Okay, so there are plenty of science fiction aficionados who eschew the term “SciFi” (the most scornful pronouncing it “skiffy” in scorn).
Well, we won’t have “SciFi” to kick around any more. At least, not the SciFi channel. It’s now mysteriously morphing into the phonetic “Syfy.”
To that end, the 16-year-old network—owned by NBC Universal—plans to announce that Syfy is its new name March 16 at its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York.
“What we love about this is we hopefully get the best of both worlds,” Mr. Howe said. “We’ll get the heritage and the track record of success, and we’ll build off of that to build a broader, more open and accessible and relatable and human-friendly brand.”
It’s not like SciFi is demonstrably being hurt by its name. It’s a top-rated cable network, especially among some key demographics, and showed double-digit earnings increases last quarter. But … but … it’s geeky!
“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.
“And rather than do our part to combat that image, to the extent it’s actually out there and not just something we joke about at the conference table, we’re going to spend a gazillion dollars on rebranding and tossing aside our current audience.”
Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.
“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”
Yes. Because horrific (in execution, not in effect) rubber-suit-and-cheap-CG horror-movies-of-the-week are just how you distance yourself from the uncool parts of SF.
Mr. Howe said going to Syfy will make a difference. “It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have,” he said.
Which is why it still rhymes with “SciFi,” right?
“When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you’d text it,” Mr. Howe said. “It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.”
I am happy to say that I have never had the word “Syfy” texted to me.
And, dude, when you have to talk about how your name change is making you more cool / hip / cutting-edge, it’s a sign you’re not.
The network plans to make the changeover July 7, when it will launch the new series “Warehouse 13.” The series, about a secret government facility in South Dakota where all mysterious relics and supernatural souvenirs are housed, is emblematic of the channel’s programming direction.
“It is a dramedy and it is set in the here and now. It’s a kind of an Indiana Jones meets ‘Moonlighting’ meets ‘The X-Files,’” Mr. Howe said. “This is a very accessible, relatable, fun show.”
Because, y’know, none of that has anything to do with SciFi or Fantasy.
The issue here, of course, is that the suits at SciFi and NBC and GE really don’t understand, or care for, science fiction and fantasy. They think of it as geeks and dorks and pimply boys living in the basement and playing D&D. Thus, not surprisingly, their focus groups reflect the same things, especially when the channel goes out of its way to not be about science fiction.
I mean, really — aside from Battlestar Galactica (now ending) and Doctor Who (an occasional import) and Stargate (a long-running, now sputtering franchise) and maybe the quirky Eureka, the rest is reruns, low-budget originals, craptastic monster movies, wrestling, reality TV … and that’s about it.
So at least, perhaps, they are being honest about it finally. They don’t care about SciFi, and they’ve certainly been trying to move away from it for a while. If they are changing the name to reflect that, that’s fine, but it’s one more reason for me not to tune to their cable network.
I can’t remember the last time I watched anything on that channel.
When the channel first hit the air I watched it religiously in part because it had the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who on it. I rarely watch the channel at all anymore unless they have some big budget movie on I’ve not seen in awhile and there’s nothing else on any of the other channels.
Dave, you do remember that one of the reasons that they cancelled Farscape was that it was just too “SciFi-y”. So, yeah, after a decade of not actually being a SciFi channel they are finally being honest in what they are broadcasting. Well, almost honest, since CrapFi would not be considered “hip” or “cutting Edge”. =P
That said, this is yet another sign of a trend of the powers that be in the Publishing/Broadcasting biz away from what they see as “Genre Fiction” and the continued ghettoization of “SciFi” and “Fantasy” fiction. Ever go to Borders Books and try and find new SciFi books? Not going to happen. On the otherhand you can reach out in any direction and find some sort of Vampire Pr0n, or “Respected” authors who decided to risk “sullying” their reputations by writting a Fantasy or SciFi book, and then getting praised to the high heavens for being such risk takers, where as writters like Octavia Butler, Neil Stephenson, Ursala Le Guin are “tainted” for doing it better simply because they are “SciFi” authors.
syfy yet another thing that can be blamed on Twitter.
Also, just who do the folks at NBC think all of these “geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games” grow up to be? Obviously not folks like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc.
I only get onto the Sci Fi Channel for BSG and when Eureka pops up again. THere have been other fun things that pop up, but they’re usually on BBCA first.
I’m disappointed that SciFi has to be rebranded rather than committing to better programing. I expect this will eventually flicker out altogether. And that’s a shame.
Also Dave, you forgot to give a link to the article.
Ugh. Link in.
A big reason why they never picked up any B5verse stuff.
I’m going to disagree with you some. You *can* find SF/Fantasy at B&N/Borders in the “new books” and aisle displays a lot easier than you used to when I was a younger man. It still gets as much shelf space as, say, Mystery, and, vampire / werewolf pr0n aside, I think the past decade has been the glory days in mainstream bookstores for SF./Fantasy.
I don’t believe it.
I blame smarmy rebranding companies, executives who have no idea about SF, and abetting of focus groups.
And, for all the other comments — I’ve watched BSG, I’ve watched Doctor Who — and, really, not a heck of a lot else on SciFi for the past few years. Painkiller Jane. The Dune miniseries (more faithful to the books, but a lot less interesting than Lynch’s version). The odd Tin ManFarscape. And that’s about it.
Best comment award goes to this person on scifiwire.com:
“I am glad to see that amidst this economic crisis a safe haven exists, employing people not worth a dime.
For the rest of the world, which generally is not into random leetspeak, the new name will sound more as if it was the Syphilis channel.”
Solonor
One of the early comments on io9 was Syfylys, so yeah, not sure they thought this thing out too well.
When the Sci Fi channel debuted, I lobbied for my cable provider to add it to their line-up. It showed a lot of classic SF TV shows back then. Why the emphasis on new shows? I liked it better as a sort of TV Land with a science fiction angle.
I agree — and most of those older shows are showing up still on their schedule or their list of programs. Many of them only show up every month or so as a all-day marathon.
The fact is, the SciFi management doesn’t get SF/Fantasy, and really has no interest in it. That’s why the station has evolved.
Devolved, rather.
Well, evolution doesn’t imply improvement, only change over time.
That said, the last evolution I was so disappointed with was Banana Republic going from a high quality travel clothes store to being “Yuppie Republic.”
Brand New ( http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/weird_syence.php ) notes one of the justifications was that they couldn’t trademark the name “SciFi.” Which is a pretty lame-ass excuse, as there’s any number of other ways they could have gone with this.
Ha- My English teacher taught me sneet at those who call it is Sci-Fi. Real fans know it’s SF.
Even less trademarkable. 🙂