Viewers are tuning in for Stargate Universe ... but the time slot? They don't like it so much.

Viewers are tuning in for Stargate Universe … but the time slot? They don’t like it so much.

SGU ranked #5 in Nielsen’s list of the shows which gain the most from DVR (as a percentage of their premiere night audience), according to TV By the Numbers. The third Stargate series has been picking up an average of 46.9 percent more viewers in the seven days after the Friday night broadcast, thanks to time-shifted viewing.

The show is averaging 2.6 million viewers so far, when the DVR boost is factored in.

Leading the pack for 2009 is Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica, which saw a 59.4 percent increase in viewership due to DVR time-shifting. Four shows increased their audience by more than 50 percent, and six of the top 10 are in the sci-fi / fantasy genre (BSG, SGU, True Blood, Sanctuary, Heroes, and Terminator).

These numbers, of course, don’t account for those watching the show on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon.com and other (less savory) means.

Friday night has been the standard for the Stargate franchise since SG-1 bowed on Showtime in 1997, and on Syfy in 2002. Though it is one of the least-watched nights of the week for television, Fridays have proven stable for genre programs … at least on cable.

When Syfy briefly tried moving Battlestar to Sunday nights, its numbers sank.

Syfy’s highest rated original dramas, though, don’t air on Friday nights at all. The summer series Warehouse 13 and Eureka have aired on Tuesdays — though during the summer, when competition from the major broadcast networks is lower.

Check out the full chart at TV By the Numbers. Stargate Universe returns to Syfy in April.