Ratings have been on a slow decline for "Battlestar Galactica" since it premiered as a full-fledged series on the SciFi Channel in 2004.

That's not exactly news to many people, since "Battlestar" is an intricately planned serialized drama, the type of show that rarely wins new viewers to replace those who have eroded because they would've had to been fans from the beginning to really know what was going on.

But ratings aren't all that, according to Associated Press reporter Chris Talbott, who said NBC Universal -- which owns the rights to "Battlestar" -- are moving ahead with a number of projects that aren't exactly indicative of bad ratings. That includes a new telemovie to be directed by series star Edward James Olmos as well as a possible new spinoff series in the form of "Caprica."

In fact, the less popular the show seems to get in the Nielsen ratings, the more popular it becomes with fans. At least in the view of actor Jamie Bamber, who plays Lee Adama in the series.

"When the numbers were high, I would get stopped in the street maybe once a week," he said. "Now that the viewing figures are lower on the TV, everywhere I go someone will come up to me and say what a huge fan they are. That just tells me that people watch the show in a more modern way and that has reached its sort of critical mass."

From the very beginning of "Battlestar," fans have turned to the Web to see the show. NBCU struck a deal with Sky One in the United Kingdom to help fund the first season of the show, and as part of that agreement, the satellite company had a chance to show episodes ahead of SciFi Channel across the pond. That opened an entire world of online piracy to American viewers who didn't want to wait to see the episodes -- something that wasn't very common to them before as it was in Europe and other places that had to wait months and sometimes years to get American shows on their television providers.

Executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick immediately spoke out against the piracy, warning it could affect ratings for the show when it premiered on SciFi Channel -- ratings that would be important on whether or not the show would be renewed for a second season. Airlock Alpha at the time, however, argued that while such activity was illegal, the number of people downloading episodes -- estimated to be at no more than 70,000 at the time -- would barely make a blip on the Nielsen radar anyway, even if they didn't still tune in to watch the episodes when SciFi Channel aired. In fact, SyFy suggested that such activity was creating a word-of-mouth buzz that helped promote the show through the most effective form of marketing: friends telling friends to watch, and that Moore and Eick should consider this small cadre of downloaders to be more like those who saw a free sneak preview ahead of a movie's release than someone who could have negative, adverse effects on the show.

NBCU did answer for the online demand of "Battlestar" with the inclusion of early episodes on iTunes and later through its own online service, Hulu. On top of that, writers David Weddle and Bradley Thompson were commissioned to write a series of shorts leading into the show's third season that would be featured exclusively on the Web free of charge.

"Battlestar's" actual numbers, according to Nielsen Media Research, is down to 1.8 million viewers compared to the 2.8 million average viewers that tuned in for Season 1. But many people who watch the show are simply not being counted because they aren't watching in the more traditional ways, said Michael Angeli, who recently was nominated for an Emmy for his work on "Battlestar Galactica."

TiVo had just sort of taken off," he said. "This was four or five seasons ago, and because we were on Friday nights, most people ... most fans don't watch it [on the first run]. They TiVo it and watch it a zillion times."

Not only are fans downloading episodes through legal and illegal means, but they also are buying DVD sets of the show, and sharing them with friends.

"Battlestar Galactica" premieres with its final episodes in January on SciFi Channel. "Caprica" is expected to launch either as a standalone telemovie or a full-fledged series following the end of "Battlestar's" run.

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