It's about time that other shoe dropped. The emperor has had no clothes for quite some time.
True, there are some that want the channel to remain named SCI FI Channel; I'm not on board with that idea. What I and others I've read take umbrage with is the fact that the only reason NBC Universal doing this is so that they can have a channel name to trademark and, according to them, an ability to relaunch and "rebrand" (in a half-assed and scattershot matter, i.e. not at all). Since they're no longer interested in catering to or programming to the immense science fiction demographic, they should relaunch the channel top to bottom, drastically overhaul, and RENAME the channel completely, ala The Nashville Network > SPIKE or how Discovery Health will become OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) later this year. Slapping on a fresh coat of paint will do nothing to fix the systemic problems at the core, or should I say the helm, of this channel's problems.
In any case, I stopped watching the channel a long time ago. I'm very glad this is happening, as the channel I once knew and loved as The Sci-Fi Channel died and was buried a decade ago, but I just wish NBC Universal had chosen another name. They couldn't have chosen Beyond, as CBS Corporation owns Showtime Beyond, but Tomorrow or some other name (hell, they said they went through 300!) would suffice.
Their choice, Syfy, is lazy and just plain stupid. As I stated earlier, the emperor's truly had no clothes ever since Bonnie Hammer sunk her fangs in and drained the passion and energy this channel once had, then failed upward to president of NBC Universal Cable. Now, it has a "new" name to go with its principles - to cater to the lowest common denominator.
And I *really* wish we here in the U.S. had a channel like Canada's SPACE.
http://www.spacecast.com
Hopefully with NBC Universal giving up the ghost and finally admitting they no longer want to program to the science fiction demographic, another conglomerate can lay the foundation and launch an actual science fiction channel.
Viacom, Time Warner, Liberty Media, Comcast, et al, the ball's in your court.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/business...ia/16adcol.html
QUOTE
March 16, 2009
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Sci Fi Channel Has a New Name: Now, It’s Syfy
By STUART ELLIOTT
FOR years, television viewers, journalists who write about TV and services that compile listings have wondered how to refer to a certain cable network: Sci Fi Channel? Sci-Fi Channel? SciFi Channel? SCI FI Channel?
Soon, to paraphrase Rod Serling — whose vintage series, “The Twilight Zone,” is a mainstay of the Sci Fi Channel — executives will submit for public approval another name, not only of sight and sound but of mind, meant to signal a channel whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead — your next stop, Syfy.
Plans call for Sci Fi and its companion Web site (scifi.com) to morph into the oddly spelled Syfy — pronounced the same as “Sci Fi” — on July 7. The new name will be accompanied by the slogan “Imagine Greater,” which replaces a logo featuring a stylized version of Saturn.
Advertising
Sci Fi Channel Has a New Name: Now, It’s Syfy
By STUART ELLIOTT
FOR years, television viewers, journalists who write about TV and services that compile listings have wondered how to refer to a certain cable network: Sci Fi Channel? Sci-Fi Channel? SciFi Channel? SCI FI Channel?
Soon, to paraphrase Rod Serling — whose vintage series, “The Twilight Zone,” is a mainstay of the Sci Fi Channel — executives will submit for public approval another name, not only of sight and sound but of mind, meant to signal a channel whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead — your next stop, Syfy.
Plans call for Sci Fi and its companion Web site (scifi.com) to morph into the oddly spelled Syfy — pronounced the same as “Sci Fi” — on July 7. The new name will be accompanied by the slogan “Imagine Greater,” which replaces a logo featuring a stylized version of Saturn.