...or so the SciFi Channel loyalists lament (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php)...
Quote
Doug: This is absolutely silly and somehow mildly offends me. I'm in that 25-54 Adults category with a real job. Why is it that the network whose name actually relates to the category of TV shows and movies aired on the network, is bad? Changing the name to SyFy sounds about as good as Coke trying New Coke. Would the influx of "non geeks" being hoped for outweigh the potential avalanche of loyal viewers who abandon? I never understand why people toss out branding once all the work has finally paid off to make it successful.
*cough*recent change here at work (http://www.albertabrand.com/)*cough*
Re: Dave Howe
This is bad and you should feel bad.
Love is over,
-Viewers
The comments section is full of gems:
"They want to appeal to women, yet they don't seem to realize that they're probably coming off their best year due to all the women watching Doctor Who. It's not the name, idiot, it's the programming."
This. It's the quality programming that's attracting viewers and when the freshness of the good Doctor fades to reruns there's going to be an abrupt drop-off in viewership. And on top of that they'll have muddied their own brand to attract a smattering of new facetious viewers who only care about "what's hot" while alienating their core viewership.
This rubs me the wrong way on so many levels. It wastes money, derides the legitimate genre I enjoy, implies existing science fiction fans can single-handedly drive the image of a TV channel in to the ground, and it hilariously infringes on things using the name already (like SyFy Portal and SyFy Streaming Radio).
RRRRRRGH. You want that kind of viewership do you, son? Take it. I'll be over here reading Xenocide and playing sci-fi games from publishers that don't think it's profitable to piss me off. All of this rage could have been avoided if someone in those meetings had just shot the idea down.
Also it makes me feel all the sadder that my idea for a Star Control cartoon where the Captain is nervous and terrifically British will never come to fruition in this kind of environment.
Good thing we don't get SciFi here eh? I wonder if Space will follow their lead and rename to 5p4c3 or something.
I would have suggested that Space would become Spice but that is already a channel of a different nature ;)
Wait? The Sci-Fi Channel in the US? Isn't that the one with all the gay wrestling... I mean Wrestling?
Like how the only thing I learn from the Learning Channel is how it's possible to turn a slob into a well dressed person and renovate a living room under $1000 bucks.
Or like when CNN wasn't just the 24 hr "talk-about-nothing... LIVE!" channel?
Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 08, 2009, 09:36:11 PM
Wait? The Sci-Fi Channel in the US? Isn't that the one with all the gay wrestling... I mean Wrestling?
Like how the only thing I learn from the Learning Channel is how it's possible to turn a slob into a well dressed person and renovate a living room under $1000 bucks.
Or like when CNN wasn't just the 24 hr "talk-about-nothing... LIVE!" channel?
I thought SciFi was more or less what Space is now... And Spike had all the wrestling.
Quote from: Darren Dirt on April 02, 2009, 01:55:06 PM
...or so the SciFi Channel loyalists lament (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php)...
a new wave of cyber-hate flows freely now that "SyFy Day" is finally upon us...
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/07/syfy-name-change.html
and on a (with this re-naming, now an apparently UN-)related note...
The Twenty Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life
http://io9.com/361597/the-twenty-science-fiction-novels-that-will-change-your-life
Most of these I've never heard of, BUT the descriptions -- the themes, the significance and impact to later storytellers -- have really got me intrigued, especially the apparent space-operas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebas) and politically-challenging future-history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasshouse_(novel)) titles, and of course anything from the highly-respected John Varley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Varley_(author)).
Y'know on one hand it's a really, REALLY dumb move, but on the other hand so many people are yakking about it. Who was it who said there's no such thing as bad press?
Cartoon Network is doing something equally stupid by introducing live action series' into their programming, they even have a tragically terrible "hip and cool" alt-rock video/commercial running to endorse it, but all it translates into is cartoon nerd rage.