'Sanctuary' Premiere Best Since 'Eureka' Debut

By MICHAEL HINMAN Oct-9-2008

Viewers definitely wanted to check out a little "Sanctuary" on SciFi Channel last week.

The debut of the Web series-turned-television series starring "Stargate SG-1" alum Amanda Tapping attracted 2.7 million viewers Friday night, marking the best rating for an original SciFi Channel series since the series premiere of "Eureka" in 2006.

SciFi was able to pull in a lot of viewers in a key advertising demographic of adults 18 to 49 with 1.08 million viewers, finishing fourth among cable primetime shows that night, according to Multichannel News. When that demographic is shifted to adults 25 to 54, the number of viewers increase to 1.4 million.

At the same time, NBC Universal is keeping better track of who is viewing shows online, and found that those looking for "Sanctuary" on the official Web site were the highest ever at all levels. On Friday night alone, Scifi.com pulled in 208,000 unique visitors, 287,000 video streams, and 1.2 million page views.

"Sanctuary" airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on SciFi Channel, immediately after "Stargate: Atlantis," a series Tapping was a regular part of for one season following the end of "SG-1." "Atlantis" is expected to wrap up its final season in coming episodes.

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Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

About the Author: Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
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