Sci Fi to Become Syfy…Oh My
Yesterday, the Sci Fi cable network announced it was changing its name to Syfy.
Sigh.
I can’t decide whether this is one step forward or one step backward.
Sci Fi claims the change will help it broaden its audience and attract viewers who are turned off by the mere mention of science fiction. And, as Entertainment Weekly writer Margaret Lyons notes, the new name sounds the same but can be trademarked, which ups the branding ante.
Fans of the channel—and the science fiction genre—aren’t so high on the change. Message board posts on several sites have noticed that someone unfamiliar with the channel could read the name to say “Siffy.” Others note that it makes them think of Syphilis, rather than fantasy entertainment.
It has also been noted that the name change could be the cable television equivalent of Tropicana’s recent ill received rebranding snafu.
In a TVWeek.com article about the change, TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi when he worked at USA Network, is quoted as saying that “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.”
Wow. Way to love your audience, Mr. Brooks.
Speaking as “geek”—and a female one, at that—I think I can say that most of us are evolved enough not to be ashamed of what we watch. And I’d wager that the vast majority of viewers today—”geek” or not— will watch good entertainment no matter where they find it.
Maybe Sci Fi, Syfy or whatever they want to call themselves should spend their money on more quality programming, rather than new logos.
And on a final note, any geek in their right mind would never live in their parents’ basement. After all, that’s a terrible place to keep your comic books.
March 30th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Guess they abandoned the “consumer focus group” idea? Siffy?? I can’t get that out of my mind now. After five minutes of reading this, I came up with a name that would do much better and still be real: “Imagine” Channel.