SYFY SATURDAY ORIGINAL MOVIE MEGA PYTHON VS GATOROID, STARRING DEBBIE GIBSON AND TIFFANY, DEVOURS 2.35 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS
SYFY INCREASES 10 PERCENT AMONG ADULTS 18-34 IN JANUARY
New York, NY — February 1, 2011 — Continuing the franchise’s sizzling ratings momentum, the Syfy Saturday Original Movie Mega Python Vs Gatoroid, which starred Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, consumed 2.35 million total viewers, 737,000 Adults 18-49 and 866,000 Adults 25-54, while averaging a 1.6 household rating during its premiere on Saturday, January 29, at 9PM (ET/PT).
Mega Python Vs Gatoroid surpassed the audiences for the previous Tiffany (Mega Piranha, 2.16 million viewers in 2010) and Gibson (Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus, 2.09 million viewers in 2009) Saturday Original Movies.
Mega Python Vs Gatoroid was among numerous Syfy ratings successes during January. Led by the launches of the new hit series Being Human and Face Off along with rising viewership for WWE Friday Night SmackDown® (which posted its two most watched episodes), Syfy delivered 204,000 Adults 18-34 (+10 percent), 561,000 Adults 18-49 (+3 percent) and 1.3 million total viewers (+6 percent) during prime vs. January 2010.
For six straight months (August-January), a Syfy Saturday Original Movie has broken the two million total viewers mark. On January 15, Behemoth delivered 2.1 million total viewers, marking the first time since March 2009 (Sea Beast/2.2 million and Polar Storm/2.4 million) that both Saturday Original Movies in the same month surpassed two million total viewers.
A production of The Asylum, Mega Python Vs Gatoroid explored the crisis in the Florida Everglades, where invasive Burmese pythons are threatening the indigenous alligator population. Gibson portrayed a fanatical animal rights advocate who spends her evenings “liberating” illegally imported exotic snakes from pet stores and setting them free in the Everglades, where the pythons grow and thrive.
Tiffany played an over-zealous park ranger worried about the growing ecological damage. To save her beloved alligators, she’s willing to employ dubious methods, overdosing them with steroids so they grow mega, setting off a war between the species – and putting her on a collision course with Gibson.
Mary Lambert (Pet Sematary) was director of Mega Python Vs Gatoroid – the first time a woman has directed a Syfy Saturday Original Movie. The writer was Naomi Selfman (Evil Eyes).
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)
Founded in 1996, The Asylum is a motion picture production, financing and worldwide distribution company. With full production facilities based in Burbank, CA, The Asylum currently produces 12–15 feature films a year for the theatrical, television and home entertainment markets. The Asylum has become one of the world’s most outrageous entertainment brands, as evidenced by the viral sensation Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, for which the trailer alone garnered more than 5 million hits online.
Source: SyFy PR
