Building on the summer ratings heat that brought SCI FI more than 15 million new viewers via its original series 'Eureka,' 'Who Wants to Be A Superhero?' and 'ECW,' the Channel kicked off the fall with the hotly-anticipated season 3 premiere of 'Battlestar Galactica' (October 6, 9-11pm ET/PT). In the face of stiff competition, the two-hour opener was the #1 cable series of the night. And in combination with its lead-ins, 'Heroes' (rebroadcast @ 7pm) and 'Doctor Who' (new episode at 8pm), SCI FI reasserted its dominance on Friday nights, with triple-digit demo increases vs. 4Q05.

The 'Galactica' season 3 premiere delivered a 1.8 HH rating with 2.2 million total viewers (P2+) - out-delivering its season 2.5 average in total viewers (+2%), P25-54 (+7%) and P18-49 (1.4 million, +4%).

SCI FI's 7pm-11pm SCI FI Friday lineup averaged a 1.4 HH rating, 1.7 million total viewers (P2+), 1.2 million P25-54s and 1.0 million P18-49s. Compared to the same time period last year (4Q05), this reflects increases of:

+93% in P2+

+75% in HH Ratings

+120% in P25-54

+134% in P18-49

It seems the rumors that NBC is thinking of picking up and running “Battlestar Galactica” have been around since the show’s second season. So, it’s not surprising to hear this rumor come up again.

What is surprising is how much closer to reality it is than it has been in the past.

The difference?

The looming writers strike.

With the strike looking more and more like a reality with each passing day, the networks could soon face a dilemma–no new shows or content to fill the airwaves. They could offer us all multiple repeats of shows, but it looks like NBC/Universal is looking to take a different route.

NBC is looking to draw upon the original series produced by NBC/Universal for its various cable holdings and networks.

This means that NBC could pick up and run such cable hits as “Battlestar Galactica” or “The 4400″ should the writers strike become a reality. SyFy Portal reports that NBC is considering picking up and running “Batttlestar” should the writers strike happen. No word yet on if NBC will start at the beginning and run the entire series or may pick and choose episodes to show its audience. In my opinion picking and choosing episodes would be the worst move that they could make for BSG.

Of course, the dark side to this news is that should the writers strike happen, it will cause delays in the production of the fourth season of “Battlestar Galactica” and lead to the inevitable wait until 2009 or even as late as 2010 for the final ten episodes.

So, it’s good news and bad news for “Galactica” fans.

As previously reported, one of the dilemmas facing the SCI-FI Channel at this time is whether or not the final season of Battlestar Galactica should be split into two ten-episode blocks. Apparently, the network is taking so long to decide because of “the money people,” as one executive put it.

A large portion of the network's programming budget is allotted for Battlestar Galactica, consequently forcing the network to consider spreading the final edition across two seasons. However, executive producer Ron Moore has been lax about this issue.

“It doesn't affect my job either way, since we're shooting it straight through,” Moore said. “It might be better to get it all done [in the same year] for the fans so they don't have to wait.”

Judging by what a source close to the project said, Moore's sentiment of airing Battlestar Galactica's final season in the same year may prove to be the best move for the network. According to the source, “when people see the ending of the 10th episode, they're gonna freak out,” and should the network decide to go ahead and split the season into two blocks, fans will be left hanging in the air yet again after a year of waiting for the series to return. Viewers have also been eager to catch the two-hour made-for-tv stand-alone movie, Razor.

The network is hoping to reach a final decision by January. One of the key factors is figuring out which new shows will be well-suited to accompany Battlestar Galactica, and how much those shows will cost.

One of the shows being considered is the Caprica spin-off series. Network executives believe the spin-off may help retain and expand the loyal Battlestar Galactica fan base, and are even considering a two-hour pilot similar to that of Razor. Should the pilot perform poorly, it will subsequently be sold as a DVD to make up for the losses. On the other hand, should the pilot do well, the network will have a new series to serve up.

At present, Moore is working on another sci-fi production, a “companion piece” to John Carpenter's 1982 film, The Thing, which is being produced by Universal.