Twilight Sequel 'New Moon' #1 Advance Online … 
MPTF: Open Letter To Jeffrey Katzenberg 
'2012' Dominates For $225M 5-Day Launch … 
Showtime Rattled By Rival EPIX Arrival 
4TH UPDATE: MGM Studio Claiming Business As … 
'Paranormal Activity' Crosses $100M Cume: … 
EXCLUSIVE: DISNEY'S BIG JOB SWITCH; CFO Tom … 
Rich Ross Restructures Disney Studios' … 
20 Animated Films Vying For 2009 Oscars 
THE END OF 'OPRAH' AS WE KNOW HER: Daytime … 
Comcast & GE Pact To Keep NBCU Talks … 
Elle's Women In Hollywood Power List 
Everyone knows that corporate rebranding costs a bundle. So it makes no sense in this climate of economic crisis and budget cuts and staff layoffs that NBC Universal would waste money like this. Yet already put-upon GE shareholders are being Jeff Zuckered yet again. Stuart Elliott's always interesting advertising column in The New York Times reports that the Sci Fi Channel and its website today will introduce its new name of "Syfy" and its plain vanilla logo and lame new slogan "Imagine Greater", effective as of July 7th. Adding to the idiocy is that there's already a company called SyFi Global, an information technology company. Arguing that the name "Sci Fi" was so generic it could not be trademarked, the channel's rebranding campaign "seeks to distinguish the channel and its programming from cable competitors." Both Bonnie Hammer and Dave Howe over the years actually sat though many meetings where a name change was debated. The corporate and brand identity consultancy Landor Associates as well as two London marketing agencies were hired at what I'm sure was great expense. Meanwhile, Sci Fi Channel's programming mostly really Zucks.
ZUCKERED: SciFi Channel And Website To Waste Money Being Rebranded As "Syfy"
Marketplace
News/Opinion Poll
Loading ...Box Office Poll
Loading ...
While I agree this is beyond stupid, what would you expect from an idiot like Jeff Zucker? However, not all programming on SciFi (and I don’t think I’ll ever call it SyFy — a truly stupid name) “Zucks.” SciFi’s problem, at least since becoming part of the NBC sinking ship, has been a lack of funds to make truly good programming. Sadly, the best show they ever had is leaving the air Friday. Without Battlestar Galactica there’s little reason to watch SciFi. While I’m a fan of Eureka, it’s no BSG. While I’m very interested in seeing what the people behind BSG can do with Caprica, I don’t hold out hope that NBC Universal will give it more than one season.
Like most networks, and especially NBC Universal, it comes down to demographics. Unfortunately for all of us, the demographic NBC and advertisers constantly chase are drawn to the crappy Saturday monster movies, wrestling, and silly reality programs. Hell, SciFi doesn’t even invest in their great winter mini-series anymore. Mini-series like Taken and Dune helped put this network on the map but when was the last time SciFi premiered a great SCIENCE FICTION mini-series? Tin Man may have been a ratings success, but it’s a poor man’s fantasy and certainly not science fiction.
First reaction is that this will likely alienate the people that actually watch the channel. People into Science Fiction aren’t going to take well to seeing it spelled Scyence Fyction. Some rethinking and polish would be welcome for this network but this looks like navel-gazing marketing originated by people clueless to the inherent appeal of the brand run amok.
You’d think they’d be more worried that the only show worth watching on SyFy (Battlestar Galactica) is going off the air this week.
I’m seeing a lot of negativity toward the new name, and I guess I am a little biased about it since I’m the one who actually created the name (and sold the brand last month).
To me it makes sense to try and create a name that can actually be branded. I know some people think it’s a stupid name, but we never got that in the decade we used it as SyFy Portal. In fact, it was a spelling that for a lot of people became the new way they would write “sci-fi,” even in stuff away from the site.
I want to see science-fiction succeed on television, and I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of all the decisions made at SciFi Channel. But I am willing to give them a chance, and to see how well the name works. A big part of me wants the name to succeed, because I’ve always liked the name, was sad to let it go, and don’t want to see it sullied in a bad move. I don’t think this is a bad move, but only time will tell.
So I am putting my support behind it. Some might say it’s a lone voice, but I don’t think so … I’m sure there are others who like it, too.
The real reason is obvious: just like “The Nashville Network” eventually evolved into “Spike”, and “Cartoon Network” is adding “CN REAL” to it’s logo to justify it airing more and more Live-Action programming- “SyFy” is planning to eliminate it’s actual science fiction programming.Which is understanable, because they really don’t do it very well. Expect a lot more cheap reality shows…
Well, “Sci-Fi” was always a stretch of a name, given the channel’s general lack of, well, science fiction in its programming. The channel has been far from a darling and friend to fandom over the years, with plenty of anger over the cancellations of Farscape and MST3K while truly horrendous “original movies” and Ghost Hunters continue to dominate the channel. BSG – the one thing fandom has largely appreciated – has always seemed good in spite of Sci-Fi, not because of it.
Ironically, in an era where other channels, including NBC, have increasingly developed a reputation for smart, well-written sci-fi, the Sci-Fi channel has largely left itself in the dust. And even as some of those mainstream offerings see cancellation (Firefly, Threshold, Pushing Daisies) or a marked decline in quality (Heroes), one has to wonder why Sci-Fi wasn’t the destination for any of them.
Is this why the popular website, SyFy Portal, recently changed its nake to Airlock Alpha? Was there money exchanged that no one told the people who visit the site?
This is the dumbest idea I’ve heard in a long time.
This is the kind of idea you are supposed to realize is stupid after the drugs wear off.
Heard on Twitter is that the 18-34s in the focus group stated that SYFY is the way they would TXT it.
I can’t wait for ABC to rebrand as OMG!
Ever since the early days when the Sci Fi Channel debuted by running oldies like The Immortal, I have referred to it as Skiffy. It rhymes with iffy which is fitting considering that the four words I fear more than “we need to talk” are “Sci Fi Channel Original”.
I used to work for Landor, so I know exactly what it cost – somewhere between $250K – $500K, plus materials, travel and expenses. It could even be more, depending on the amount of service they extend. It’s a year-long process, involving naming strategists, branding gurus and all manner of psychology of consumer awareness mumbo-jumbo. You literally would not believe the amount of research they do, then rely upon, to support the costs around these absurd name changes. And companies just buy it and eat it up. They love this crap – a year’s worth of seduction, brain washing and slow pick pocketing. They line up for this.
wow. BAD move.
I agree with, Joe. If this is true, this may well be the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.
Anyone who likes Sci Fi will drop a network “ashamed” of being itself — nerds can sniff out the disingenuous — and anyone who doesn’t like Scifi now will not like a SciFi homonym any better.
The strong performance of mini-series events, BSG, and Eureka have proven that it is programming and NOT brand identity that is sorely lacking here.
Well, that and a leadership that hates Sci-Fi. Wrestling, anyone?
But other than BSG, what was the last good decision the folks at SciFi made? Killing Dresden Files? Greenlighting Flash Gordon? Allowing Pain Killer Jane to be seen by anyone? ECW? The list goes on and on and on.
Here’s to SG:U but I doubt even a new Stargate could save them from SyFy.
Seriously I thought the headline was a joke. What kind of nut even considers crap like this, much less, greenlights it? I want to be in that meeting with the exclamations of approval and high five for “SyFy”… just looney.
Jimmy is right, BSG is really the only redeeming production on SciFi (I thought Stargate Atlantis was a winner, but alas too is gone).
Wait a minute, wasn’t the Sci-Fi Channel the only NBC-Universal business doing well with Battlestar Galactica?
I guess that means they had to spend millions re-branding it into the ground by making it look like some sort “lifestyle” channel that specializes in shows about making your own granola.
Boy, when you think NBC Universal has hit bottom, they break out the shovels.
LAME.
BSG is nearly over, SG1 is gone, they hardly do anything with SciFi anyway… Good rucking fiddance.
Only thing worth watching besides BSG is _Twilight Zone_ reruns, and I’d rather just get the entire series on disc..
Oh, come on! Can I have a side of SyFries with that? Imbecilic. Who keeps upping Zucker? I don’t get it. I know, we live in a town, and work in an industry, that has a habit of rewarding failure and stupidity. But, really, this guy… You know, Zucker must have been a saint or martyr in another life to have karma like this in this one.
Looks like they made SyFy Portal (a fan news site whose news shows up in Google News Searches all the time and a domain name registration that predates this asshat of a rebranding move) to Airlock Alpha
http://www.airlockalpha.com/?cmp=OTC-SyFyNotice
Oy vey iz mir…this is silly.
Foolish. Needless. Futzing with a successful recognized brand name for a reason that only MBAs will appreciate.
I used to wonder why the GE board would tolerate a dolt like zucker. But after watching the Wall Street Meltdown, it’s clear that there are a lot of dolts running these corps into the ground. This country is headed in the wrong direction.
Legal Affairs probably realized that they couldn’t trademark Sci-Fi, a term that is already offensive to science fiction (sf) fans, so they figured, hell, change it to SyFy and seal the tomb of credibility forever. What SsHolz.
At least it’s a vaguely…okay, phonetically…sensible name. Channels in the UK have undegone a completely nonsensical rebranding so that what was UKTV Gold 2 is now known as Dave.
And the time-shifted +1 service is known as Dave ja vu.
It’s a laugh a minute this side of the Atlantic. Honest.
That’s kinda dumb.
Ok this really sucks. SyFy? OMG, what genius thought that up? Everyone I know knows what SciFi Channel is all about. SyFy? Sounds like a rock band, or a sexual appliance… Really lame.
This is executive navel-gazing at its worst. The Titanic is sinking! What do they do? Rename it “Tytanic.”
OK, seriously, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
There must be larger forces at play here– like Jeff Zucker being involved in a TRADING PLACES-like bet with some other sap to see who’s “The Dumbest Person Alive.”
SciFi needs to be changed from the inside out, emphasizing quality programming like Galatctica instead of watering down its core audience with WWE events, Z-grade movies and decades’ old repeats. But lord knows that doesn’t make any sense to someone like Jeff Zucker, the George W. Bush of the entertainment world.
Dyp Shyt move.
It’s a bad bad move. “Sci Fi” evokes memories of great works of fiction spanning decades if not centuries. I hear the word “Sci Fi” and I immediately associate it with Asimov, Jules Verne, Star Wars, Star Trek, and on and on. The Scifi Channel is lucky to have those coattails to ride on.
“Syfy”, on the other hand, is a made up gibberish word that means nothing to me. It reminds me of the wacky here today gone tomorrow websites that you hear about all the time. (Cuil anyone?) “Syfy” the channel evokes thoughts of cheap made for tv movies where mutant alligators and giant ant people fight each other. The winner gets to eat the people in the cabin. (There are always tasty people in a cabin in these movies.)
At least we know the marketing industry is alive and well. Boom times for them.
The name change is probably for the best as under Bonnnie Hammer’s “leadership” the channel has been moving away from real science-fiction as fast as it can. Wrestling? Reality shows about haunted houses? “Scare Tactics”? After Galactica finishes this week, I’ll have no reason to turn to the channel at all…
At a time, and in a Cable universe where niche branding is almost everything, the decision to change from SciFi to SyFy is simply put, absurd. Instead of doubling down and being the go to place for SciFi and SciFi related kind of programming– really courting the community and being creative with its programming, they completely fold the creative tent for advertisers and viewers. Instead of telling the world they are renewing Battlestar for two more years, or are dedicated to being the destination for the Fringe and Heroes network business, even if done with different economics, they decide to implode one of the most obvious branded plays in television. How do these decisions get made???
The biggest problem has to do with the network itself, however. Everything is slow to dead, they never read, they never make decisions with any kind of purpose and they have never told the world how to bring them product. Hmmm… let’s see… if I were to consider what Peter Liguori might find interesting it would seem uber oversight of NBCUNI’s Network and Cable businesses might be something to contemplate. But then again, we ARE talking about the paralyzed nature of GE’s creative assets as overseen by an executive who has failed more times than one can imagine from high above Rockefeller Center. And by the way, bringing in a talent like Liguori would probably intimidate him because he’d know once corporate spent any time with a real executive who understands every aspect of the broadcast and cable business, he’d be kicked out the door!
Sigh? Fie!
While this may be a stupid move fiscally at this time, I can understand their desire to have a name they can copyright. Even if their choice and motto seem like lame choices to me.
But I don’t see how this name change is going to alienate anyone. And the comment that one wouldn’t “call” it “SyFy” makes me chuckle and wonder about possible pronunciation choices.
And be fair about the programming. As another poster pointed out, their mini-series are typically very good, stamped from a completely different mold than their idiotic monster movies of the week. And BSG has not just been a great SciFi Channel show — it’s been a great show without qualification. I don’t think someone like, say, the CW can claim a similar feather in the cap.
If it can be screwed up NBC/Uni will find the way to do it! They’re kind of geniuses, no?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, which is the way Zucker runs NBC. You can bet an outfit like Landor would charge NBC at least $500K-1M for a new name. And what did they come up with? A bastardized spelling of the original name! So what if the name cannot be trademarked. They can trademark their logo and probably did, years ago.
Seriously – this just sounds like a goddamn April Fool’s Joke. What a bunch of maroons, to quote Bugs Bunny.
This is the “in thing” for cable executives that have nothing to occupy their time. Relaunch the channel under a new brand.
They don’t actually care that there hasn’t been any data to show that these relaunches improve ratings or viewership. Anecdotally at least, these changes only seem to confuse viewers.
The SciFi channel has seemed hellbent on turning itself into another cable channel that is indistinguishable from USA, Spike, Lifetime or what have you.
Good luck with that.
This is like renaming the ship “The Tytanic.”
This is so lame. Shouldn’t the f at least be capitalized? It looks ilke sy-fee or sif-fee right now. Which sounds like a disease (like some slang term for syphilis).
“Dude, I slept with that slutty girl last year and caught syfy.”
When I was at a meeting at SciFi a couple years ago, they said they were no longer interested in any material that had to do with space or aliens. I said “aren’t you the scifi network?”
They said they were tired of only being a network for geeks and young men. They wanted to appeal to a broader audience. That meant that the only science fiction they were interested in was stuff about psychics and ghosts. Because they thought that stuff would appeal to women.
It seems as if not much has changed in the last couple of years.
Maybe they should call it Sci-Ho
Unfortunately that has other perhaps unintentional implications. I guess they think Syfy (ick) would somehow be a better umbrella for all the horror programming they schedule.
I agree with Jimmy on “Taken” and “Dune” although I haven’t watched “BSG.” I did watch “Dr. Who” and subsequently caught “Primeval” and “Torchwood” on BBC America, both of which are good shows in my opinion, but I expect we won’t see anymore of “Torchwood” on Sci-Fi because of certain content. At least if I miss those shows on BBCA I can buy them on iTunes. I wouldn’t pay for anything else on Sci-Fi but “Battlestar Galactica.”
THANK YOU! for finally telling the terrible truth. I’ve googled “scifi channel sucks” for years without finding any mass outcry against the giant-animal-bad-fantasy-d-grade-horor-and-execrable-ghosthunters-marathon travesty that the franchise peddles.
At last– some recognition…
This is the most ridiculous, stupid, idiotic, imbecilic, asinine, unnecessary thing I’ve ever heard.
I agree with Joe – this will completely alienate SciFi fans. Speaking as one, having people who just don’t get it muck around in our business is abhorrent. It’s bad enough their stupid programming decisions and lack of original thinking are running the channel into the ground (talking about SciFi here, not NBC, though it’s applicable to both obviously), now they’re issuing the ultimate insult: they’re sanitizing the channel so “regular” people will watch it. News flash: They won’t.
Leave it to the GE-NBCUNI braintrust (sic) to completely undermine one of the few truly branded networks in television. But then again, when you don’t know how to program for that brand, then you start to unduly tinker like this. In a Cable universe where niche is more and more coveted from an audience standpoint and an advertiser standpoint, they decide to not only throw away SciFi, but make it SyFy (WTF).
Let’s face it though, when a network can’t articulate to the town what it truly wants and stands for, when a group of executives take months (not weeks) to look at material, it’s no wonder they flounder.
Hmmm… I wonder what Peter Liguori would do with this? Then again, why would the NYer overseeing all things related to NBC from high above Rockefeller Center bring in a bonafide star? Maybe because he’d finally be proven to be the emporer without any clothes!
What a collossal waste of an opportunity… on all fronts.
this is the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard in my life
seriously, why is there not a revolt of ge shareholders to replace these buffoons…syfy?
congrats – ‘new coke’ has now fallen as the dumbest rebrand ever
i hope your children burn in hell
SO INCREDIBLY LAME!
Well,what do you expect from a network ashamed of its own fans and programming ? This is just a sad pathetic bid to move them even further away from their roots and make a cheap buck churning out “reality programming” (if you can call ECW “reality”) The only true Sci-Fi left on the network is Battlestar and Eureka and most people watch those online or buy the DVDs. R.I.P. Sci-Fi
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8okd6_forry-farewell_shortfilms
Ridiculous. Because what better way to piss off your detail-oriented, BSG-loving base than to change your name to a trademarkable typo?!
Not that I intend to watch a single thing on SciFi… ugh, Syfy, whatever… other than Caprica, and even then it’ll likely be for two episodes and Bear McCreary’s music.
But yeah, of course they’d use the golden opportunity of BSG not to build up that base or rescue other good sci-fi shows, but instead to lame the network up with reality ghost-hunting and The Giant Rubber Hose That Attacked Us From The Sea.
Go ahead and change it to Syfy, morons. Eventually someone will come along and know how to properly market to Sci-fi fans, and will know how to rescue network shows in a way that also draws some of the main-network audience. You can’t hurt BSG anymore, so big whoop.
Sounds like big changes are about to come- why cheapen the name if you’re not planning to cheapen the brand too? Sounds like Syfy is about to become a second-rate cable network full of repeats of Science Fiction shows- shows like Stargate, Lost In Space, Quark, TekWar- vault type shows rather then new production shows. Hey, the advertisers will still plunk down their money but the ad sales dept will have an easier time filling the available ad sales inventory. They’ll be able to concentrate on B-name ad sales clients and they’ll still make a profit on it all. I were an employee of The Sci Fi Network I’d get my resume together.
What a bunch of complainers! Did you pay attention to the idea behind the name change? Outside of loyal nerds, no one watched the Sci Fi channel. That, despite the fact the biggest blockbusters are fantasy or futuristic titles like Halo 3, Watchmen, Twilight, Race to Witch Mountain and Wolverine. Syfy now has a chance to attract that audience. They should be making shows like Heroes and Lost on the channel, not just crap about aliens and space travel.
What’s the big deal? It’s pronounced the same, just spelled differently. Lots of opinions, not many facts. Here’s a few.
– A trademarkable brand is important.
– The Sci Fi niche audience is not enough to support a network. Ad sales has trouble selling this demo.
– Sci Fi is not failing – it just had its best year ever and is a top ten cable network.
– The programming stays the same – only the name changes.
– Those who like Stargate have a new Stargate to look forward to.
– As someone mentioned, Sci Fi fans already don’t like calling it “Sci Fi” so why would they be pissed off about this?
– Those who like BSG have Caprica to look forward to.
– BTW, BSG was not canceled – ending it was Moore & Eick’s idea.
– Calling the channel “Sci Fi” was a huge stumbling block to large segments of the audience who automatically stay away because they’ve decided that Sci Fi is only for geeks. If BSG had been on a major network it would have been showered with Emmys – on Sci Fi, not so much.
– It wasn’t Zucker’s idea.
I just read Donna’s post and I have a question. I see these two bullet points back-to-back and I don’t understand.
– The Sci Fi niche audience is not enough to support a network. Ad sales has trouble selling this demo.
– Sci Fi is not failing – it just had its best year ever and is a top ten cable network.
I know nothing about anything, but I can’t see how these two bullet points can mutually exist. If the “sci fi niche audience” is not enough to support a network, how did it become a top ten cable network with its old name? If you have built your success on that niche audience, why risk alienating your core with a silly name change?
I’m not saying you’re wrong, Donna — I’m looking for an explanation.
>>>It’s a year-long process, involving naming strategists, branding gurus and all manner of psychology of consumer awareness mumbo-jumbo. You literally would not believe the amount of research they do, then rely upon, to support the costs around these absurd name changes.
And still you dypshyts manage to come up with something half the Internet is already calling The Syphilis Channel and which all of Poland — POLAND, for god’s sake — is passing around as yet another sign of the Downfall of America:
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=7106
Mission Accomplished. You guys also packaged the War on Terror, right? Or is it now the Woar on Tyrryr?
Dear Donna,
“As someone mentioned, Sci Fi fans already don’t like calling it “Sci Fi” so why would they be pissed off about this?
What sci-fi fans did you ask? I’m a life long sci-fi fan and I love the term. Did you ask those of us who actually WATCH the Sci-Fi channel, or did you go out to a bunch of metro-somethings who wouldn’t know a latte from a liquid crystal display?
In my business (therapy) there’s a modality called “Solution Focused Therapy” and it’s really very easy to understand. It boils down to three (3) basic points:
1) If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
2) If it’s working, do more of it.
3) If it’s not working, change it.
Which one of these 3 rules applied to Sci-Fi channel Donna?
“Imagine Greater”?
How about:
“Nothing a little penicillin won’t cure.”
For 17 years no one else has started another cable channel called Sci Fi. If, after 17 years you’re going to change the name why not go for something that will attract young adults like: Sc1 F1 or somehing ‘textish’ or internet-y. syfi doesn’t tell me anything.
To me, the interesting thing is that they have never embraced being a science fiction channel – news, info, and entertainment for science fiction fans. Try that.
Well, once they give up the name, what’s to prevent someone else from using it?
With the exception of Galactica, I don’t know of ANY programming on Sci-Fi that appeals to or has a following with the “geek squad”. Once Galactica is gone, SyFy is gonna be a ghost town.
“We don’t want to appeal to just the geeks and young men”? Uh, okay…then why the hell are you programming WRESTLING?!?
If you’re gonna cut off your nose to spite your face, go all the way and change the name to “Meta” or somethign like that and just do supernatural and paranormal programming like a 24 hour marathon showing the EPK for “Twilight” or a reality show called “Who Wants To Be A Vampire”.
I guess I should go bang my head against a brick wall or start taking drugs. Seems like the only way you can get a leg up in this industry sometimes is dropping your I.Q. a dozen points or so.
Oh, and here’s another show they can program. “Are You Smarter Than A Network Executive?”
Meh…
To Donna (or GE/NBCU hack):
A trademarkable brand is important…But, first make sure you do not dilute the brand.
– “Sci fi” audience is niche? As SNL states it, “Really?” Then, how do you justify your next statement already asked by the “Question”: Best year ever and is a top ten cable network.
– Programming is the same? Like wrestling? Like Fantasy? Like Olympics !?!
– The only Stargate I am looking forward to is the MMORPG, my storyline will not be screwed by network and it will be something I created, not by writers/producers who “don’t” get the genre (e.x., Heroes comic book store)let alone S&P
– “Sci fi” was bad, Syfy is worse.
– Caprica is not BSG and sure budget is never the reason GE/NBCU cuts a show, especially if it reaches syndie status and becomes too “expensive” to continue.
– Trying to brand Syfy to those who do not appreciate the brand is the same as rebranding Lifetime as the Womyn.
– If it walks like a Zucker, talks like a Zucker, it’s a Zucker!
As much as the name sucks – and it does, SciFi has been getting away from sci-fi programming for years. They want to open up their brand for more horror and fantasy (while still not paying anything for most of it). So they need to generalize while still keeping their roots.
Are they TRYING to delegitimize speculative fiction with such a stupid term?
You don’t make money insulting your prime audience’s intelligence!
@ BuddyBing:
I’ve been a scifi fan since I was a kid, and while I like the term “speculative fiction” more these days, I’ve NEVER been offended with it being called scifi.
Unless, of course, it’s a non-sf show on SFC being called as such.
Wow.
I can see why they might want to expand their audience with this kind of viciousness on the other end of the tv.
Desiring a trademarked name is not really a crime. It’s business in the U.S.A. Time will tell if this is handled in a way that works for the audience and genre. There is clearly a lot of animosity toward the network and it’s programming. Maybe a change of course is needed here. Maybe someone should imagine greater.
Yeah.
Like you.
Nice rules, but eBay and other companies are clearly using these rules:
1) If it isn’t broken, fix the hell out of it.
2) It it’s working, do less of it.
3) If it’s not working, don’t change it.
I can safely say that it is the philosophy of every entertainment company in the business including NBC Universal. No wonder why there isn’t anything good on TV.
BTW, you don’t need to really trademark Sci-Fi Network, just the logo with Sci-Fi attached. Seriously, how long before Jeff Zucker fails into the US Presidency? At least it is comforting to know that Zucker will not become God.
Remember that Bonnie Hammer did a great job rebranding USA with the “Character Welcome” slogan. Who knows she could make this work equally as well.
How many times to I have to “hammer” this!
Branding only works if you have a good content.
When I worked for USA/Sci fi it was original content that won the day. Look at TNT w/The Closer, AMC w/Mad Men, USA/Psych, etc…
The cupboard is bare w/Sci fi and no matter how many times you try to rebrand, unless it is backed up with good programming you are wasting my time and insulting the audience’s intelligence.
I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced “See Fee”.
Honestly, I like it. I think once it goes into use we’ll see great things from the new interpretation of the brand.
“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”
Who in the “techno-savvy” crowd doesn’t use T9 or own a phone (sorry, i meant f0wn) with a full keyboard (sorry, i mean kEEburd)…
This is the most ridiculous thing the channel has done since making horrendous reality shows and wrestling part of its lineup… bring back FireFly!
If you don’t have any shows left that people want to see, you can paint it yellow & call it ABC — no one will watch. Interestingly, syfy’s big bro over at the peacock (you know, the place with that new “hit” show Kings that NO ONE in America watched) is getting a new coat of paint, too – brought to you by some tools across the pond at the cost of hundreds & hundreds of thousands. That seems totally acceptable with layoffs coming shortly from where?? Yeah, the branding dept.
Syfy: Imagine Greater
Uh, how about…
SYFY: WE CAN’T SPELL, BUT HEY… WE CAN’T PROGRAM EITHER
or
SYFY: BECAUSE GEEKS DON’T DO GRAMMAR
or
SYFY: SMACKDOWN
or
SYFY: WHAT NO NBC EXECUTIVE HAS WATCHED BEFORE
or
SYFY: WE HATE OUR AUDIENCE
or
SYFY: BECAUSE THE NAME SLURM WAS ALREADY TAKEN
or
SYFY: IT’S HAMMER TIME, BITCH!
I think that luzid has hit it on the head. SFC it’s 3 letters and they can brand the s**t out of it. Now if we could only fix the programing……………… Oh well it’s off to see the doctor to get a scrip for this case of SyFy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK… now it’s called “siffy”…. I know, I know, it’s a cool way to say “Sci fi” but Science Fiction already had a cool name, it is “Sci fi”…
People are savvy about marketing and this just smacks of the people in the driver’s seat having no affinity or affection for “the big idea” that is encompassed in something called The SciFi channel. I know they need to make money on the thing but making a channel for P&G before the people that will watch your programming can be sniffed out miles away – especially these days.
Why would anyone pay attention to you if you plainly don’t like yourself. Branding is important as was said above but it’s only important if what you are branding has genuine value (not just to the consumer – the creators need to recognize it too).
>>>I can see why they might want to expand their audience with this kind of viciousness on the other end of the tv.
Let me come and spit right in your face and see if you continue to be all Overlordish Smiley-Smiley or ready to go Red Alert Stabby-Stabby.
You want to see what they’ll attract now? Tune into The Maury Show. That’s the audience that’s left for them now.
Baby, when the Empire falls, me and a bunch of other people are gonna to be lined up to piss on your bodies. Never in the history of mankind will such a fall have been so well-engineered — by those doing the falling!
A lot of these moves to brand with unique spellings and/or nonsense words come down to the age of the internet. From their perspective (NBC) they’re looking at the difference between people googling “Sci-Fi” with x% of the million hits being relevant to NBC and their programming — or googling “Syfy” and making sure 100% of the hits lead to their content.
I don’t love it (and the motto still sucks), but it’s not really all that hard to understand the “why?” behind it.
Any time I see a network fucking around for no good reason, I’m reminded of the old joke:
Two men – one of them a producer – are crawling along in the desert when they come across a canteen.
The first man slowly opens it and gasps, “Water!”
Before he can take a sip, the producer grabs the canteen and yells, “Wait!”
He unzips his fly and starts pissing into the canteen.
“What are you doing?” screams the first man.
The producer responds, “Making it better!”
In the past, I MIGHT have considered wearing a shirt with the “SciFi” logo. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever use anything with the “SyFy” logo, unless I’m washing the car or picking up dog shit.
Which reminds me – that’s what this decision turns the network into – dog shit.
Bad move huh?
It has certainly caused a spirited debate on this blog, and beyond. Mission accomplished Sci Fi: people are talking about your network inside circles in which I guarantee you it was never being discussed before. Now that you are losing Battlestar, you have to launch a few new shows worth watching: for your sake hopefully Caprica and Warehouse 13 are just that.
Branding doesn’t mean anything unless there is some substance behind it. Imagine if they spent half as much time focusing on the product as they do on the packaging.
>>>they’re looking at the difference between people googling “Sci-Fi” with x% of the million hits being relevant to NBC and their programming — or googling “Syfy” and making sure 100% of the hits lead to their content.
Yeah, because, you know, typing syfy.com is soooo much easier than typing scifi.com
And dear god, how hard is it to Google “Sci-Fi Channel”?!!?
Yep, this is the Maury audience now.
Just wait for them all to Google Cyfi!!!
Zucker gives latitude to executives to make decisions and run their businesses. As someone who has worked with him before that is what has made him so successful.
Weren’t the sock puppets Syfy, Fran & Ollie?
Reminds me of when NBC changed their logo in the 80’s and somehow didn;t see that another company had the design already. And that was after they spent gobs of money “researching.” Well, didn’t anyone tell them that SyFy apparently is slang for an STD in France? Good researching!
>>>Zucker gives latitude to executives to make decisions and run their businesses. As someone who has worked with him before that is what has made him so successful.
You must be putting the accent on the HIM, because the businesses he’s handing off — no doubt for the sake of Plausible Deniability — are dropping dead at his feet.
1) Super-sized episodes
2) iTunes boycott
3) SyFy
I’m sure there are more, but these are short enough for his obit. Should he ever even deserve one.
[That meant that the only science fiction they were interested in was stuff about psychics and ghosts. Because they thought that stuff would appeal to women.]
Cos yeah, women viewers only watch rubbish like that and SITC! [rolls eyes] They deserve to have their channel fail, the lackwits!
This is like a TV station whose ratings are dropping, so they change the set on the newscast rather than the people producing it. It’s supposed to be called “brand extension,” not “brand annihilation.”
I think this is a big mistake. Will they retitle their Sci Fi Magazine into “Syfy”? That’ll do great things for sales, don’t you think? It’s shame, because Sci Fi Magazine is arguably the last glossy genre magazine on the market.
I think we should all raise our glasses in a toast to this excellent idea; Here’s to Captain Dunsel!
Whereas now, when people google “syfy”, they will get: a) a bunch of people complaining about how stupid the name is and how much the channel sucks; and b) lots of references to syphilis.
Yeah, that’ll help.
Honestly when I first read about this I thought it was a joke and we were being punked. Now I think it’s just pathetic and insulting.
SciFi Channel has been a total crapfest, including that new borefest Battlestar Galactica show, ever since the ex-LIFETIME CHANNEL exec, Bonnie Hammer, took it over and ran it into the ground. I haven’t watched the channel since and never will until they put someone who has a real understanding, respect and love for the science fiction/fantasy. Good riddance, SciFi, SyFy and whatever you’re calling yourselves these days.
Sounds like something a LOLCat would say:
“I canz watch syfy now?”
Maybe the network is programmed by LOLCats.
Anyone look up Syfy on the urban dictionary?
Abbreviation of “screw you, f*** you”. Used in texting.
I like the name more now. Although WWE-Fy would also have been appropriate.