Craig Engler - VP and Syfy Tweeter Guy

[SerenityS]

He was answering some questions online today:

Q) @Vance14 Will we see any more space-centered movies or TV shows like SGU or BSG in the near future? A) Definitely.

and

Q) @AllMediaReviews how @usa_network has so many good shows that aren't cancelled & Caprica, the 1 show SyFy I like gets cancelled?
A) Ratings. Any network can only make shows that r sustainable through ratings and every network (USA included) is unable to keep every show

For whatever it's worth.

 

[Tropicana]

Craig keeping it real, I like it. Not letting fanboi, fangirl obsessions and emotions get in the way.

 

[shavedape]

Did he really need to even bother answering question #2 ? I mean really, was that question posited by a third grader? Shit, the stupidity of the average mouth breather astounds me at times. Seriously, does this moron actually think that millions of dollars and thousands of man hours are spent producing TV shows just to please a handful of aesthetically retarded ******** like himself? Someone, please, reach thru the computer and slap that stupid *****.

 

[SerenityS]

Craig E. tweeted a couple of items about why they announced the cancellation over twitter:

“Wanted to clarify, news about SGU was not announced on Twitter. It broke on Deadline.com. After getting Qs on Twitter we addressed it here.”


“Once news broke we felt it was better to address it here and not ignore the Twitter questions we were getting.”

 

[Tropicana]

Has someone thanked him yet for confirming the cancellation of SGU and maybe passing a thank you to the management for making the right choice?

 

[Gatefan1976]

Has someone thanked him yet for confirming the cancellation of SGU and maybe passing a thank you to the management for making the right choice?

I don't think it was an easy decision for Syfy to make. Stargate has been very good to Syfy on the whole and I'm guessing there was alot of goodwill towards TPTB. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view) Syfy had to make the call it did, purely from a business standpoint.

 

[Tropicana]

Oh I have no doubt that it wasn't an easy decision to make, you gotta do what you have to do, in order to survive in a highly competitive market.

But they deserve an appreciation of some sort for making the right, logical choice.

 

[SerenityS]

From a Q and A today on Twitter:


SGUnite tweeted to Syfy this question: @SyFy what are your thoughts on the #SGU vs Being Human ratings? http://on.fb.me/SGUvsBeingHuman #SaveSGU #SGUnite
Syfy tweeted back: @SGUnite Depends what happens in the next few weeks, and depends on the 18-49 comparison. Basically, too soon to know anything yet.

SGUnite then replied: @Syfy Okay, that's fair enough. Do you think that if BeingHuman does tank, it could possibly lead to a renewal for SGU for ONE FINAL season?
Syfy answered: @SGUnite No, because shows succeed or fail on their own, not in relation to other shows. See my next post.
I see a lot of tweets from folks who think we pulled one show to be able to make another. It doesn't really work like that. Once a show... ...is on the air, it will succeed or not succeed on its own. We don't pull shows that are working to try other shows. There is room for.....every show we air to be successful. And we'd LOVE that to happen. You never launch a show planning to not continue it. Broadly speaking, success means having enough viewers to allow us to keep making the show. RT @StephenCWLL please define successful. Another aspect of this is that shows don't compare directly to one another. X number of viewers may be as success for one show & not another

Q) @Cschoenfeld is that success number tied to the cost of the show? A) Partially. Also MANY other factors tho. It's a VERY complex biz

Q) @emilyp901 if a show gets low ratings but still wins its timeslot do you consider that successful?
A) Winning a timeslot is largely irrelevant. That's more a broadcast network issue than a cable network one. Hey @TedOnTV what's your POV?

Syfy retweeted TedonTV's answer: Teds POV RT @TedOnTV I absolutely agree. While its nice to make the claim when we do win it's really not important. Doesn't measure success

GetUrGameFaceOn asked: @Syfy so what happens if that 'room' is full of successful shows, for five years, how do you ensure new content for viewers?
Syfy replied: @GetUrGameFaceOn I don't know of any network in history that had too many successful shows. Great problem to have though!

Q) @TheRealHeatherG Do u pay attention to Twitter to see how people feel about shows? If a show's on the bubble wud a Twitter campaign help?
A) Yes we pay attention to all social media, but campaigns only help if they help attract new viewers & bolster rating. For instance... If a show isn't successful w/1 million viewers, but all 1 million send us a tweet about it, the rating still doesn't support the show Keep in mind, we WANT the show to succeed. That's why we made it. Economically we just can't sustain it below certain viewer levels. What would be more helpful to the show is if those 1 million viewers tweeted their friends to get more viewers watching.

Later, this exchange:

@justinAcherry Q) Have you ever considered putting a fan favorite show on to show loyalty to fans who've been loyal?
Syfy A) We put on fan favorite shows & marathons all the time as long as we think they're "favorite" enough for people to watch.

@justinAcherry Q) I was referring to keeping a show on like SGU just to give the fans some closure with a final season as a thank you?
Syfy A) Ah. We could only do that if it was financially feasible. We were eventually able to air the #Farscape miniseries, for instance.

(my aside: keep in mind he tweeted earlier in the week that they'd probably air the SGA Movie if it were made,so obviously they think THAT would be profitable!)

Q) @GetUrGameFaceOn are there ANY other examples? Syfy A) Possibly Jericho & Dollhouse...don't know how those worked though

 

[Overmind One]

That irks the hell out of me.

From a Q and A today on Twitter:

Q) @justinAcherry Have you ever considered putting a fan favorite show on to show loyalty to fans who've been loyal?
Syfy
A) We put on fan favorite shows & marathons all the time as long as we think they're "favorite" enough for people to watch.

Q) @justinAcherry I was referring to keeping a show on like SGU just to give the fans some closure with a final season as a thank you?
Syfy
A) Ah. We could only do that if it was financially feasible. We were eventually able to air the #Farscape miniseries, for instance.


Syfy Q) @GetUrGameFaceOn are there ANY other examples? A) Possibly Jericho & Dollhouse...don't know how those worked though

Who the hell do these SGU fans think they are? They have their closure. The show got cancelled just like Stargate Atlantis did...well, not exactly like that. SGU is the reason Atlantis got cancelled and now that it has failed not just itself, but the whole franchise, why should it get even ONE MORE MINUTE of airtime past what has already been canned? You dont allow the rattlesnake to bite you another time to treat the bite, you suck out the venom.

 

[Overmind One]

Lolololol!!!!

From a Q and A today on Twitter:


SGUnite tweeted to Syfy this question: @SyFy what are your thoughts on the #SGU vs Being Human ratings? http://on.fb.me/SGUvsBeingHuman #SaveSGU #SGUnite
Syfy tweeted back: @SGUnite Depends what happens in the next few weeks, and depends on the 18-49 comparison. Basically, too soon to know anything yet.

SGUnite then replied: @Syfy Okay, that's fair enough. Do you think that if BeingHuman does tank, it could possibly lead to a renewal for SGU for ONE FINAL season?

Syfy answered: @SGUnite No, because shows succeed or fail on their own, not in relation to other shows. See my next post.

I see a lot of tweets from folks who think we pulled one show to be able to make another. It doesn't really work like that. Once a show... ...is on the air, it will succeed or not succeed on its own. We don't pull shows that are working to try other shows. There is room for.....every show we air to be successful. And we'd LOVE that to happen. You never launch a show planning to not continue it. Broadly speaking, success means having enough viewers to allow us to keep making the show. RT @StephenCWLL please define successful. Another aspect of this is that shows don't compare directly to one another. X number of viewers may be as success for one show & not another

Q) @Cschoenfeld is that success number tied to the cost of the show? A) Partially. Also MANY other factors tho. It's a VERY complex biz

Q) @emilyp901 if a show gets low ratings but still wins its timeslot do you consider that successful?
A) Winning a timeslot is largely irrelevant. That's more a broadcast network issue than a cable network one. Hey @TedOnTV what's your POV?

@GetUrGameFaceOn I don't know of any network in history that had too many successful shows. Great problem to have though!

Q) @TheRealHeatherG Do u pay attention to Twitter to see how people feel about shows? If a show's on the bubble wud a Twitter campaign help?

A) Yes we pay attention to all social media, but campaigns only help if they help attract new viewers & bolster rating. For instance... If a show isn't successful w/1 million viewers, but all 1 million send us a tweet about it, the rating still doesn't support the show Keep in mind, we WANT the show to succeed. That's why we made it. Economically we just can't sustain it below certain viewer levels. What would be more helpful to the show is if those 1 million viewers tweeted their friends to get more viewers watching.

Later, this exchange:

@justinAcherry Q) Have you ever considered putting a fan favorite show on to show loyalty to fans who've been loyal?

Syfy A) We put on fan favorite shows & marathons all the time as long as we think they're "favorite" enough for people to watch.

@justinAcherry Q) I was referring to keeping a show on like SGU just to give the fans some closure with a final season as a thank you?

Syfy A) Ah. We could only do that if it was financially feasible. We were eventually able to air the #Farscape miniseries, for instance.


Q) @GetUrGameFaceOn are there ANY other examples? Syfy A) Possibly Jericho & Dollhouse...don't know how those worked though

LMAO! What this says and has said from the beginning is that CLEARLY the original Stargate fanbase, or at least a significant portion of it watching this show would have tipped it into the green. But it was THAT BAD. The million or so fans of the show have no real connection to Stargate, just to SGU. To them, its one of their favorite new shows and they just dont understand the presence of the Stargate fanbase or what its about.

So its those angry Atlantis fans who punished the show after all! And most SG-1 fans became Atlantis fans (like me) so the whole fanbase basically kicked this soap to the curb. None of their campaigns are going to work. Unless they increase viewership, its pointless. And now after the fact, they are actually trying to REVIVE a dead show.

 

[SerenityS]

Who the hell do these SGU fans think they are? They have their closure. The show got cancelled just like Stargate Atlantis did...well, not exactly like that. SGU is the reason Atlantis got cancelled and now that it has failed not just itself, but the whole franchise, why should it get even ONE MORE MINUTE of airtime past what has already been canned? You dont allow the rattlesnake to bite you another time to treat the bite, you suck out the venom.

Entitled little buggers, aren't they!?:roll:

 

[Robbie_Rocket_Pants]

Who the hell do these SGU fans think they are? They have their closure. The show got cancelled just like Stargate Atlantis did...well, not exactly like that. SGU is the reason Atlantis got cancelled and now that it has failed not just itself, but the whole franchise, why should it get even ONE MORE MINUTE of airtime past what has already been canned? You dont allow the rattlesnake to bite you another time to treat the bite, you suck out the venom.

Also, SGA had higher ratings so DESERVED a proper ending, the same cannot be said about SGU. It was cancelled fair & square due to shite ratings & the fact that it generally sucked.

 

[shavedape]

Proof that children shouldn't use Twitter!

SGUnite then replied: @Syfy Okay, that's fair enough. Do you think that if BeingHuman does tank, it could possibly lead to a renewal for SGU for ONE FINAL season?

How someone -- anyone -- could legitimately ask this question is incomprehensible to me. It might -- I stress the word might -- be acceptable if it came from a third grader. I simply can't accept that this came from a grown adult as the ignorance inherent in the question is so profound, so extreme, so monumental that it's amazing a hole wasn't ripped in time and space creating a Stupidity black hole so large that it devours the universe in a pico second.

I feel for this SyFy guy, having to respond to a bunch of ignorant ****** ******* that do nothing but waste his time with inane bullshit scenarios for a dead show that no one cares about.

 

[Mr. A]

Who the hell do these SGU fans think they are? They have their closure. The show got cancelled just like Stargate Atlantis did...well, not exactly like that. SGU is the reason Atlantis got cancelled and now that it has failed not just itself, but the whole franchise, why should it get even ONE MORE MINUTE of airtime past what has already been canned? You dont allow the rattlesnake to bite you another time to treat the bite, you suck out the venom.

Also, SGA had higher ratings so DESERVED a proper ending, the same cannot be said about SGU. It was cancelled fair & square due to shite ratings & the fact that it generally sucked.

SGU had a HUGE chance at closure - it was called "season 2". But Brad Wright, Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie decided to waste it and in their arrogance shoot the whole season in advance like they had done with season 1. They could have brought all storylines to a satisfactory conclusion in the course of season 2.5, but chose instead to milk the remaining viewers' ratings to the max while feeding them the illusion that the show had turned around and was going to be renewed because it was doing so great everywhere. They BSed the squeedrones by implying there would be 5 seasons of SGU ("The plan") when they knew very early on the show was in deep doo-doo.
So NO! Syfy gave SGU every chance for closure and the producers turned them down. Deal with it, soap fans!

 

[Tropicana]

AS a reminder to the lurkers.

Syfy requested for another season of SGA but Wright & MGM decided that instead of SGA, Syfy will get SGU instead.

So Syfy didn't cancel SGA, Wright & Co. did.


And in relation to that question posted by SGUnite, honestly I thought you guys were gonna be smart and think with your brains not with your hearts; but lone and behold, by that unintelligent question about, "if Being Human tank, would there be 1 more season of SGU", you just proved to me how you are all so going to fail miserably, cos you're all a bunch of idiots. Like seriously, every show is on the same playing field. If you suck, you're out of the team and no matter how much begging you do, you're still out of the team, cos you suck.

Posting stupid, really stupid questions like that makes you look even more stupid. On par with WHR and their made up magical ratings numbers.

GRADE: F for fail.

 

[SerenityS]

Tweets from Craig Engler in the past day or so (and PROOF that SGU had a 2 year deal from the get-go!):

Q) @wraithfodder Why is #SGU returning for finale episodes at 10pm on Mondays? Isn't that sort of a death slot? A) Not at all (see next).

SGU on Mondays will follow our hottest new drama. It's the best slot on our schedule for another drama. On a side note...

...the term "death slot" is overused on the Internet. It came into being specifically about Friday night, which really wasn't true anyway.

@XIPRELAY Unfortunately SGU did not have enough viewers for us to be able to continue it. Many sampled it but did not come back.

@paspinall42 Tuesday is where the highest rated shows in our history have aired.

(here SGUnite asks: @Syfy Hi Craig, If the ratings are high for #SGU season 2.5, will you consider buying more episodes? - How high do the ratings have to be? )

@SGUnite Theoretically maybe. Realistically, I don't think it's possible. You'd need prob 2.5-3 times the audience for that to happen.

@brianmhowell Shows aren't canceled to "make room" for other shows. We'd love Caprica to have done well enough to be able to make more.

(SGUnite tweets to Syfy: @Syfy I see. So even if it got a 1.6-1.7, it probably wouldn't be enough? That's a bummer! So season 2 was really risky for SyFy then? )

@SGUnite In this case we had pre-committed to 2 seasons of SGU before we started airing it. Pretty unusual in TV these days actually.

@faintsignal I think the franchises are both solid ones. We'll see how Battlestar: Blood & Chrome does. Script is REALLY good

 

[circle square circle]

@SGUnite In this case we had pre-committed to 2 seasons of SGU before we started airing it. Pretty unusual in TV these days actually.

SHUT UP! Did he really just admit that? Hot damn I knew it!

 

[Overmind One]

All this time...

Good to see that confirmed. I know Brad mentioned it in an early interview but I never could find it. I love how JM always insinuated that season 2 was renewed because they were happy with the figures, whilst all along poor Syfy were tied into a 2 year contract.

We said it in the beginning here at SGUS, but the squeedrones kept denying it. They even said that SGU had "earned" its second season. And you are right, they concealed this truth and posts can still be found on the net where squeedrones were in denial about this show being given its two seasons FROM THE BEGINNING before the show was aired. This is PROOF from Syfy itself.

When will the SGU fanbois get it? We have been right about EVERYTHING so far. This confirms what we have said all along.

 

[Tropicana]

@SGUnite In this case we had pre-committed to 2 seasons of SGU before we started airing it. Pretty unusual in TV these days actually.

BOOYA!

Another point to us, that makes it what? 246-0 to us?

 

[Briangate78]

We said it in the beginning here at SGUS, but the squeedrones kept denying it. They even said that SGU had "earned" its second season. And you are right, they concealed this truth and posts can still be found on the net where squeedrones were in denial about this show being given its two seasons FROM THE BEGINNING before the show was aired. This is PROOF from Syfy itself.

When will the SGU fanbois get it? We have been right about EVERYTHING so far. This confirms what we have said all along.

They'll never get it. The same goes for SGA was not canceled by Syfy. I kept telling people the show was in trouble when it fell below 1.5 Million viewers, yet they "Cried for a Source" lol.