First of all shouldn’t that be SyFy UK? Well, not according to the press release.
Sci-Fi UK have bought several programmes to show first in the UK: Knight Rider, Dollhouse and My Own Worst Enemy. Apparently:
“We’ve been investing in a range of compelling, highly-publicised and long-anticipated content to engage, captivate and re-ignite excitement amongst British television viewers,”
There are, however, problems with Sci-Fi UK.
First of all it’s only available via paid satellite or cable i.e. Sky or Virgin. Which knocks out a huge chunk of the UK population. Virgin negated this effect by making Virgin1 available for free on Freeview, presumably assuming that people will pay for other content and their broadband service?
Secondly the UK premieres of these shows are so far behind the US premieres that any real fan will know all about the show and probably have watched it via import DVD or other means. You can’t get away with such delayed release schedules anymore, fans want to talk about it online with everyone else in the world. They want to Twitter about it. Both the BBC and Sky have realised this with Heroes and Lost showing (usually) the same week as the US, albeit a couple of days later. The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a frustrating month behind on Virgin1. In fact, didn’t Sci-Fi UK do something similar with BSG and show it within the week?
Are the fans who would seek out a US show before it’s UK airing the minority? Not sure, but I would hazard a guess that they are the show’s core audience and therefore the most important.
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