Remember, Syfy expected this. Well, hopefully they expected this.

"Caprica" premiered to 1.6 million viewers Friday night, not bad for a cable channel, but a bit of a dismal start for a new series, especially when compared to its predecessor "Battlestar Galactica" and the regular Friday timeslot holder during the season "Stargate: Universe."

But when factoring in the nearly 2 million people who decided to watch the same exact episode for free over the last few weeks online, and by buying the DVD last summer, that number is at the much more respectable 3.6 million, and it could grow once final viewership numbers come in via The Nielsen Co.

That would put it above the average for "Universe" in the timeslot, and over the average of the final season of "Battlestar Galactica" as well. Of course, it will all come down to how the second episode, which premieres Friday, does with added network competition (which will not be pre-empted for a Haiti telethon like last week).

The new series takes place some 60 years before the events of "Battlestar Galactica," which ended its run on the network nearly a year ago. It stars Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcomson and Alessanra Torresani.

Not only was the first episode on DVD, but it also was made available through Syfy,com, Hulu and other online streaming sites.

Although estimated viewers through those platforms have to be counted in, there's also a good chance the actual television viewers will go up once the final numbers are in, according to trade publication Multichannel News. "Caprica" is expected to be similar to audience jumps experienced by "Battlestar Galactica" with a 40 percent viewership increase once viewers who watched the show on their DVR in the week after the first episode premiered is counting it.

That could bring the total viewership for the premiere of "Caprica" closer to 5 million when it's all said and done.

"Caprica" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.