To that end, the 16-year-old network\u2014owned by NBC Universal\u2014plans to announce that Syfy is its new name March 16 at its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we love about this is we hopefully get the best of both worlds,\u201d Mr. Howe said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get the heritage and the track record of success, and we\u2019ll build off of that to build a broader, more open and accessible and relatable and human-friendly brand.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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!<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“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.”<\/em><\/p>\nMr. Brooks said that when people who say they don\u2019t like science fiction enjoy a film like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d they don\u2019t think it\u2019s science fiction; they think it\u2019s a good movie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent a lot of time in the \u201990s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it\u2019s called Sci Fi,\u201d Mr. Brooks said. \u201cIt\u2019s somewhat cooler and better than the name \u2018Science Fiction.\u2019 But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mr. Howe said going to Syfy will make a difference. \u201cIt 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,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Which is why it still rhymes with “SciFi,” right?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhen 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\u2019d text it,\u201d Mr. Howe said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I am happy to say that I have never had the word “Syfy” texted to me.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The network plans to make the changeover July 7, when it will launch the new series \u201cWarehouse 13.\u201d The series, about a secret government facility in South Dakota where all mysterious relics and supernatural souvenirs are housed, is emblematic of the channel\u2019s programming direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a dramedy and it is set in the here and now. It\u2019s a kind of an Indiana Jones meets \u2018Moonlighting\u2019 meets \u2018The X-Files,\u2019\u201d Mr. Howe said. \u201cThis is a very accessible, relatable, fun show.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Because, y’know, none of that has anything to do with SciFi or Fantasy.<\/p>\n
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 <\/em>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<\/span> be about science fiction.<\/p>\nI mean, really — aside from Battlestar Galactica<\/em> (now ending) and Doctor Who <\/em>(an occasional import) and Stargate<\/em> (a long-running, now sputtering franchise) and maybe the quirky Eureka<\/em>, the rest is reruns, low-budget originals, craptastic monster movies, wrestling, reality TV … and that’s about it.<\/p>\nSo 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<\/span> to tune to their cable network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"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.” No, I am not kidding. To that end, the … Continue reading “Hits head on wall, repeatedly”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,372,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-moguls","category-star-wars-media-movies","category-media-tv"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/imagessyfy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33209,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/16\/classic-scifi-on-syfy.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":0},"title":"Classic SciFi on Syfy?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 16-Apr-13 9:12am","format":false,"excerpt":"On the one hand, these announcements make me caper with glee to think of such interesting and seminal SF works being adapted to mini-series for TV.Then I consider that it's Syfy, and that for Ringworld they are talking about only a 4 hour miniseries, which seems insanely short. \u00a0We'll see.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41884,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/30\/syfy-gets-some-comic-book-goodness.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":1},"title":"Syfy gets some comic-book goodness","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 30-Apr-14 5:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. That's some heavy-duty comic-booking. Letter 44 is one of my ongoing faves. Ronin is a classic. Pax Romana is one I haven't read before, but Hickman is a fine writer. \u00a0Looking forward to seeing how this pans out.\ufeff Syfy Is Ordering So Many New Scifi And Fantasy Series, You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41429,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/14\/but-will-they-change-their-name-back-to-scifi.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":2},"title":"But will they change their name back to "SciFi"?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 14-Mar-14 3:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Probably not, but word that Syfy (shudders) may be turning in their \"Sharknado\" rep for some actual SF and Fantasy is probably a good thing. Until they decide to reinvent themselves yet again.Reshared post from +Curt ThompsonI'd love for this to be true. And who knows? Maybe this is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14244,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/03\/18\/alt-syfy.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":3},"title":"Alt-Syfy","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 18-Mar-09 10:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"Just in case the wretched new name \"Syfy\" doesn't stick for the SciFi Channel, io9 has a fine list of alternative ideas for them. Some of the best are below: Steal These Name Pitches: 25 Other Names The Sci Fi Channel Could Rebrand With\u00a0 1. The Sci-Fi, But That's Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "TV"","block_context":{"text":"TV","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-tv"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14317,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/03\/24\/so-when-does-scifi-put-bsg-epi.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":4},"title":"So when does SciFi put BSG episodes online?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 24-Mar-09 10:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"So when does SciFi put BSG episodes online? Because the DVR failure for the final ep is increasingly frustrating.","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":558,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/09\/19\/the_reason.html","url_meta":{"origin":14222,"position":5},"title":"The Reason","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Sep-01 4:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Next on SciFi: At 6, Star Trek. At 7, Babylon 5. At 8, Farscape. This is SciFi.\" There's a reason I have digital cable, folks. It doesn't get much better...","rel":"","context":"In "Babylon 5"","block_context":{"text":"Babylon 5","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-babylon-5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46904,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14222\/revisions\/46904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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