Idiots.

[Evil Avatar]

TV Week is reporting (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php) that the Sci Fi channel will be renamed the Syfy channel as of March 16th.

In some universe, the name “Syfy” is less geeky than the name “Sci Fi.” Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, is betting it’s this one.

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.Anyone who thinks that Syfy is less geeky than Sci Fi has their Darth Vader mask on too tight.

[Johan]

This cannot be serious. I understand a company like AIG rebranding by changing the names of their subsidiaries, but "Sci Fi" to "SyFy?"

That's retarded.

[Sensei-X]

Saw this earlier, and while still kind of lame it made more sense when I read this.

Syfy—unlike the generic entertainment category "sci-fi"—firmly establishes a uniquely ownable trademark that is portable across all nonlinear digital platforms and beyond, from Hulu to iTunes. Syfy also creates an umbrella brand name that can extend into new adjacent businesses under the Syfy Ventures banner, including Syfy Games, Syfy Films and Syfy Kids.

That being said, I've seen SyFy used quite often for character names on MMORPGs when they want to use sci-fi but it's already taken, so less geeky indeed.

[Evil Avatar]

Siffy?

As many of the people said when responding to that article... at least with Battlestar Galactica ending on Friday there is no more reason to even turn to that channel.

[Azriel77]

RIP SciFi, the people who took over the scifi channel have been trying to kill scifi and turn it into a lowest common denominator station. This is the final nail in the coffin.

[ScottBravesFan]

Lame


I like that show Eureka on there so I still watch the channel for that show. But they really pissed me off when they didn't renew the Dresden Files for a second season.

[sgtslappy]

RIP SciFi, the people who took over the scifi channel have been trying to kill scifi and turn it into a lowest common denominator station. This is the final nail in the coffin.

Kind of what G4 did to TechTV. Ah well, I don't watch either station anymore so meh.

[zeonxavier]

Phail.

<insert your favorite failblog jpeg here>

[Zetsuei]

Nice try, its an April fools joke. Oh wait.... shit.

[Evil Avatar]

Nice try, its an April fools joke. Oh wait.... shit.

I had to look twice at the date on my calender and the date on the article just to be sure.

For a second I thought I was caught in a time warp. Not the kind of time warp you find on the Siffy channel, because they don't have those any more. ;)

[GraveMatter]

This can't be serious...really??? Seriously??? SyFy??? Wha???

[revelation]

Sci Fi have been going downhill steadily for a long time now. As said before, without BSG, there'll be little reason to tune in to it.

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed The Dresden Files.

[Exodus]

I still have to get around to watching the dresden files, read the books though and enjoyed them quite a bit. This name change is ridiculous. It's not the name that needs changing it's getting new and interesting sci-fi shows going. I find it hard to believe they don't have a few tv series they could consider showing, is science fiction really that disinteresting to people now? or has downloading digitally all of a sudden become that much popular as well as just waiting for the seasons on dvd or blu-ray?

[ezzkmo]

First the Sears Tower (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-sears-tower-name-change-willis-march12,0,7014962.story), now this. What the hell, don't people have better things to do during this recession than renaming shit???

You gonna follow suit Evil? Maybe "Evyl Avatyr" or a just a symbol like Prince did. :p

[Windsong]

Fruitcakes. The whole lot of em.

[Nighthold]

There actually may be an unstated legal reason for this too. Trademarks cant be descriptive and still protect the holder. For instance, I can't start a candle store and call it The Candle Store, and stop others from making other Candle Stores (at least in theory). The Sci-Fi Channel is a very descriptive trademark, though likely one that has found secondary meaning in its 16 years in the marketplace.

Even so, I'm sure there were more than a few lawyers on staff wishing they made the name something more distinct.

Not saying this is the main reason for the shift (I'm sure its just marketing run amok) but the generic nature of the channel's name didn't help.

[VTMarik]

I'm glad, actually. Now I don't have to cringe every time that I'm reminded that ECW is on that network.

Previously it was "Wrestling is not Science Fiction, It's just regular fiction </nerdstroke>"

Now it'll be "Eh, ECW. What's next, a prequel spinoff of BSG?"

They haven't done anything truly SciFi since they adapted Dunes 1-3, good riddance.

[lockwoodx]

http://firsttube.com/uploads/failblog.wordpress.com/files/2008/12/fail-owned-ham-fail.jpg

[Nighthold]

*image*

Fail? I dont get....


ooooh.

[DCJoeDog]

If this was supposed to happen yesterday then why is my SciFi channel still called that? Or is this just the announcement of the name change?

[Scramble]

Lol, welcome to the new Millenium. With the iPod and the Wii being so popular, expect a lot of things to have this stupid new post modernism take on their names. SyFy :S

[Evil Avatar]

If this was supposed to happen yesterday then why is my SciFi channel still called that? Or is this just the announcement of the name change?

Today was the announcement. They switch everything over on July 7th when they launch 'Warehouse 13'.

[Derella]

As many of the people said when responding to that article... at least with Battlestar Galactica ending on Friday there is no more reason to even turn to that channel.
That's basically what I was thinking. Of course, when Caprica starts...

[Evil Avatar]

That's basically what I was thinking. Of course, when Caprica starts...

What I have read about Caprica makes it sound like a Soap Opera that takes place in the BSG universe. I'm not holding my breath.

[DCJoeDog]

Caprica seems like a desperate attempt to entice folks for a few episodes until they figure out that this has nothing to do with BSG and they abandon the show in droves.

I still watch SciFi every Wednesday for Ghost Hunters, I'm just a sucker for that show.

[EL CABONG]

Lame if true. Hell I stilled mad at them for canceling The Dresden Files. Screw Sci Fi.

[Majster Wichajster]

Syfy means pimples (plural of pimple) in Polish. Or it can mean that something is shitty.

[Fizzl]

It makes me think of industrial cleaning fluid for some reason.

I'm sure the real reason behind the name change is so they don't have to have broadcast any actual Sci Fi.

[Dibbler]

Better if they rename it from Sci Fi to the CRAP Channel. This would be a better and more descriptive name for it. So what percentage of shows are actually science fiction on that channel anymore? I guess some of the infomercials sales pitches could be considered science fiction. :)

[Flatpicker]

Sci Fi has lost it's focus for a long time now.
Cancelled BSG, Dresden, Stargate.
Move Eureka all over the place.

Add wrestling and mansquito type movies.
What a waste.

[thejeromer]

http://www.syfy.com/press.html

Name change happens in July.

[zipR]

I think it'll take a lot more than a spelling change to attract viewers to most of the crap they show on there. Apart from BSG, it's pretty embarrassing....

[Demo_Boy]

Dumbest respelling ever. Takes the crown away from "womyn"

[pwnophobia]

A name isn't going to change their persona. Fail.

[vherub]

I's are cooler than y's, they should have changed it to psifi

or system shock

[evild]

Ys are the new black.

[Virtuoso]

Sci Fi has lost it's focus for a long time now.
Cancelled BSG, Dresden, Stargate.
Move Eureka all over the place.

Add wrestling and mansquito type movies.
What a waste.

I really dont understand how great shows like the Dresden Files can get canceled, and shit like the B-Horror-Sci-Fi (Syfy?) crap movies continue to get produced.

Sci-Fi is a joke, and adding a few Y's won't change that.

Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a domain name and trademark (which they did for this crap), they should focus on not canceling good shows.

[Flatpicker]

I really dont understand how great shows like the Dresden Files can get canceled, and shit like the B-Horror-Sci-Fi (Syfy?) crap movies continue to get produced.

Sci-Fi is a joke, and adding a few Y's won't change that.

Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a domain name and trademark (which they did for this crap), they should focus on not canceling good shows.


I guess what bothers me the most with Dresden is that Sci-Fi held the rights to TDF and didn't allow it to get shopped around after they chose not to renew.

It wasn't a perfect show, but it was fun and close "enough" to the books.

[Virtuoso]

I guess what bothers me the most with Dresden is that Sci-Fi held the rights to TDF and didn't allow it to get shopped around after they chose not to renew.

It wasn't a perfect show, but it was fun and close "enough" to the books.

Tell me about it. Its because they suck major ass.

[Venkman]

Anyone who thinks that Syfy is less geeky than Sci Fi has their Darth Vader mask on too tight.


You can trademark Syfy, you can't trademark SciFi.

As dumb as it sounds to us, it's a good thing to do if you are going to expand your brand into other products like games and dvd releases, and even a kid branch, which Sy Fy is going to do.

It's just necessary.

[ghostgirl]

This is my favorite part:

"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'm glad they feel cool, since that's what science fiction is all about. I know being a science fiction fan definitely made me super hip and cool in high school. Oh wait...

Sarcasm aside, I'm horrified (horrifyed?) at the name change. I understand the legality of it, but I just wish they'd found a way to copyright their name without just changing the spelling like that.

[Virtuoso]

This is my favorite part:

"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.”

This just proves that education in the US is awful, what with the lack of basic spelling skills being overridden by text-speak.

[Jambe]

I still get angry at Sci-Fi's nixing of TDF. I never watched Sci-Fi much, and TDF was the only thing I would record from that channel. I haven't watched it for a good while now.

Oh wait, there's that show... remake of a shitty Steven King novel, where these flying jaws from another dimension (or something? hur hur) come out and eat the world, chewing up some airport while people flee. I watch that if I'm channel flipping to kill time, for comedy's sake... The Langoliers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langoliers). That's it.

But this name change is just more suck that I'm not really affected by. In my recollection perhaps 5% of Sci-Fi programming has been worthwhile. Like I said though, I never watched it regularly, so I may have missed out.

Sometimes I see shit like this and think, "wow, it's astonishing how "big-name" content providers are completely out of touch with what people actually want." But... something tells me there's a rather large base of nincompoops who will watch anything just because it's on, and those are the folk whose attention the big networks struggle for. It's probably some of both, I guess.

[Virtuoso]

The Langoliers was one of the worst things ever.

[Zetsuei]

I liked the Langoliers. Granted I was very young at the time and didn't know what good/bad things necessarily were, but I enjoyed it. I remember a blind chick, and everything in the future tasting really good, and monsters that ate the past. Hahahah, oh man, that's pretty ridiculous now that I read what I've just typed.

[Vorphalack]

Sci Fi has lost it's focus for a long time now.
Cancelled BSG, Dresden, Stargate.
Move Eureka all over the place.

Add wrestling and mansquito type movies.
What a waste.

I love BSG, but canceling it is smart. Why drag it on for 5-8 seasons...end it on a high note.

Stargate was okay, but it was time.

And, personally, I love the the B movies. They aren't quality *at all*, but they are nice to have on when there is nothing else on. Then again, I love campy/cheesy movies.

I completely agree with the wrestling shit, though...WHY?!?!?!?

[Eric_T_Cheng]

Didn't Sci Fi turn down Firefly when Joss Whedan was shopping the show around after Fox cancelled it?

[Zeal]

This Is An Outrage

[Flatpicker]

Didn't Sci Fi turn down Firefly when Joss Whedan was shopping the show around after Fox cancelled it?


Not quite.
Fox wouldn't release the contract.
That's also why the Movie had to be renamed.

[Valar Morghulis]

There actually may be an unstated legal reason for this too. Trademarks cant be descriptive and still protect the holder. For instance, I can't start a candle store and call it The Candle Store, and stop others from making other Candle Stores (at least in theory). The Sci-Fi Channel is a very descriptive trademark, though likely one that has found secondary meaning in its 16 years in the marketplace.

Even so, I'm sure there were more than a few lawyers on staff wishing they made the name something more distinct.

Not saying this is the main reason for the shift (I'm sure its just marketing run amok) but the generic nature of the channel's name didn't help.

This is actually excactly what I had heard happened. The term "Sci-Fi" has been deemed not trademarkable, and as such the channel had no control over how their name was used in other venues (magazines, online, etc.). By changing it to SyFy they can trademark it and protectet it. This is the same reason why Intel went from using a numbering system for their processors to names (i.e. went from the 286, 386, 486 to "Pentium").

[TheBot]

I like SciFi on occasion, but it's mostly nothing that great.

[Venkman]

This is actually excactly what I had heard happened. The term "Sci-Fi" has been deemed not trademarkable, and as such the channel had no control over how their name was used in other venues (magazines, online, etc.). By changing it to SyFy they can trademark it and protectet it. This is the same reason why Intel went from using a numbering system for their processors to names (i.e. went from the 286, 386, 486 to "Pentium").

Yeah, but so many people on this board think it's dumb to pursue something you can trademark.

Syfy is going to expand into many brands and media including kid freidnly content and video games. They need to trademark BEFORE they do that.

What's also funny to me is all the people who are upset about the name change, but also say they don't watch the channel.

Why do they care? :confused:

[fiercey]

The only thing this channel needed to do to be successful was to show day-long Star Trek reruns... and they couldn't even do that. There has been zero reason for me to watch Sci-Fi for a long time. Dumb new name.

-f

[Borys]

This is absolutely retarded.

What's next changing Discovery Science to Discovery Sai-ens? Animal Planet to Eye-neemal Planet?

smh