What’s the Big Deal with SyFy?

By Matt Van Hoven 

All over the interwebs, people are complaining about the Sci-Fi Channel’s rebranded name, SyFy. We can’t figure out why half the Webberati are up in arms about the change &#151 who cares, what’s the big deal? The cabler claims they changed the name because they couldn’t own “Sci-Fi” &#151 it’s a genre, and even though they’ve been called Sci-Fi since 1992, this has all of a sudden become a problem.

You know how Americans are with their need to own things, even be-nerded science-fiction channels that show episode after episode of Battle Star Galactica (which is possibly the coolest frakking* show since The Twilight Zone, also shown on Sci-Fi, er SyFy).

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And then there’s the new tagline, “Imagine Greater” &#151 which is about as grammatically correct as one of my posts. Despite its wonkiness, the phrase suits the product. Check out the promo we posted above. It’s weird, kooky, imagined greater?

Regardless of our notions on the matter (yes, we’re uber nerdy, but we spread our nerdiness around and don’t spend to much time Sci-Fiing), it’s the opinions of Sci-Fi’s fans that ultimately matter most, right? They’re saying that the name change is another straw on the camel’s back &#151 apparently the channel’s programming over the last year has become increasingly “generic” and un-sci-fi. The name change is an indication of that, say geeks. TVweek.com points out that the channel’s ratings have increased over the last year. Generification = ratings, it seems.

So in the end it’s a matter of selling out, and fans never like a sell-out. But what do you think: should Sci-Fi be focused on its bottom line or its core admirers? Does SyFy suck?

*Frak: a minced oath version of “fuck” first used (with the spelling “frack”) in the original Battlestar Galactica series.

More:
Open Your Heart to the Sci-Fi Channel

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