Sci Fi Channel has a new name...

[Marz69]

BSG is great television. It's one of the best shows ever made IMO. If you believe different, then frak You! t:

Ghost hunters is cool. Popcorn fun. I attempted to watch "scariest places" but the daughter screaming throughout the entire episode made me turn the channel (it was the one on the Italian island).

I don't really mind the name SyFy, I'm more worried about how I'm gonna fill the BSG void after this friday. I hope Caprica is good

 

[Sam Fisher]

Frak Ghost Hunters...it's probably all staged.

 

[Sawyer]

Frak Ghost Hunters...it's probably all staged.

Agreed.

 

[Obi-Ron]

"Probably?"

 

[Spider-Gamer]

Didn't you know, Superhero Hype! is going to change its name as well to...

Souper Hipe!

That would have been a funny April Fools thing.

 

[Metamorpho1977]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/business/media/16adcol.html?_r=3


:facepalm

I don't have a problem with it. I can understand it from a business standpoint.

Could have been worse. They could have renamed it "That Channel With the Weird Stuff"

 

[Philly Phanboy]

That's so ridiculous I had to check that the link wasn't a story from the Onion.

 

[JTStarkiller]

Easier to google, I suppose.

 

[VampElvis]

If you don't already believe they've jumped the shark - this should convince you.

 

[Metamorpho1977]

I don't have a problem with it. I can understand it from a business standpoint.

Could have been worse. They could have renamed it "That Channel With All of the Weird Stuff"

 

[Marz69]

Frak Ghost Hunters...it's probably all staged.

But it's still frakkin fun.

Like when that dude got scared & ran down the hallway.

 

[Sam Fisher]

I wish they would go back to showing stuff like the live action Spider-man series again.

 

[JackBauer]

Seriously, it reads like something out of a lolcat image.

 

[TMC1982]

Viewers ridicule Sci Fi's name change

NBC Universal’s decision to jettison the Sci Fi Channel brand was met with an outpouring of fanboy ridicule Monday, as viewers took to Twitter and message boards to register their disdain for the new Syfy label.

The Internet has been crackling with indignation since the release hit the wires at around 9 a.m. Monday morning that the 16-year-old cable network will change its name in July. Comments on Twitter have ranged from slangy incredulity (“WTF? What kind of stuff are you marketroids at Sci Fi smoking?&#8221 to hyperbole (“Syfy makes me vomit tears&#8221.
On AintItCoolNews, fans were merciless, with many saying the name sounded like a lot of things -- except a sci-fi-themed cable network.
"Sounds like the name of a water bottling company," wrote one.
"Sounds like some kind of mop, blender, or gossip magazine," wrote another.

And this was the most frequent negative interpretation: "Sounds like slang for syphilis," a viewer wrote, with fans agreeing "siffy" seems a more appropriate pronunciation for the network's new name than "sci fi."
Even on Sci Fi's own boards, comments were overwhelmingly negative. "Just change the name to USA2 and be done with it already," one wrote.
Even some media got in on the action: "What the frak are they thinking?" asked Wired. "Dumbest rebranding ever," declared Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

According to the online Twendz application, which analyzes the sentiments informing active Twitter conversations, 46 percent of the tweets related to the Sci Fi rebrand were negative, while just 14 percent were supportive.
With the network's biggest buzz-magnet "Battlestar Galactica" airing its series finale this week, plenty of fans swore they'd cease watching the network after the show concludes. One Twitter user posed what could well be the $64,000 question for the channel’s brass: “Now that BSG [Battlestar Galactica] is off the air, is anyone going to watch Sci Fi/syfy?
The network was prepared for a certain amount of ribbing about the name. "Our core audience will use it an opportunity to question our motives," said network president Dave Howe on Friday, "they always do."
But it's the kind of backlash Sci Fi doesn't exactly need right now. While most basic cable networks have seen their ratings growing year over year, Sci Fi has flatlined among adults 18-49, swinging between a 0.4 and a 0.5 quarterly average for the past three years. -- By Anthony Crupi and James Hibberd
PREVIOUS: Sci Fi changing its name, logo, tagline

 

[wellsy]

That is all.

 

[GhostPoet]

I hope the guy who had this genius idea is already fired.

 

[GhostPoet]

BSG is great television. It's one of the best shows ever made IMO. If you believe different, then frak You! t:

Ghost hunters is cool. Popcorn fun. I attempted to watch "scariest places" but the daughter screaming throughout the entire episode made me turn the channel (it was the one on the Italian island).

I don't really mind the name SyFy, I'm more worried about how I'm gonna fill the BSG void after this friday. I hope Caprica is good

I liked the first season of BSG...but I got bored with the series during the second season...it felt more like a soap opera than sci-fi.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

"Our core audience will use it an opportunity to question our motives," said network president Dave Howe on Friday, "they always do."

Gee, funny how that happens when you basically do everything in your power to alienate your core audience year after year. First, the really great sci fi series were canceled prematurely in favor of not-quite-sci-fi stuff like Ghost Hunters, then they squandered the Stargate franchise to restart it with a bunch of 20-somethings and no trace of its original concept in sight, and finally they devoted a whole night to wrestling every week. Wrestling. On the Sci Fi Channel. How does that fit, exactly?

The rebranding's probably a good idea, come to think of it. Maybe it'll allow them to pick up a new core audience 'cause after years of piss-poor management and all but abandoning the core tenet that the channel is aimed at airing science fiction, the sci fi core audience sure as hell ain't coming back unless they pull the greatest rabbit ever out of their hat.

 

[Brainiac 8]

The only reason I watch Sci Fi at all is for Eureka...and it has been months since they aired the first half of the season...and I'm still waiting for them to announce when the second half is to be aired.

It worries me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm sure they'll air it sometime. Unlike Fox, Sci Fi actually airs what they shoot almost every time. I can't think of any instance where they've just left finished episodes of shows on the shelf.

 

[Obi-Ron]

Maybe it'll allow them to pick up a new core audience 'cause after years of piss-poor management and all but abandoning the core tenet that the channel is aimed at airing science fiction, the sci fi core audience sure as hell ain't coming back unless they pull the greatest rabbit ever out of their hat.

(Starts slow clap)

 

[Brainiac 8]

I'm sure they'll air it sometime. Unlike Fox, Sci Fi actually airs what they shoot almost every time. I can't think of any instance where they've just left finished episodes of shows on the shelf.

I hope you're right. I really want to see the rest of the season after the last cliffhanger.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Sci Fi did right by me with Farscape by following up their horrendously cliffhangery series finale with the amazing Peacekeeper Wars mini-series, so I wouldn't expect them to screw fans of another one of their original shows over.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

So they just changed the name of the channel, to show even more reality based crap thats not "Sci-Fi"?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, basically. Rather than developing good, new sci fi shows that people might actually want to watch, they're "expanding their demographic" by basically abandoning their reason for existence.