LOS ANGELES After 16 years, Sci Fi Channel is changing its name...unless you say it aloud. The NBC Universal-owned cable network will become "Syfy" starting in July.
The phonics-friendly moniker is part a network-wide rebranding campaign that's been in the works for more than a year. It's an evolution also includes a more down-to-earth logo and an uplifting tagline – "Imagine Greater" – and will be announced Monday at the network's upfront presentation to advertisers.
The changes attempt to address some longtime marketing goals at the network, as well as some practical challenges that having stemmed from trying to use a generic term as a brand name.
"We love being sci fi and we're still embracing that," said network president Dave Howe on Friday. "But we're more than just space and aliens and the future – the three things most people think of when they think of 'sci fi.'"
Though at first blush more fantastical-looking than the current name, SyFy aims to telegraph that the channel is unique destination without being so different from the current title as to lose the network's core familiarity.
"What this does is hopefully give us the best of both worlds," Howe said. "You keep the heritage, but also open up to a broader range of content."
For years the network has sought ways to expand its image beyond its signature male-skewing space operas such as Stargate and Battlestar Galactica. The network will unveil the branding campaign this summer along with the premiere of Warehouse 13, about two FBI agents who hunt down paranormal objects.
Next year's Battlestar prequel Caprica, which is a terrestrial-based drama rather than an outer-space adventure, is also considered to support this brand expansion, an effort that really began on the programming side a few years ago with the launch of drama Eureka, about a town of geniuses.
Sci Fi's logo is also getting a makeover. The current purple Saturn image will be retired. In its place is the name SyFy raised against a light-taupe wall. While the tagline "Imagine Greater" prods the reader to reconsider the boundaries of the channel and pushes inspirational liftoff.
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