the citizens of Caprica, a vibrant world recognizably close to our own. This original series features the passion, intrigue, political backbiting, and family conflict in an omnipotent society that is at the height of its blind power and glory…and, unknowingly, on the brink of its fall.

Caprica stars Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone), Paula Malcomson (Amanda Graystone), Esai Morales (Joseph Adama), Polly Walker (Sister Clarice Willow), Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy) and Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama).

The series is from Universal Cable Productions, and the first half of season one is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson. Jonas Pate serves as co-executive producer and director. Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) directed the pilot.

Universal Cable Productions creates quality content across multiple media platforms for USA, Syfy and other networks. A leader in innovative and critically acclaimed programming, UCP is the studio behind USA’s Royal Pains, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Psych, In Plain Sight, Covert Affairs and Facing Kate, along with Syfy’s Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Caprica. The studio also produced both long-running series Monk and Battlestar Galactica. UCP is a division of NBC Universal.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures),Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 95 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.

Source: SyFy via TVbytheNumbers

The ratings for End of Line

The Nielsen ratings for "End of Line" are in. The episode was seen by 1.103 million live viewers and the 18-49 demo climbed to 0.5 again.

Here are the numbers for the first half of the season:

Date	Episode	18-49 Rating	Viewers (millions)
22-Jan-10	Pilot	0.4	1.602
29-Jan-10	Rebirth	0.5	1.411
5-Feb-10	Reins of a Waterfall	0.4	1.128
19-Feb-10	Gravedancing	0.4	0.976
26-Feb-10	There Is Another Sky	0.4	1.127
5-Mar-10	Know Thy Enemy	0.5	1.155
12-Mar-10	The Imperfections of Memory	0.4	1.071
19-Mar-10	Ghosts in the Machine	0.4	1.229
26-Mar-10	End of Line	0.5	1.103

Source: TVbytheNumbers

The frakking ratings climb 18% for Ghosts in the Machine

TVbytheNumbers reports the best live ratings since "Rebirth" (with key demo unchanged) and Hollywood Reporter says:

Syfy's "Caprica" is showing signs of life in the Nielsens. Friday's episode climbed 18% this week to 1.3 million viewers. That's the biggest number for the series since its second week on the air. The show's midseason finale airs on Friday.

Also, SyFy issued a press release for the March 5 episode ("Know Thy Enemy"):

GATHERING MOMENTUM TO ITS SEASON FINALE, CAPRICA POSTS SERIES HIGHS IN ADULTS 18-49 AND ADULTS 25-54 DURING FRIDAY, MARCH 5 EPISODE ON SYFY

Gains 13% in Adults 18-49 and 15% in Adults 25-54 Versus Prior Week With Inclusion of DVR Playback

New York, NY -- March 22, 2010 -- Building momentum toward this week's mid-season finale, Syfy's critically acclaimed Caprica scored double-digit increases and delivered series highs in key demos Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 during its Friday, March 5 episode with the inclusion of Live +7 DVR playback data.

The March 5 episode, airing from 9-10pm, averaged 1.04 million Adults 18-49 (+13% versus the Friday, February 26 episode) and 1.21 million Adults 25-54 viewers (+15%).

The program also scored a 1.4 HH Rating (highest rating since the January 22 series premiere) and 1.78 million total viewers (highest since January 29).

The level of viewing from 7-day playback vs. same-day playback also hit series highs, adding:

476,000 additional Adults 25-54

436,000 additional Adults 18-49

627,000 total viewers -- The Futon Critic

The frakking ratings report: Key demo holds

From TVbytheNumbers:

Caprica dipped under a million average viewers on Friday night against the Olympics (after taking the week off against the opening ceremonies in Vancouver on 2/12), averaging .976 million. But while total viewers dropped, the 18-49 rating has been flat, at least when rounded to one decimal place.

SyFy's Mark Stern: Caprica isn't going anywhere

SyFy exec Mark Stern has addressed the rumours about the show's future being uncertain in an interview with Airlock Alpha yesterday. He talked about the ratings, the show's pace, James Marsters' character, and SyFy's plans to use Caprica as a launch point for a new series after the mid-season break among other things. For the complete article, head over to Airlock Alpha.

Snippets: 

"We're definitely with 'Caprica' for the long haul," Syfy's EVP of original programming Mark Stern told Airlock Alpha Thursday. "There's no question about it. We knew exactly what it was not going to be, that is an easily adopted show. It's not 'Battlestar Galactica,' it's its own animal. And we definitely recognize that it's going to find its audience and it's going to grow its audience." (...)

Syfy just received the first batch of numbers this week for "Caprica" tracking viewers who recorded the second episode of the series and watched it within a week, known as Live+7. Those numbers were better than the network anticipated, Stern said, and actually propelled "Caprica" into the top 10 for cable that night.

"We're certainly not sharpening the axe by any stretch of the imagination," Stern said. "We all really believe in the show, and it has a lot of potential." (...)

The audience does have to grow, but Syfy doesn't have immediate plans to boost its marketing of "Caprica." The network does believe, however, that the series will start to sell itself beginning March 5 when "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Torchwood" alum James Marsters joins the cast as Barnabus Greeley.

"That suddenly throws that whole dynamic with Clarice in a whole new light and gives her a foil to play against," Stern said of the character played by Polly Walker that is the head of a monotheistic terror cell while at the same time running a private school. (...)

"The pace picks up," Stern said. "It was something we were talking with [executive producer Jane Espenson] and those guys about. It's not really mid-season switch, but more something we decided to do as we were getting on with the show and realizing that we need to amp this up a little more and tighten up the plotting."

That won't necessarily mean gun fights, but it could feature at least one Viper battle. Well, we're not sure if it's a "battle," but there will be Vipers. And very soon.

"There is actually a Viper sequence in the show that is coming up in the next couple of episodes," Stern said. "This isn't the kind of show where everyone is going to jump into Vipers and fight the Cylon base ship, but we are going to get out more. We're going to go to Gemenon. We're going to go to Tauron. But I think these guys [the writing staff] are basically taking their time and making sure what they do is organic."

Caprica pilot ratings

The pilot premiered to only 1.6 million viewers, which isn't really bad news since it was up against the Haiti telethon, which aired on all the major networks and a number of cablers and drew about 24 million viewers in the U.S. and 83 million in total. 

The first new episode of the show, Rebirth, airs this Friday at 9/8c on SyFy (that's after the Dollhouse series finale on Fox), so we'll get a better idea of where the show stands with the ratings this weekend.