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Thread: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

  1. #1
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    The Sci Fi Channel has changed its name to SyFy. When I first heard about this, I thought it was a joke.

    Their original name is recognized throughout the English-speaking world as an abbreviation for "science fiction" (thanks to Forrest J. Ackerman). Why in the hell would they drop that in favor of a stupid-looking phonetic spelling of the same word?

  2. #2
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Desperate decision dictated by marketing department.

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    Oliphaunt
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Cocaine. The answer is always cocaine.

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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    They couldn't copyright the name Sci Fi, supposedly. Now why that's suddenly an issue something like 17 years after the original launch, I have no idea.

    Probably the real reason is to make the name meaningless, so no one can complain that they shouldn't be showing wrestling.

  5. #5
    Jesus F'ing Christ Glazer's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Just one more step in the long road away from science fiction that they have been travling for awile.
    Welcome to Mellophant.

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  6. #6
    Porno Dealing Monster pepperlandgirl's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Because "Sci Fi" is too generic. When the channel first started, all they had to contend with was the TV Guide listing. Now though, part of being a network is also dealing with the Interwebz. When you're doing a search on Hulu and iTunes, typing in "sci fi" isn't exactly helpful. I saw the president guy explain this in an interview, but I'll be damned if I can find it now.

    I don't even know why anybody cares. They've been pretty worthless as a channel for a long time (their airing of SHARK ATTACK 3: MEGLADON notwithstanding)
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    Content Generator AllWalker's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    They're doing it to piss me off. I just know it.

    Using SyFy as an abbrev. for science fiction will be yet another litmus test for douchebaggery.
    Something tells me we haven't seen the last of foreshadowing.

  8. #8
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Quote Originally posted by Glazer
    Just one more step in the long road away from science fiction that they have been travling for awile.
    Yeah; when the channel started up, they actually had Harlan Ellison doing commentary pieces.

    Ghost Hunters is bad enough; I've no idea why they have wrestling.

  9. #9
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    They have wrasslin because the NBC family is contracted to broadcast 2 of the 3 weekly WWF televised shows. I believe, but don't know, that they bundled their best and worst rated programs together.

    Raw is their higher rated one, airing Mondays on USA. ECW airs on SciFi on Tuesdays. It gets the 20 something demographic, and people keep watching, so what originally started as a dumping ground has renewed it a couple of times.

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    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Quote Originally posted by Baldwin
    I've no idea why they have wrestling.
    In this case, the answer is "money". It's not much of an exaggeration to say that more people watch a single wrestling event than watched all of season 4 of BSG.

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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Quote Originally posted by tunaman
    In this case, the answer is "money". It's not much of an exaggeration to say that more people watch a single wrestling event than watched all of season 4 of BSG.

    You sound so bitter.

    The only channel that has remotely remained true is unfortunately, Lifetime.

  12. #12
    Elephant Tuckerfan's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Short, but brilliantly scathing piece on the name change.

    Absolute gem from it:
    [quote=Warming Glow]
    Quote Originally posted by "Sy Fy Twitter Feed":3njqyvof
    Q) Your programming mix has poor spelling and grammar? That isn’t catching up Craig, that’s dumbing down.
    A) Syfy is a made-up name, not a word, so it’s spelled correctly as is. Like Wii. Or Twitter
    Nice point, Craig. Except “twitter” is an ACTUAL WORD. And the Wii has always been the Wii — it didn’t start as “We” and then change the spelling when it wanted to get away from the lonely fat lady demographic.[/quote:3njqyvof](emphasis in original)

    The folks at Syfy can all DIAF, as far as I'm concerned. (I'm told that "sy fy" is actually medical shorthand for syphilis. Don't know if its true or not, but it would answer a whole lotta nagging questions if it turned out that the network execs were suffering from it.)
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  13. #13
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Quote Originally posted by Auntbeast
    Quote Originally posted by tunaman
    In this case, the answer is "money". It's not much of an exaggeration to say that more people watch a single wrestling event than watched all of season 4 of BSG.

    You sound so bitter.
    Not really. I liked BSG, but that was the only thing I've ever watched on SciFi. And honestly, the numbers for BSG were terrible. The finale - the big deal that people had parties for and everything - drew a 1.7 household rating with 2.4 million total viewers... which barely beats the average Desperate Housewives rerun or a new episode of NBC's Merlin (4.2 million viewers), which is considered an epic failure.

    It just got on my nerves that so many geeks I know were like "BSG is the best, most important show ever made! I can't believe they'd show wrestling on that channel!" (as if that somehow "defiled" BSG). I tied to tell them that the network had to make money somehow, as more people live in Athens, Georgia than watch an average episode of BSG.

  14. #14
    Oliphaunt featherlou's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Y'all just need to get your satellite dishes set for the Space Channel and forget about a channel that shows wrestling.

  15. #15
    Elephant Tuckerfan's avatar
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    Default Re: Sci Fi to "SyFy"; Why?

    Quote Originally posted by tunaman
    Quote Originally posted by Auntbeast
    Quote Originally posted by tunaman
    In this case, the answer is "money". It's not much of an exaggeration to say that more people watch a single wrestling event than watched all of season 4 of BSG.

    You sound so bitter.
    Not really. I liked BSG, but that was the only thing I've ever watched on SciFi. And honestly, the numbers for BSG were terrible. The finale - the big deal that people had parties for and everything - drew a 1.7 household rating with 2.4 million total viewers... which barely beats the average Desperate Housewives rerun or a new episode of NBC's Merlin (4.2 million viewers), which is considered an epic failure.

    It just got on my nerves that so many geeks I know were like "BSG is the best, most important show ever made! I can't believe they'd show wrestling on that channel!" (as if that somehow "defiled" BSG). I tied to tell them that the network had to make money somehow, as more people live in Athens, Georgia than watch an average episode of BSG.
    But a cable show doesn't have to draw as many viewers as a broadcast show to be considered a success. IIRC, its pretty rare for a cable show on any network to have as high a draw as your average broadcast show.

    And the network made money before they started showing wrasslin'. It just didn't make enough money for the execs to drive Porsches, like all their buddies do, and instead of seeking out something that could have been the TV equivalent of Star Wars in the 1970s in terms of popularity, they took the easy route and grabbed something that was cheap.
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