What is SciFi's plan for the Who specials?

[Garth Rockett]

Possibly, but there's no guarantee that they're interested in first-run rights for the specials, or that the BBC will want to sell them to someone who's going to sit on them when BBC America wouldn't. Sci Fi doesn't have the kind of prestige and clout NBC does, so the Merlin comparison isn't all that relevant.

SciFi has a ton more prestige than BBCA...

Does it? I thought the only "advantage" it might have, in terms of being connected to something relevant, is that SciFi is owned by NBC (just like they own BRAVO).

I'd think SciFi's real advantage over BBCA is coverage. SciFi is available on standard cable and is in almost every home in the US that has cable TV. BBCA is a digital cable and satellite channel, so while many homes do have it, I don't think it's as many as have SciFi.

So, if level of coverage impacts how one defines prestige, it might be considered more prestigious to air on SciFi. On SciFi, it has more opportunity to be seen, at least.

 

[AviTrek]

SciFi has a ton more prestige than BBCA...

Does it? I thought the only "advantage" it might have, in terms of being connected to something relevant, is that SciFi is owned by NBC (just like they own BRAVO).

I'd think SciFi's real advantage over BBCA is coverage. SciFi is available on standard cable and is in almost every home in the US that has cable TV. BBCA is a digital cable and satellite channel, so while many homes do have it, I don't think it's as many as have SciFi.

So, if level of coverage impacts how one defines prestige, it might be considered more prestigious to air on SciFi. On SciFi, it has more opportunity to be seen, at least.

Yes, that was my point. Maybe prestige is not the right word, but SciFi has more households and consistently gets higher ratings. I believe SciFi is in the top 15 most watched cable channels. BBCA is much lower.

 

[The]

^Points all around. I also didn't realize SciFi had that great ratings/viewings. Still, let's face it...BBCA treats Doctor Who with much more of a 'personal' touch than SciFi. And yes, due to its very name I know why they do so. Still, it always looks tattered and chopped on SciFi. Who is not made for American/commercial broadcasting. That is, unless you do like BBCA and create little commerical 'bookends', and certainly cut it at the right time, not just in the middle of a scene...

 

[Brendan Moody]

My point was that, compared to NBC, neither Sci Fi nor BBC America has much prestige, so the situation isn't the same. I'd really be surprised if the BBC is apt to care whether they're getting the pittance they get for Who from a third-tier or a fourth-tier American network. But maybe I'm wrong.

Look, the thing is that anything is possible, and that's it's a bit silly to act like anyone here has knowledge of what the BBC "will" do.

 

[The]

Look, the thing is that anything is possible, and that's it's a bit silly to act like anyone here has knowledge of what the BBC "will" do.

Couldn't agree more!