Wednesday, March 04, 2009 Labels: Dollhouse, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV News

We know that the Friday night ratings for Dollhouse and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles have been unsurprisingly poor. But, will both shows survive for another season off the back of PVR recordings? New figures released show that Dollhouse's ratings improve by 30% if you take into account the number of people opting to record the show and watch later. No surprise there, what with it being a Friday night. Even more impressive, Sarah Connor's numbers increase by 36% (if those people were watching on Friday, it would beat the evening's best performer, Ghost Whisperer). It all proves there's a sizeable audience for these shows... it's just that they have better things to do on a Friday!

Of course, "time-shifted" viewing doesn't create revenue for advertisers, so that's a big issue. Still, factoring in overseas sales and the sci-fi genre's traditionally strong business in DVD sales, and maybe it's too early to write off Dollhouse and T:tSCC just yet. Particularly in the latter's case, which may get some "bounce" because of the Terminator: Salvation movie this summer, and at least it's a known quantity for Fox.