SciFi Channel changes it’s name to SyFy … What????
Today, I saw the news that the SciFi channel was changing its name to SyFy. Okay… but what were they thinking to do this? Then came the reason…
“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.
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.”
Mr. Howe said going to Syfy will make a difference.
So, let me get this straight. First you insult your core audience and then you hope to widen that audience with the name change? Does this make sense to anyone but a TV executive? I’m female. I’m an avid reader of science fiction and have been all my life … at least since I ran into it about age 6 or 7. I’m also technologically literate and have been at various times a programmer, web designer, computer tech, and system administrator. I was also, once part of that core SciFi Channel viewing audience.
I say once because as the reality shows and wrestling seemed to take over I stopped watching. Guess maybe the name change is a good idea since as it stands now it has nothing to do with science fiction, little to do with science, and certainly nothing to do with excellence in programming.