Pointless yet interesting. I can't way to see how they explain wrestling as part of the new syfy.

OMG! How stupid!!

man what

I am glad to see that amidst this economic crisis a safe haven exists, employing people not worth a dime.

For the rest of the world, which generally is not into random leetspeak, the new name will sound more as if it was the Syphilis channel.

Pointless, I agree. 'Imagine Greater' might be the dumbest cable tag-line I've ever seen, though. Maybe they should put less thought into rebranding and more thought into programming since one of their three decent programs goes off this week.

STUPID!!!!!

Siffy? That's how you want people to think of your channel? What a stupid, pointless marketing department idea.

DUMB DUMB DUMB.

I'm concerned that they don't want anything to do with traditional scifi at all, even whatever of it is still on the channel... also, guys, someone tried a channel with gaming stuff before, remember? That worked well! They merged with a viable tech channel, got rid of the tech, and then lost all of those viewers. Be careful Scifi! (Syfy)

Just another step AWAY from what the initial charter of the Network was intended to be. Guess, that's the nature of things... Can't Wait for a reality TV show set in space.... might as well just be FOX...they don't like their SciFi programming either...

This sounds like the same group think that got Farscape cancelled in favor of cheaper reality TV. Sounds like Battlestar is leaving just in time.

This is about the dumbest thing they have done yet. The stupid forays in to ghosts and paranormal is bad enough, but everytime they stray from Science Fiction, they go further and further down hill. Just like I miss to old MTV, I REALLY miss the old SciFi channel. Change is not always better.

Another vanilla, identity less channel created. Friday's Last BSG will be the end of an era, where a radical, well done, inteligent series that happens to be "genre" will have a chance. Be prepared for wrestling and showings of "Enchanted" and "Big."

This is what happens when you mix business school graduates with science fiction - people who talk about sci fi and say "firmly establishes a uniquely ownable trademark that is portable across all non-linear digital platforms and beyond." What fracken BS! Someone is just trying to sound smart, while appearing ignorant. Next they will be talking about synergy and finally....government bailout.

One step closer to "Spiffy".

Not April 1st, is it?

*checks date*

This really is dumb. What on earth is the thinking behind this one?

That's okay, the channel has had less and less of what I want to watch. They are just selling out to the sheep... err... masses. Almost to the point of deleting the channel from my favorites.

Great. So now it's "uncool" to be the Sci-Fi channel, we want to make sure everybody else watches. I agree with most of the posters here: 1. Glad BSG is going off the air, otherwise, they would find a way to screw that up; 2. Sci-Fi used to be the only network without the dreck of reality TV, but I guess we'll get more of that and wrestling for all the trailer park crowd; 3. Why does science fiction have to be "not enough"? I remember getting cable for the first time and the only channel I could not wait to have was Sci-Fi. If it was called ScyFy or whatever this new name is, I definitely wouldn't have been excited. Way to rebrand an already known and appreciated channel into something that resembles an idea that someone in Marketing 101 might come up with. Oh, and way to alienate your core audience. I personally am a little insulted by the whole name change.

Good luck with that. I'm sure ScyFy kids will go over well, maybe you should just become another Lifetime channel.

I think it's pretty stupid. Like some of the other remarks, this is the same channel that eliminated Farscape and brought wrestling to a SCIENCE FICTION channel. I agree that wrestling is fiction, but SCIENCE FICTION???
I haven't watched SciFi in quite some time--probably when they brought wrestling to it. (Talk about a lame decision.)
The new name and caption are likewise dumb decisions from execs who haven't got a clue.

I remember demanding from my cable company many years ago that they bring on the SciFi channel. Today, though, I really could care less.
I think it needs to get back to its roots.
(I also remember when the creators of the channel actually responded to emails personally.) Ah, those were the good old days. Now they're just crappy.

I actually checked my calendar to see if it was April 1st after reading this. But I wasn't really surprised to see that it wasn't. More change for the sake of change. Boneheads...

Wow...marketing is a dead art. Sci-Fi seems to be going the way of MTV; when you hire people who have a distain for the genre, you kill the point of the channel.

Their is nothing preventing them from putting any of the things they mentioned (fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure) on the air now. Heck, they play wrestling! What is sci-fi about that?

If they use this to ramp up reality shows on their channel, I'm dropping the extra $ I shell out for the channel through cable.

Their is nothing preventing them from putting any of the things they mentioned (fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure) on the air now. Heck, they play wrestling! What is sci-fi about that?

If they use this to ramp up reality shows on their channel, I'm dropping the extra $ I shell out for the channel through cable.

The only way this will make sense is if "Imagine Greater" actually translates to a greater imagination of the part of executives who give the greenlight to programming. But based on what has happened in the past few years I don't think that will happen. Might as well call it "Skiffy," since a lot of us have been doing that for some time.

I could only see the irony of watching Idiocracy on the SyFy channel...

Things in the uk have been going down the tubes for a while ! All we get are reruns of Thunderbirds and the Invisible man and films including Edward Scissorhands on what seems like every night.

syfyuless sound like vd sounds doomed

This is TERRIBLE. SciFi was already mucking up with awful reality shows and completely inexplicable wrestling, but now you're obviously moving away from sci fi and we're going to get even less of the programming that drew us to your network in the first place. This is the most disappointing, dumbest idea you all have ever had. Way to sell out, guys.

your new name sounds like a venereal disease- is that how you really want to be perceived? STUPID idea and bad move!!!! i hope everyone boycotts after this and i guarantee your core audience will bail on you.

The truth: This is purely a monetary decision and has nothing to do with whether the channel supports or denegrates a particular brand. It is not possible to own and trademark the term "Sci-Fi", because it is common usage. They wanted something they could brand, stamp on products, and attach intellectual property to. So, they had to come up with a name that could be trademarked. I think they could've done better than Syfy which is really odd looking but otherwise, I can see the reasoning. Would anyone have had a better reaction if they had changed it to PsiPhi? (Sounds like the frat channel).

Hey, ex-fan, you know they don't care about their core audience or they wouldn't be doing this. They want a new audience, one that will watch any kind of junk they put on the air and not complain.

Is it April 1st already?

This is the dumbest idea in the history of dumb. You're not going to intrigue new viewers and you're going to alienate your core group. Yet another example of SciFi being the redheaded stepchild of the television industry.

And I checked multiple times - it's still not April 1. Dumb move, please to be getting over it now.

Very, very bad idea. As already mentioned the move to shows like Ghost Hunters and such was already bad enough. I have been a long, long time SciFi channel fan, but this move sounds like it will be time for me to just move on.

I really hope this is just an early April fools day joke because it is the worst idea ever.

HORRIBLE!

Stick with what got ya here...

I would have thought in these times of financial hardships for companies, the last thing that they need is to splash out on a rebranding. Spend the cash on programming.

This is why I now rely on BBCAmerica for the majority of my Science Fiction programming. SciFi, or SyFy is now a misnomer....

I guess the changes here at scifi wire foreshadowed things to come. The site turned crappy, and now the channel will turn crappy.

PS.
If you could make those captchas a little harder to read, that'd be awesome

I think we all agree that this is just silly. Now comes the deluge of reality shows. It'll be like MTV and music.

Abandon Ship,Abandon Ship!!!!

Pretty sad--really. They had a few good shows, killed most of their best ones, and created some really lame tv movies. And now this. RIP our favorite viewing marathons: BSG, Eureka, Tremors, Stargate, Farscape, X-Files, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits.....

I guess steroid abuse for wrestlers is more sci fi than we thought..

That has to be one of the absolute dumbest ideas I've ever heard of, unless your site publishing tools have a glitch in them and published your April 1st story early. I can't imagine anyone coming up with an idea like this and actually getting it approved. Who's running this channel, Radio? It's like whoever approved Apple's the "funnest" iPod ever slogan. Stupid. The idea must have come from the top, because no one had enough guts to say how ridiculous the idea is. Well, there's still time to keep the name SCI FI and not change it to SyFy, which people could also pronounce as Siffy if they wanted to. I guess ideas like this also give us a glimpse into the kind of programming we can expect to see. If genius like this keeps up, network television won't have anything to be afraid of, that's for sure. Go Siffy!!!

When i saw this yesterday I thought and hoped it was a joke. Apparently the same lame brains that cancled Farscape and brought in wrestleing, reality tv and game shows have found another way to screw things up with an instant message name and probably more of the type of programming that makes me watch DVD's instead. I am getting really close to just takeing this channel off my satalite list.

I have a great idea for the channel. Show more actual science fiction.

I think this demonstrates that the SciFi executives are not in touch with their audience or SciFi fans, but I think the presence of wrestling on the network has always demonstrated this. Wrestling. Idiots.

Your audience is deeper and richer than 12 year olds. Adults are science fiction viewers, adults who are educated, sophisticated, and intelligent. Instead of raising its standards, the executives here have lowered themselves (and the network) to the common denominator, in the mistaken belief that bad monster moving and wrestlers will have widespread appeal.

You've missed a real opportunity to grow and improve.

I have a great idea for the channel. Show more actual science fiction.

I have a great idea for the channel. Show more actual science fiction.

you've got to be kidding me...

is the marketing team actively trying to repulse anyone with a modicum of intelligence?

"ooh, lets be all web 2.0 ish, that's popular these days"

This is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. It also makes me worry that we are going to have to watch more crap like ghost hunters, WWE, andDestination truth. When is someone at this network going to realize what we first loved about this channel was the SCIENCE FICTION! Not the schlock you guys have been churning out. Please, I'm begging you, give us Sci-FI not the stupid horror/paranormal crap. We want Science Fiction! Like BSG, Firefly, Star Trek, and Farscape! Even lord of the rings type fantasy would be ok. Just no more Ghost hunters and the like.

"Syfy"?

Why not just make your tagline "We r haxors, lol!!1"

Seriously, that's unprofessional and if your goal is to get the sci-fi genre to be taken more seriously, you're taking a step back.

Leave the cheap attempts at hip word play to Mountain Dew and Doritos. This is a professional group of people working for NBC Universal who are dedicated to producing high quality shows in the science fiction genre. Your marketing should reflect that. "Syfy" sounds hokey.

This is disappointing.

Pay attention: This is not about attracting new viewers. This is about establishing a brand name. So they can slap it on other products.

And, here on this web site, the story pretty much a bit of self-advertisement of this (yawn) fact.

Well, isn't that the best idea since Mansquito...

Dear Sci Fi Channel (I REFUSE to acknowledge the incredibly lame new name and tag-line - it's almost as bad my city's tag-line - "Cleveland Plus..."),

I think it's time to fire your executives, your advertising agency, and most of your staff. This is about the most ridiculous thing I've EVER seen. Do you not realize how STUPID this new "wonderful" concept of your is?! Where in hell do you pick up these people and absolutely horrible ideas? I mean, seriously, these people WAY overpaid for their degrees!!

Please leave the name the way it is. It's great, we all love it, and we ALL hate this new plan of yours. The above (and probably below) comments ALL show this. There is not even ONE positive comment here.

Get rid of your ridiculous "reality" shows (Ghosthunters and Ghosthunters International? Seriously?! Do you hate and disrespect your audience THAT MUCH?!). Get rid of the wrestling. This isn't Spike. It's Sci Fi. We ALL expect INTELLIGENT and thoughtful shows, NOT the crap you've been trying to feed us. You've screwed up some wonderful shows (Sliders) and ended wonderfully successful ones (Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, and others), and have ignored pleas from your viewership in the name of the Almighty Dollar you THINK you're making by completely screwing up this channel.

I remember when this channel first premiered. It was FANTASTIC! All the old shows were great to watch again. I remember when you started offering fresh new series, or picking up ones continuing from other channels (except for Sliders - you REALLY screwed that one up). It was great to have a Sci Fi safe haven, a channel one could almost always tune to, regardless of time of day, and watch something worth watching. Now, I only watch about an hour of Sci Fi per week. Currently, that hour happens to be BSG. In April, it'll be Eureka (assuming you ever bring it back - what the hell happened to the 21 episodes we were promised this season?!). At times, there might be two or three hours worth watching, but that's about it. Now, nearly every time I flip to Sci Fi, I get that idiotic wrestling (seriously - we're not beer-drinking idiots!) or some other stupid "reality" show. And DON'T make Stargate Universe be as stupid as it sounds (I mean, really! The whole POINT of Stargate is IN THE NAME, so WHY are you sticking people on a ship a la Star Trek: Voyager). Bring back wonderful shows like Farscape.

Please, just bring back SCI FI as it was meant to be. DON'T change the name. Get rid of the stupidity and start offering thoughtful and entertaining shows again.

I don't know where you found all these people to come and dictate to us what WE want to watch. I've seen stats that your viewership is going DOWN. Did you know the definition of insanity is repeating the same act over and over, hundreds of times, in the hopes of an eventual DIFFERENT outcome? Each time you guys change the format of the channel, you lose some of us. So why do you think this is going to be different?

Now, if you guys want to just quit BEING a Science Fiction channel, why not just tell us, go away, and leave the market open for media groups that WANT to offer a true and pure Science Fiction channel? That'd be fine with me and, I'm sure, with pretty much everyone else here.

Again, we're not watching Sci Fi because we want a Spike-like channel. We want thoughtful and enjoyable Science Fiction. In truth, I wouldn't even object if you offered more fantasy as well. They go hand-in-hand. But knock off the other crap, for God's sake!!!

Thank you,

A concerned and, quite possibly, soon to be ex-viewer of the Sci Fi AND SYFY channel

Sigh & fie.
Pathetic and utterly inane: exactly what you'd expect from a conflation of clueless suits and witless promodrones.

They hide the REAL reason for this switch in amongst all the other new formats they claim they will offer: "..supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure..."

Forget the rest - it's the REALITY part that they are targeting. What format costs the least to produce, but has the potential to produce the most income for shareholders? REALITY TV

Basically, "SyFy" wants to be the NEW full service cable channel - Science Fiction and Fantasy will be abandonned in favor of CSI ripoffs and whatever lame crap the parent (NBC/Universal) wants to "test" on a "targeted" market.

Clearly, to SyFy we fans are now nothing but another market demographic to be strip mined by faceless execs in search of personal glory... nice

Oh, and while we're at, that stupid "monster of the week" movie? DROP THAT DAMNED THINGS!!!

Looks like I'll be permentaly blocking the new "SYFY". RIP SCFI.....

Looks like I'll be permentaly blocking the new "SYFY". RIP SCFI.....

Please, please Sci Fi, don't do this. Who cares if you don't own the words "Sci Fi"? They're still what sets you apart as a channel. It tells what you specialize in. Syfy is meaningless and generic. It may sound the same but so do here and hear or see and sea. The meaning changes completely with a letter or two of difference.

Anyway, bad, bas marketing move. Back away now, while there's still time.

Focus instead on *quality programming* that will win/keep viewer more than anything.

This is yet another example of a bored and stoned marketing staff. Wrestling wasnt enough! I had thought since they had plenty of cheesy monster movies to do a killer croc day then a killer snake day then lets not forget the disaster, asteroid diverting, earth core drilling movies... come on guys, lay off the sauce and get back to at least semi-decent programing

This is a really stupid move and just goes to show you that the network has lost its way. Don't count on me to be one of your "record ratings" viewers when you keep running things that have no place on the "Sci-Fi" channel such as wrestling. Instead of keeping BSG, we get BSG Soap Opera "Caprica". You cancel shows like Dresden Files even though they get good ratings and keep reality drivel instead.

This channel has really gone downhill the last few years, I guess I have to turn to video games for sci-fi entertainment since the joke of a channel that you are becoming apparently doesn't care about science fiction anymore.

I've figured it out. By using a homonym of SciFi as the new name, Syfy has emphasized its point that it's become a hollow mockery of everything its fans have known and loved.

Looks like its time to find a new channel to watch. I have a feeling that "Imagine Greater" shows they will put on probably wont have anything to do with scifi. but the again scifi channel been gone for years since they canceled Farscape. I watched scifi still because of SG1 and Atlantis but now that is gone and i will give the new Stargate show a chance. But i really do think that Scifi channel started to go down hill when they got rid of Farscape and keep Ghosthunters and even put wrestling on it. Still been trying to figure out what wrestling have to do with scifi.

I'm a published science fiction novelist. I currently have ten novels out now, with more coming. One of the little "perks" that come with writing is you have a never-ending lottery ticket. Just MAYBE someone in the TV or Movie industry would read my novels and sign me to that multimillion dollar deal. In my daydreams, it was Joss Whedon as the producer and SciFi as the TV station; a way to energize it and make it more popular.

I suppose I can still daydream the same thing about Syfy, but I've a hunch the "dumbing down" has already begun for them.

Hmmm... maybe if I just mashed my forehead on the keyboard I could turn out storyline that meets with Syfy's new "standards"...

Sad day. Waiting for BSR to end run before canceling a portion of my cable -- the only reason I've kept it so far is for BSR. I don't watch Sci Fi any more -- and I used to have it on all the time. Folks, I'm not abandoning you -- you've abandoned me long ago. So much for more revenue from me.

This IS pathetic. I predict it'll be like "New Coke" was in the 80's...the public rejection will be so utterly thorough that they will quietly go back to the "old" Sci-fi with no fanfare.

And yes, I agree that the homegrown film fare on this channel has been disastrous - especially when there's so much really GOOD material sitting on bookstore shelves by topnotch authors just WAITING to be filmed! Fire your writing staff and start making film deals with real sci-fi authors.

Imagine seeing Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", or Niven's "Ringworld", or Brin's entire Uplift series, for that matter. Enough with the prehistoric snakes, already! They went the extra mile to bring us BSG. They can do this.

I wonder if anyone from "SyFy" (YUCK!!!) will actually respond the overwhelming objections to this further dumbing down of what should otherwise be a really wonderful channel with really wonderful (and nearly limitless) old shows and potential new ones and what has instead become a channel for the incredibly stupid.

Yeah, right.

Can't say I like the new name all that much, but I think emphasizing the value of network "brand names" has been a mistake in the tv industry for some time now. You can call it "the absolute crap channel" and you'll still lead in the ratings if you provide consistently superior content.

Interesting that The Wire will be maintaining it's "scifi" name, for now at least. Maybe this way it'll be able to establish itself in its audience's mindset as an independent entity of the scifi channel. I believe that independence is currently the case, though I don't think the bulk of the site's readership believe so. (If it were, how come we never see the Wire shilling for Sea Beast 2 ... though I'd actually get a kick out of seeing someone write "serious reviews" of that schlock.)

While I enjoy some of the wider variety supplied on the SciFi channel, this idea of changing the name is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. As a teacher, that is not "phonetically identical" and would be pronounced like Rick said as "siffy." My recommendation: keep SciFi and add the "imagine greater" or change it to something like "sci fi and beyond".

Is this "rebranding" for real? All the doublespeak and insipid reasoning is sad and very transparent. Sorry, SciFi - or whatever you call yourself - we're not buying it. I do see one bright note in all this crap, it opens up the possibility of another channel starting up that actually does show science fiction. With the opening up of digital channels, I'm seeing more focused and specific topic channels starting to show up in my listing. Let's hope someone can get a real science fiction channel on the air. When I win the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes - hey, it could happen! - I'll do it myself!!
Bye Bye Sci Fi - I'll shed a tear on what you started with, what you could have been, and the unfocused schlock you have become.

I agree that the name is silly and that if I didn't know that SyFy stood for "scifi" I wouldn't have a clue what kind of programming the name would include. But I don't really care about the name, if they've got shows worth watching, I'll watch them. BSG's the only thing this channel's got going for it at the moment, though, and that ends Friday. There's also nothing wrong with expanding one's horizons and incorporating new kinds of programming, but I agree with most that a channel that brands itself with a tagline, "Imagine Greater," would do well to steer away from wrestling and reality television. Please, imagine greater.

Well, after the last show of BSG this Friday, there will be no need for this channel anymore. Stargate gone, Stargate:Atlantis gone, BSG gone..... me gone !

Shitty rebranding is shitty.

I'm a designer who works with brands on a daily basis and looking at this brings fear of Armageddon for our beloved SciFi Channel. Other companies have tried this type of rebranding like Pepsi and Tropicana. Both alienate their customer base by chucking out everything that made them what they were. There was little brand recognition because of the changes they made. This new positioning for SciFi will end up the same way. I hope someone at the SciFi branding team will read this comment because the 2 brands I mentioned would be good case studies as to why NOT change the brand. Especially one so well established.

Now...if only they would get rid of the wrestling(...I mean come on...really?), the shoddy 1-2 tv specials and make some decent supplemental material to fill the void of BSG we'd be fit as a fiddle.

So, since you're giving up on the name "SciFi Channel", does that mean I can pick it up and make a real version? Or do we still have to sift through all the crap to find real sci-fi gems?

Epic fail, Sci-Fi. And that's what I'll call you, not whatever new age feel-good crap your marketing reps thought would attract us.

Epic frakkin' fail.

Wow.

Just... wow.

I've seen some pretty dumb ideas before... I've come up with some dumb ideas before, but nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, comes close to the sheer stupidity of this idea. "SyFy"... really? Do you seriously think that is brand name worth latching onto? It looks silly, it insults the intelligence of the viewers and does not even come close to evoking a single thought of the science fiction and fantasy programming that your network was built on. Pathetic, "Sci-Fi". All that NBC/Universal money and the only thing you could come up with is a lame channel re-name and the watering down of the content we love. I though NBC/Universal already owned the USA Network, we certainly don't need another one.

OH, BTW, for those of you playing "Buzzword Bingo" along with that press release, I got Bingo by the third paragraph.

Dave Howe, president, SCI FI, announced today "We are going to continue our drive to alienate our core Audience."
"We seek to reward 16 years of brand loyalty with a complete change of our programming." Added the soon to be unemployed Howe.
"Wrestling, Ghost Plumbers, horrible low budget films. This is what we want to be known for, and with the end of quality shows like Battlestar Galactica it is a goal I know we can reach."

Truly one of the stupider marketing ploys ever done. Like New Coke. Obviously the execs aren't serious about their image or sci-fi.

Next year's rebranding:

Skifee - Entertain Biggerer

This is utterly ridiculous. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Eric J,

Only if they hire George W. Bush to do their marketing... :)

Screw you guys. Your channel has already been growing less and less engaging over the last few years. This is the last straw.

You're dead to me.

I've never posted to anything before---but this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Sci Fi has always been a major disappointment---and I am a professional in the industry---such a shame....

I think there seems to be a large public out cry against the stupidity of renaming the Scifi channel. Do you think the idiots that run this station will get the hint? I think not. Why is it that no one will stand up for Science Fiction and what it is at its core. As far as I'm concerned there is one show here I watch and thats Battlestar Galactica. When thats gone, the science in scifi will be gone with the name.

As if my Monday wasn't bad enough. And now this drivel. wtf?
*Crawls into a corner and weeps.*

Did a quick scan of the comments and they seem to be universally against this stupid, pointless, change-for-change's-sake. Just proves SciFi (or SyFy) doesn't listen to its audience. This will occur - guaranteed.

It must be nice to know that we "scifi" folks really have no where else to go. syfy? Seriously? WTF is syfy? I know what scifi is and I cherish the fact that I'm a closet nerd.

If an outsider to this warren doesn't understand what the term scifi means changing the term will not endure them to our cause. It only causes the core to search for a medium which strives to be pure.

Good luck scifi. I'm off to find greener pastures as soon as they are available.

So.... SCI FI channel is just going to be yet another channel with reruns of fing survivor? Great. Not renewing my subscription.

This is an April fool that leaked two weeks early, right?

Wow, just wow, I loved this channel when it first came on. Over the last few years I've seen all the shows that made watching the channel be replaced by crappy reality shows or snake vs boa 13(or whatever lame fake creature they think of that week). The network has strayed so far from it's purpose that I barely watch it anymore, and after Galactica is over I'll no more reason to watch at all. Goodbye Scifi, you've been dead for a while, but you've finally just announced it.

The new name is ridiculous, and the tagline is beyond stupid. You people really have no clue who your core audience is, do you? Good luck finding viewers after the Galactica run ends this Friday.

Wow, just wow, I loved this channel when it first came on. Over the last few years I've seen all the shows that made watching the channel worth it be replaced by crappy reality shows or snake vs boa 13(or whatever lame fake creature they think of that week). The network has strayed so far from it's purpose that I barely watch it anymore, and after Galactica is over I'll no more reason to watch at all. Goodbye Scifi, you've been dead for a while, but you've finally just announced it.

Science fiction as a genre has always been hit or miss. For every Dune there has been a Plan 9 From Outer Space. The programming on the Sci-Fi/SyFy channel has been no different. This channel has had its Dune's (literally, both miniseries were stellar by the way) and quite a few Plan 9's. From its inception I always expected this network to have a portion of "filler" material that was more fluff than substance. True creativity is hard, and the fact is that we must always pan the stream waiting for that one gold nugget hidden in the silt. One purpose for blogs is that the people may be heard. SCIFI I beg you hear the people. Listen to the people. These are the voices of your viewership. If you implement the changes you suggest, then you're just USA (yes, I know they're your sister station) Network. Enough has been said on this page for you to get the point. The question is: Will you?

This is what happens when you feed your marketing department after midnight.

Like anyone who has anything to do with any sort of decision making will read this...

What a dumb, friggin' move this is. I mean, I can understand "The Nashville Network" changing it's name to "The National Network", then eventually to "Spike". But this, this seems like a needless change in some sort of effort to distance yourselves from what brought you to this dance in the first place.

Just another hipster move, in this hillbillys opinion.

This is BS. Well with BSG going off air this week I had nothing left I wanted to watch anyway so I guess it is best for them. Because spending money to make more good shows like BSG cost to much money.

IS THIS A FRAKKIN' JOKE?!?

"Syfy allows us to build on our 16-year heritage of success with a new brand built on the power that fuels our genre: the imagination."

Aw, shut up, Howe! You're babbling corporate nonsense and everyone at "Siffy" should be ashamed at themselves for not speaking up about how ludicrous this decision was.

A difference that makes no difference, is no difference

This is a joke right?

I mean no human being could be that stupid as to think this is a good idea right?

Holy WTF are people doing?

I want to know what drugs the people at corporate are on and then I want some of those drugs. Anything that could make this sound like a good idea has got be some heavy duty sh*t.

You people cancel Farscape, which is easilyt one of the greatest Scifi shows ever nd then you still have me scratching my head of the whole ECW thing and now this douche bag move. Seriously WTF do yo people think you are doing? You can't just change an entire genre like that for no good reason. I read your reasoning and it sucks. It is nothing but bullsh*t fluff to try and convince yourselves this is a good thing when everyone knows it is one of the worst f*cking ideas ever.

I guess that means we kiss any decent show that was on the channel goodbye.You stupid f*cks you had a great thing going and were really starting to turn the corner and know you have screwed the pooch.

Who ever the f*cktard is that came up with this idea should hung at the end of a short rope from a tall tree, then shot, then disemboweled, then skinned, then burned then buried in sh*t. For all of you that are going along with his bullsh*t, same treatment.

Works for me. Now I simply cancel my expanded satellite channel selection since there WON'T BE a SciFi channel anymore. Hmmm. No SG-1. No Atlantis. No Farscape. No BSG. But there will be more pseudo exciting ghost cr@p. B-O-R-I-N-G.

Forry Ackerman is probably relieved they are no longer using his coined term -- afterall, he's ghost material now himself.

I know this won't be answered, but did the Sci-Fi Channel actually do some marketing studies or actually speak to their viewers? This sounds like the whim of the moment, and a bad whim it is. Sci-Fi Channel has insulted the viewers that got them here, and the REAL genre of science fiction - not the big snake, spooky ghost, wrestle mania garbage.

LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME

For real? When a science fiction programming channel decides that 'SciFi' is not a term they want to be associated with, you have to worry. I'm sure your focus groups and your marketing department all had fantastic reasons for this idiotic change of name... but here's a radical thought... why not canvas the opinions of scifi fans? Or was that too obvious? Seriously... this is a joke, right?

This is ridiculous. You are ruining my favorite channel. first the programming and now you've even destroyed the name. What are you people thinking?!?!?!

For real? When a science fiction programming channel decides that 'SciFi' is not a term they want to be associated with, you have to worry. I'm sure your focus groups and your marketing department all had fantastic reasons for this idiotic change of name... but here's a radical thought... why not canvas the opinions of scifi fans? Or was that too obvious? Seriously... this is a joke, right?

Here's the problem: "something for everyone" isn't the way to win in the current media environment. Pick something - one thing - and do it *better* than anybody else.

It's as if the suits at SciFi fell into a time warp to 1950, and they think they're one of the three networks. At that time, you needed programming that had a broad appeal. But that ain't the game anymore, folks.

I'd be 100% ok with this branding decision if it hadn't have come with the marketing double-speak. I understand the business decision behind wanting a name that can be protected IP. I get that, so the name change isn't what bothers me. It's the douchey "something for everyone" language in the press release that's troubling.

Sci-Fi isn't going to keep its record viewership for long if it follows that strategy.

I don't have a problem with the change. As one of those "business school idiots" twice removed, it's the evolution of a brand - which is what the who release/article is about. It's not like they made up some crappy name like "Spike TV." It's still SciFi, just slightly different so that the channel can truly justify things like fantasy, horror, or different programming like the new gamer reality show.

I watch television for the shows, not the "network" name. If SyFy has shows you want to watch, are really going to say, "screw it, it's not spelled Sci-Fi anymore?" Come on, there's worse things in the word people...

This just in, a random sampling of the comments on this thread seem to indicate that the execs have looked at far to much LOLcatz.

Once BSG ends on Friday I will not need to bother with the network formerly known as Sci-Fi ever again.

This will be when I finally cancel my subscription. The Sci-Fi channel has been getting progressively worse for years, due to out-of-touch programming an an inherent lack of ability to listen to fan's criticism. How sad - used to be a great channel!

My first thought when I read the article was that they hired a group of 12 year old girls to rename their channel.
"Let's put 'y's where the 'i's were. It will be totally wicked awesome."
To be fair, I can understand SciFi's reasoning. True science fiction fans are generally a loyal and intelligent group of people, but less popular and numerous than many other genres. That does not mean we should be belittled. I imagine it is too late to reconsider, but I wish you would.

OMG!! The Syphilis Channel? Did these execs get bailout money to be this fraking stupid? True enough that the canceling of Farscape what out of line....wrestling?? WTF? I thought I was going to keel over that day. Now...this BS!!! Profit before preference, I guess...this is what happens when a cable channel gets bought out by the network or when a corporate monstrosity tries to manipulate an orginal idea just to garner more ratings while losing the core of the story itself (remember TNT and Babylon 5???). This is just another sick and twisted concept from the people who brought you crap like "Snakehead Terror" and Anaconda 12!! As soon as BSG is over, we'll be tuning out...Stargate is dead and there isn't anything else except horrible movies that don't even deserve "B" or cult status. I don't mind Ghost Hunters, but I do mind having my intelligence insulted by a corporate entity that would rather cater to ignorant and easily entertainable masses. "So Long and thank for all the Fish" guys....you stink.

This will be when I finally cancel my subscription. The Sci-Fi channel has been getting progressively worse for years, due to out-of-touch programming an an inherent lack of ability to listen to fan's criticism. How sad - used to be a great channel!

please, please, please don't sabotage your image any further by making a stupid change like this!

it is already painful enough that the only 'science fiction' channel has stooped to the level of wrestling and trash reality show, don't try harder to drive the rest of your loyal (and vanishing) fan base away!

This will be when I finally cancel my subscription. The Sci-Fi channel has been getting progressively worse for years, due to out-of-touch programming an an inherent lack of ability to listen to fan's criticism. How sad - used to be a great channel!

I find it curious that anyone is suprised by this. It's just an inevitable conclusion to where the programming has been going the past several years.

And despite our collective disdain for some of the really crappy programming they show, like the Monster Fests, the sad reality is that people are tuning in to watch them. If people watch them, they get advertising dollars, and the channel makes money. That's all they care about.

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience,"

The sad thing is they don't realized they've already done this. What few members of the 'core audence' remain will be switching off, probably with the end of BSG now that Atlantis and SG1 are also gone.

This will be when I finally cancel my subscription. The Sci-Fi channel has been getting progressively worse for years, due to out-of-touch programming an an inherent lack of ability to listen to fan's criticism. How sad - used to be a great channel!

Why are we on this motorcycle, and what's that shark doing there?

The comments so far say it all. I'm more than annoyed to discover that my hobbies and interests aren't cool. I save up all year for "geeky" things like Dragon*Con and spend my minuscule amount of extra cash on DVDs and books in the sci-fi genre, only to have the channel that brought us shows like BSG and Farscape, and even fan favorites like Stargate and its spin offs is going to do something so very insulting and pointless.. This is a change that can only appeal to the 12 to 20 crowd who aren't watching anyway.
In this era of geek culture becoming more mainstream, there's NO excuse for the kind of disregard they're showing the core viewing audience: people who have loved the genre from Star Trek and Lost in Space to people who delightedly discovered it when their friends made them watch BSG. People who can spell, and insist on doing so, even in text messages.
Why aren't they becoming and enriching the sci-fi brand we all love and spend our fortunes on, instead of dumbing it down to make it more palatable to people who can't possible care anyway.

It's a joke, as in changing the name isn't going to do anything. Unless they drop the dreck like wrestling, hacked-up (edited) horror movies and the like, it's the same old channel.

WIthout Stargate and Battlestar Galactica, the channel will lose viewers, and I don't know if SGU is going to make up for those two shows.

I'd love to be the consultant that sold the channel this bill of foods.

Imagine greater? Sheesh.

If only they would at least launch a "SCI-FI Classics" channel that would feature true Sci-Fi programs that fans actually want to wact.

This really could not be more lame. All this indicates to me is that you're not taking your audience or programming seriously. I expect that you'll start moving away from your core programming and offering more crap ala MTV.

You're not actually serious, are you? Everything in all intelligence is screaming that this is just an early April Fool's Day joke.

Syfy. Seriously? Siff-ee? Sie-fee? See-fee? See-fie? Why not make another lame move and call it Psyfy?

What acne-faced, squeaky-voice, two-week intern came up with this ridiculous name? Come on, it's not even "cool"! If it was SYFY and that was somehow and acronym for something, then okay. But Syfy?

It's stupid. There. I said it in simple terms that people of all groups can understand. Or, should I say:

It Stupyd
Imagine Dumber.

If only they would at least launch a "SCI-FI Classics" channel that would feature true Sci-Fi programs that fans actually want to wact.

Sy FRY!!

Anyone remember a series called Earth 2? It was a short lived offereing by people who admitted in press conferences that they didn't really like science fiction (some of them taking pride in the fact that they'd never read Asimov, Clarke, Hienlein, etc) and that they'd created this "new" show to reinvent SciFi and open it up to the masses. What the created (by committe) was a pathetic (and occasionally unintentionally funny) popcorn ball of cliches, camp, and tired themes that had all be done before (and better) by people who actually DID enjoy Sci-Fi and actually RELATED to their target audiences at a basic level.

"SyFy" and the whole branding initiative is a clear sign that somebody in an oversized corner office not only does not relate to us, but doesn't even respect us enough to realize what a dumb and alienating idea this is.

I understand the business points they'd trying to make, but alienating an established customer base in a weak economy is bad business and whoever cooked up this "extend the brand" initiative should have noticed that (or at least run it by a few thousand focus groups before going public). "Imagine Greater" is the "new coke" of our time, it's cliche, condescending and, ironically, it lacks so much imagination it isn't funny (unless you count the fantasy land the marketing boys are living in when they thought this was going to be well received.

Here's a thought, if the parent company wants a SyFy channel, THEN LAUNCH ONE. Fill it with new programming, wrestling, Ghost Hunters, Who wants to be a super hero?, monster of the week films and all the other shlock that has marginal appeal to the die hard SCI-FI fans. Then, in the time slots openned up getting rid of all the "broad audience appeal" materials fill the Sci-Fi channel with the shows we know and love. I'd take reruns of Babylon 5, ST:DS9, and Farscape over half the stuff they're currently airing. For that matter, Wresting makes the "Pigs in Space" segment from the muppet show look good.

It's really hard to believe that the organization that brought us ten years of SG1 and the Dune miniseries has come to this. It's just one bad decision after another, green lighting garbage projects, cancelling their best shows and trying to market "imagination" to an audience that is smart enought to realize they're selling buzz words vaporware.

It this goes through, they'll have a brand all right; A WARNING LABEL, one that tells every sci-fi loving person in the world who dares to dream: "don't waste your time with this they don't understand you and don't respect you, they just hope your gullable enough to waste time and money on them."

I really hope somebody from Sci-Fi actually reads these things...

Pointless change... but I guess with the exodus of the bulk of the actual Sci-Fi Programming it was inevitable... still not cool at all...

Well everyone, at least now they're doing what they'd planned all along. The programming will still be terrible, no doubt, but now the fact that the emperor has no clothes is in the forefront.

What I like to call "Bonnie Hammer syndrome" has been pervasive at that channel ever since she failed upward, from incompetent SCI FI President to incompetent President of NBC Universal Cable. They see no profit motive in the genre so they're "branching out". But why retain the name with different spelling? That's just bizarre.

In any case, it's all good, IMHO. I can count on one hand the number of times I've watched that channel in the past few years. What it was once to the genre has been dead and buried for more than a decade now. So now their intent is laid bare - once their new branding campaign and the relaunch happen - for all to see, and they can continue to program pablum with a shiny "new" moniker.

I am not going to whine about it. I am just going to send a message the only way I can. Stop watching.

Well everyone, at least now they're doing what they'd planned all along. The programming will still be terrible, no doubt, but now the fact that the emperor has no clothes is in the forefront.

What I like to call "Bonnie Hammer syndrome" has been pervasive at that channel ever since she failed upward, from incompetent SCI FI President to incompetent President of NBC Universal Cable. They see no profit motive in the genre so they're "branching out". But why retain the name with different spelling? That's just bizarre.

In any case, it's all good, IMHO. I can count on one hand the number of times I've watched that channel in the past few years. What it was once to the genre has been dead and buried for more than a decade now. So now their intent is laid bare - once their new branding campaign and the relaunch happen - for all to see, and they can continue to program pablum with a shiny "new" moniker.

What's the point in trying to 'copyright' the sci-fi genre with your new special phonetic spelling when you're not showing a whole lot of actual sci-fi on your syfy channel to begin with? I don't see the point, personally.

This is the dumbest thing I have ever read. I mean seriously, if SCI-FI did ANY kind of polling or focus studies about this proposed new name at ComicCon or another venue with SCI-FI's demographic, I would be 100% sure we would all say the same thing... "What a stupid F***ing idea!" Does this really need to be done? All the explanations in this article sound like marketing BS. Just because you want a unique, trademarkable name?!?! You've been SCI-FI for 16 years, stop trying to re-invent yourself! Just concentrate on what you do well and stick to that!

Oh and P.S. Wrestling has no place on Sci-Fi! Unless it is an ALIEN wrestling PREDATOR or ROBOCOP wrestling TERMINATOR, I'll never watch it. It is truly a waste of air time. Pretty soon you will be showing everything other than Sci-Fi, like MTV now barely shows any music videos. (I miss MTV, where they showed nothing but music videos 24/7... now it's another crap network.)

Can anyone say "the new Coke?" And we all know how well that worked out.

Count me in as another long time watching saying BuhBye! The horror and wrestling were a deep erosion of quality programming, the new reality shows limited my watching to one night a week. Siffy?? That just means that after BSGs last episode I take the channel out of my remote's favorites scroll.

That's what you want right? Your goal was the elimination of longterm watchers, just like when NBC took over Bravo and gutted it of everything that made it Bravo. Hmm. Come to think of it, maybe I'll just take all the NBC affiliates off the remote, and torrent the one or two shows that survive NBC's idiocy.

hahahahaHAHAHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Beware the ides of March, for it marks the beginning of the end of common sense.

This channel does own the genre on subscription TV. It's called SciFi. Why? So fans of the genre know where to find it and know what to expect. Folks who don't like it will stay away.

OK, so the folks in the executive offices want to broaden the appeal of the station. It has happened numerous times on cable, really, so this isn't a first. It's understandable from a corporate perspective, but from a modern point of view, it doesn't make sense.

Media consumers are used to hypertargeted channels and messages, they don't want generic washed-out content. They want a station that speaks to them.

For example, SciFi fans want SciFi. People who don't like Science Fiction don't want SyFy, and still won't watch.

If you're going to rebrand (please don't), do it all the way. Embrace your old identity, or hold on to your current one. You can't have it both ways. And if you try, you're going to have a diluted product that alienates everyone.

So please... I beg you... go back to the drawing board on this one.

SyFy, really? That's just the hackiest of the hack names you can use. It's sad but that's how things are shaping up in the television world. Maybe SyFy should have taken their own newly branded tagline to heart and Imagined Greater when it came to trying to revitalize their name/channel. :-/

Well, the execs at SciFi cancelled MST3K and Farscape, now they've made the dumbest decision ever and cancelled their own channel and they've all got SyFy. Good for them. I hope it makes them rot.

When BSG ends Friday, so does my caring whether the channel and the website are still around or what they're called. Actually, my caring about the website ends now, I've seen too many of my comments deleted in the last few days. This one will probably be deleted in 3, 2, 1...

after Enterprise Series is done I am done with Scifi.

SciFi Channel specifically states what the channel is about.

Syfy? What the hell does that mean?

This smacks of "Change for the sake of change!" and quite frankly, change for the sake of change is often the most foolish of things for any business/product to do.

This had better be nothing more than a "viral" marketing project for some actually new and unique SciFi Channel movie/show. If it isn't, then you have entered a realm of listening to stupid nimrods in marketing/advertising who are attempting to justify their outrageous paychecks.

Fire those idiots. Fire them now.

Dumb and dumber. Just when it has become cool to be into SCIFI (despite Wrestling!?!?! - what’s up with that?), now it’s shifting into some questionably pronounceable crap that divorces itself from the core content that has made the SCIFI channel so great. I have no problem with 'remarketing' when it is needed and warranted, but it isn’t in this case. Why not just change the name to PSIPHI (and spell it with the Greek letters). At least that would be true to the kind of people (ever growing) who actually tune in. Or… leave it alone like the other ‘real networks’ have done for 70 years. SCIFI has made it; don’t blow it.

This is the most pointless name change for something ever. There is pride in being SciFi and enjoying Science Fiction.

It's not a lack of interest in Science Fiction that may be causing decline in viewers; its a lack of quality programming.

Don't assume that because you change the name people (including the female audience that you want) that people will suddenly watch the programming more.

Wow and I thought FOX was the only network that liked to sabotage themselves.

Well I hope you get crabs to go along with your syfilus.

Did anyone of your staff actually ask the public if they liked this idea? Because it's stupid. Literally, how this got through your marketing and PR departments is beyond me. You are going to lose viewers.

If a 9 year old doesn't get it ... it is an error. Don't be so clever that you muck it up.

Why not just call it "Imagine"? Syfy? How about WTF?

Anyone want to start a real sciFi and Fantasy network? I have the domain ;-) TVSciFi dot com

How about No? No no no no no. We are a no nonsense people and this seems like Nonesense. Teleporter copy Rieker's = About time, Multiversing DS9 was mostly ho hum. Stargate did multiverse real well, considering they were shifting through using the power of black holes. Stuff like that make us sci fi fans among the most critical but loyal watchers in all of TV. I don't care if the Wire stays right, the whole network needs to get a nun in here and crack some knuckles of whatever buttplugs thought that was going to be a great idea. No, not interested in it. Reminds me of Mutual of Omaha Insurance becoming Conseco Life and having Alex Trebek shave his mustache. Nobody knew who they were anymore. It's dumber than naming your network after your dog (Spike TV).

Yet again we see how stupid the exec's at SCI-FI are.... Lets totally alienate all sci-fi fans... sure thats sounds great...... STUPID!
SO its phonetically identical... SO WHAT!

This "innocent" re branding is obviously step one in changing the direction of programing. imagine Greater - I'm guessing that would be greater revenue from Wrestling? Certainly not greater quality sci-fi. i agree with Dumbidea: LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME

As the person who actually created the name more than a decade ago, although I no longer have any connection or ownership to it, I can guarantee you I was not 12 years old or a girl when I came up with it. =P

I am a bit biased, but I love the name. Of course, I lived with it for more than 10 years and that made a difference. People in the beginning in 1998 told me it was a dumb name, but it was a successful brand for my site for a very long time. We were hesitant to part with it ...

But I say let's give it a chance. I know that we, as humans, aren't a big fan of change ... but if we at least give it a chance to see where it goes, maybe we'll be surprised.

I've always been a big supporter of SciFi Channel, and while I wish they would sometimes make some better programming decisions, I still tune in as much as I can. :)

So, changing the name is going to make things better. Great idea! Let me try!

Here's a turd, but instead of a turd, I'm changing it's name to Sandwich. This will allow me to branch out and introduce something to people they never expected!

Have a bite!

I wondered how long the Sci Fi channel would last. It's the ONLY reason I ever bothered with cable, and now, satellite.

It's been proven time and again; if you stick to what you know, you'll be alright. If you try to be everything to everybody, you'll go right down the tubes.

Of course, what's proof to these guys?

Oh well. Times are changing. Soon, instead of paying money for DirectTV, TIVO, and all that jazz, I'll be able to watch my favorate shows for free on the internet.

And when some 14 year old kid hacks together some programs that allow me to download these shows and remove the ads, all well be well.

Meanwhile, Sci Fi will go straight to the toilet, like MTV.

It's a shame.

Oh, and that WORTHLESS Captcha nonsense is a perfect indicator of your contempt for your audience.

Good Work!

One Syfy exec's expansion of scope is another viewer's dilution of Sci Fi programming.

Overheard at the watercooler:

"Will this name change make us more popular than our original movies?"

"Dunno, 'siffy, at best."

It's ok, it's not like we had a "sci-fi" channel for the last few years anyway, this just makes it official. With the end of BSG and the Stargates gone, I'll be able to remove the channel from my list of favorites.

No, I have no faith in this new Stargate series.

I guess I can quit harassing Time Warner about obtaining the HD feed, too.

I was going to say this idea is pretty "stupid," but I think it would be better to write "stoopid," which firmly establishes a uniquely ownable trademark that is portable across all nonlinear digital platforms and beyond.

This is how they'll get more people to watch perhaps? They've been expanding their programing thus far anyway. I don't see how changing the name to something I'm likely not to remember will expand what they show on the channel. YOU HAVE WRESTLING ON IT FOR GOD'S SAKE! Why not just call yourselves "the channel" and they just put any old thing on? Will we eventually be seeing old episodes of "all in the family" on the station as well? Crap, why not, we can watch wrestling now.

This is how they'll get more people to watch perhaps? They've been expanding their programing thus far anyway. I don't see how changing the name to something I'm likely not to remember will expand what they show on the channel. YOU HAVE WRESTLING ON IT FOR GOD'S SAKE! Why not just call yourselves "the channel" and they just put any old thing on? Will we eventually be seeing old episodes of "all in the family" on the station as well? Crap, why not, we can watch wrestling now.

I was going to say this idea is pretty "stupid," but I think it would be better to write "stoopid," which firmly establishes a uniquely ownable trademark that is portable across all nonlinear digital platforms and beyond.

This is how they'll get more people to watch perhaps? They've been expanding their programing thus far anyway. I don't see how changing the name to something I'm likely not to remember will expand what they show on the channel. YOU HAVE WRESTLING ON IT FOR GOD'S SAKE! Why not just call yourselves "the channel" and they just put any old thing on? Will we eventually be seeing old episodes of "all in the family" on the station as well? Crap, why not, we can watch wrestling now.

This is a dumb dumb move. If there is any network exec out there who is reading these READ THIS. Whenever you google or search for the generic topic of Sci-Fi, the first thing that comes up is Sci-Fi network, which is free and easy marketing to a targeted population. I have not and will not be searching for SyFy, which in turn means the added specificity, LIMITS YOUR MARKETING POTENTIAL. Your vision is in your product, not your name.

Really? Like its been said above me (I assume because there are so many comments), this sounds like an excuse to dilute the already watery SciFi-ness of the channel.

How about spending some of that marketing money to get syndication of real SciFi shows, classics and newer series alike.

How about educating views on the history of SciFi by showing and critiquing classic movies.

How about getting rid of (or at LEAST cutting back on) the goddamned fakey GhostHunters.

And wrestling? Really?

Why ruin an accurate abbreviation to Science Fiction? Perhaps wrestling and reality shows are more interesting to the station now.

What will SYFY stand for?

Syonara to Fans of Yesterday?

I guess it's time to start looking elsewhere for great science fiction television.

Okay.. Now I know the management at SciFi is smoking crack or some other recreational chemical.... WHAT THE (%&^ ARE THEY THINKING!?!?!?!

Maybe if they tried actually putting on some decent programming, losing stuff like ECW, and actually stop mucking around with the programming schedule every other day, they would get some of their viewership back.

This "SyFy" channel is dead to me now, but the moment Time Warner comes up with an a-la-carte plan, it will be history as well.

BAD MOVE.
Why do companies feel the need to change their well-known name and brand into something new and invariably ridiculous? Mid-life crisis?
Some years back a number of major British companies renamed themselves to be "hip", to universal derision.
If you have a good name and reputation, you don't throw it away!

y kynd yf lyky yt mysylf

Don't except this logo around for a long time. It will probably be re-branded to something like Adventure TV, NBC 2 , or something a little more mainstream. This is all about money and not providing good Sci fi for the niche fans of Science Fiction.
Wrestling and the reality shows (like Ghost hunters) bring in the most consistent high-ish ratings for them and is cheap to make. Unlike shows like Stargate and Eureka which are super expensive. Most advertisers want to reach the maximum number of people so "mainstream" shows are where they are spending their money now and not of the niche stuff.
Don't be surprised when shows like Burn Notice, Monk, or more cross showing of NBC shows like they did with Chuck and Bionic Woman start showing up as filler shows in prime time slots to draw more people into this channel.

Please, please don't tell me this is just a way for them to add more tasteless, inappropriate crap like wrestling, ghost hunters and that ilk. UGH!!!!

And the sad thing is that, though almost every comment illustrates how stupid and inane the name "change" to Syfy is, the suits at NBC Universal think this decision is a winner.

How deluded they are. The mind boggles at their level of incompetence.

E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!

I hope ECW gets expanded to two hours.

And the sad thing is that, though almost every comment illustrates how stupid and inane the name "change" to Syfy is, the suits at NBC Universal think this decision is a winner.

How deluded they are. The mind boggles at their level of incompetence.

Yeah, the paragraphy about "trademarks" is what it all boils down to. You think we're so stupid as to buy that you just want to "expand"? You ALREADY HAVE fantasy, mystery, etc. No. Sadly, this is all about the money and executive meddling. The SAME THINGS that killed the first two Stargate shows and countless others.

As for "growing ratings"...well, after killing the Stargates and your only other anchor (BSG), don't expect anything huge. I'll watch SGU, but you and MGM have infuriated a ton of the fanbase for killing SGA when it was doing the best it ever had (as far as story, etc.). If SGU fails, what are you planning to draw people in with? Ghost Hunters and Sanctuary? Good shows, but LAME anchors. (Dresden Files were better than Sanctuary and was basically the same thing.) Maybe when you trademark some more Megalodons it will bring in better ratings?

Please, we know where you're going with this and if you need the money through making easier trademarks, go ahead. Just don't insult the fans by making it sound like it's going to be something incredibly new and good for them. You're not thinking of the fans (no, thinking of ratings and demographics is not the same as thinking of fans).

Oh, and by the way, things like ECW and creature flicks are not good draws.

I hope ECW gets expanded to two hours.

E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!

That name change is just plain silly. Plus, "Image Greater" is, um, well, I'm not sure what it is.

Wow just wow...

Canceled all the good show and brought on the Reality BS and wrestling...!!!!??? Wrestling...

Sci Fi (syfy) started going down hill when they canceled one of the best shows every to grace television - farscape.

This is just another nail in their coffin.

Congratulates you lost another loyal viewer .

two words.... New Coke

And I don't know what's worse - this non-rebranding rebranding or the inane love letter David Howe, SCI FI/Syfy President, kept giving to text messaging in that New York Times article. What is he, fourteen?

I keep coming back to this thread and all I see is negative reaction. When I look at the 3d logo at the top of the page, I am in complete disbelief. What a bunch of morons. The person responcible should be fired, then tarred and feathered. What kind of frakking cesspool of idiots are running this channel? With BSG ending, wrestling showing, brain dead shows like ghost hunters and destination truth, and nothing else good in sight, it's painfully obvious they have no idea who their core audience is, and what they want to see. We want science fiction!!!!!!!

Then again maybe they are not stupid and they don't care about the sci-fi audience. They are dumbing down the channel to the lowest common denomiator and trying to appeal to an entirely different audience than the one that has been watching for the decade +.

If they are really going through with this ridiculous change, I won;t be watching anymore, and they should kick off SyFy premiere week with mulitple showings of "Idiocracy".

Alas, poor Sci Fi. I knew him, Horatio. A place of infinite possibility, of most excellent fancy. Now he bores me a thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination is he. My gorge rises at it.
Farewell, dear Sci Fi.
With apolgies to the bard.....

The channel has gone done hilll of late. i understand wrestling ( an easy paycheck and a few more viewers) i understand the horrrible original movies (limited budget, but occasionallly watchble and good). But the reality shows, the new web site, the disdain of what made the cahhel great to begin with, the majority of your audience won't stay.
I rember years ago. anme on Saturday, scifi weekly, old classic movies, classic dr. who, dark shadows, well written original movies; that was why people watched the channel. at this time next year will there be a difference betwen syfy and fx, tbs, tnt, or an other channel

worst, idea, ever

Considering all the paranormal crap for people whose IQ is closer to zero than 100, why not just call it "PsiFi"? Or didn't you know the "P" was silent?

Can someone PLEASE start a real SF channel?

Hey, SciFi...or SyFy...whatever....I strongly suggest that whoever's ego got in the way of smart marketing best have a re-evaluation lickey split. The bleed of dedicated channel viewers will not even be close to being replaced by new demographics. Your statisical analysists are in La La land and have absolutley no clue of what the non-Neilsen viewers want. Particially with what SCI-FI can offer. Viewers will vote with their wallets on this and NBC/Universal will not be able to recover. The basics of Supply and Demand 101.

I strongly suggest to take to heart what is being written above and below me here...the masses are speaking.....

LoL i had to check the calendar to make sure this wasn't some Aprils fools joke...

Guess not.

OK. I can understand creating a term and brand that YOU own - you can't own SciFi or Sci-Fi as it is an entertainment category. HOWEVER, you ARE getting away from your roots of Science Fiction and becoming just another generic channel. Reality and wrestling having nothing to do with Science Fiction.

I was going to write up a big well thought out comment here, but then I realized no matter how many people speak out against the change - and more importantly the change in programming format - you won't listen to any of us, you don't care.

SciFi, it was nice knowing you.

WhyWhy?

Absolutely stupid idea.

Once again, corporate suits with dumb ideas.

You will alienate (no pun intended) your core audience.

DON'T DO IT!!

This is ridiculous, and yet more evidence that SciFi is ignoring it's viewers. Wrestling and now, a stupid, senseless name change. It's as though they're actively working to lose fans.

DUMBEST NAME EVER! Sounds like Zucker hired the same crack team that re-designed the abysmal new Pepsi logo. FAIL!

SyFy = "See you, Frack you" ?

Wut?

Well, now that BSG is over, I guess they can concentrate on the real money makers, wrestling, crappy reality shows, stuff like that.

RIP Sci-Fi Channel, you've been on the edge of uselessness for years, now you've finally gone over the edge.

Heh...way to completely alienate your viewership.

Nothing like a, "Hey viewers, you're all a bunch of losers so we've decided to change our name so that we can get a bunch of *other* losers to watch our channel." to tell us what you *really* think.

This would be more of a surprise if the "SciFi Channel" actually ever played any SF. (Other than BSG and Eureka...)

Here's what i don't understand.... If you're going to launch some new channels, why not just move all the paranormal over to it's own channel? The ParaSciNormal channel or something . And still keep SciFi channel true to its name?

Dear lord people, page after page of complaining & whining. Not one of you get it. It's about money, period. We've all known for awhile that "The Sci-Fi Channel" wasn't cutting it. All of you fans do not seem to understand that the Sci-Fi genre simply squeezes the demographic too thin to actually make a decent amount. They are changing in order to increase their "Sphere of Influence". If that means it pisses off the Sci-Fi hoard, so be it. We may not like Reality TV, I surely don't, yet even they out number us. Wake up people, you may not like it, but you can't exactly blame them. This has been a LONG, LONG time comming. If you haven't seen the writing on the wall before now, you have no one to blame but yourself!

The logo looks like a baby product of some kind. And the name goes with it. Actually, it looks like a brand of baby powder that's trying to catch an exotic audience of mothers, but remain soft and fuzzy. This truly is one of the most boneheaded corporate decisions I've seen in my lifetime. New Coke level, boys. New Coke level.

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience..."

Sorry, Siffy, but that's what you're doing. What "creative" came up with this absurdity? Hello! Scifi fans are compulsive and fanatical. LAST thing you want to do is make a silly change like this! Wrestling was bad enough, but "imagine greater"?!?! wtf is THAT supposed to mean? What kind of testing was done with this?

Silly. Silly and stupid. Sorry, Siffy and Stupid.

Ah. And so now I understand why I still haven't been paid for my "Christmas On Mars" review in "Science Fiction Weekly" five months ago. After all, we writers are disposable and replaceable, but good marketing drones had best get paid right away, eh?

Wow, some marketing guy really ripped you guys off for absolutely no gain.

I knew NBC would eventually frak up this channel. It was fun while it lasted.

Time to reprogram the DVR.

I got an idea: let the new "SyFy" create a new Boomerarng-like channel showing only old reruns of science-fiction and fantasy shows. Basically, be like the Sci-Fi Channel from the early 1990s. Call it, Re-Sci-Fi or something.

There's a saying in the marketing world: "Half of my work is cr*p. The problem is, I don't know which half!"

I think it's pretty clear where this bright idea lands. Whatever genius committee came up with this one - and you can bet it was a committee - needs to be shown the door.

"Syfy" - the network of the post-literate?

Is it April 1 already? You must be joking!

There's a saying in the marketing world: "Half of my work is cr*p. The problem is, I don't know which half!"

I think it's pretty clear where this bright idea lands.

The genius committee - and you can bet it was a committee - that come up with this idea needs to be shown the door, asap.

Syfy - the network of the post-literate?

Shoot! It looks like quite a few people beat me to saying what a terrifically stupid idea this is. Most of the human population already can't spell correctly. This will just confuse them more.

Ugh. No thanks. I do not need the one and only fandom genre I have left with any smarts left in it "dumbed" down to text speak just to placate the attention deficit generation that can't add two two simple letters to spell something correctly.

Please don't do this. I value the brain cells I have left and I'm not going to waste them on a channel who'd rather appeal to the mass idiots rather then the intelligent market that is desperately seeking something that isn't as dry as the History Channel or as shock-jock as Bravo has become.

Wow... what focus group gave its nod to this onw? "Siffy" sounds like a venereal disease. On top of that, there is already a site called SyFy Portal... gotta pay them off too, you know.

Of course, based on SciFi's current programming, science fiction is the furthest thing from its mind... long live wrestling!

FAIL! This is their dumbest idea since adding wrestling to the lineup. And BTW, dump the special guest wrestler on Halloween Live Ghost Hunters!

SyFy is akin to New Coke and just a bad idea and a new name maybe part of some form of government bailout.

All the suits see is $. What a great idea a channel that runs quality STORIES ;{ (

I think SyFy-Less would be a better name for the channel - especially with the introduction of wrestling.

This is too painful to take.

Man, I can't wait to watch the Syfylis channel come this summer.

What I want to know is who came up with this idea? Please tell me that this was meant to be posted on April 1st, but somebody hit the post button accidentally. But it really doesn't matter to me - with BSG ending Friday, there's no reason for me to watch the Syfylis channel now.

You expected something better from the people who brought us the equally as pointless and lame Frankenfish and Megacroc?

Never ceases to amaze that "marketing" people are paid sooo much, and given sooo much power in the business world. They are the stupidest least creative people and are the ruin of so much. I've seen so many millions of dollars thrown in the sewer by these people in their idiot campaigns. Ridiculous.

Oh, yes the whole wrestling thing, yes, well it is fantasy, so I guess it kinda fits.....

Hmmm...reading through all the comments, some people here have said this is all about "branding" because the term Sci-Fi by itself is common usage and can't be turned into a brand name. Well, what the frak is wrong with "Sci-Fi Channel" for a brand name? As I already said in my other post...a terrifically stupid idea!!!

si-fee?

As others have said this is is Frakking Lame. NBC or who ever owns Scifi these days has been killing off the real Scifi shows for some time. Can you saw Farscape, SG1 and SG Atlantis. Remember when they had real science fiction on and not the lame reality shows that are being shown. Well with the ending of BSG they will no longer have a scifi show on their network and thus I and many others will have no reason to watch this Frakking Lame excuse for a network.

Hope the rebranding and trademark works out for you as you are going to need all the revenue stream you can get. All in the name of trademarks and copyrights, just sad. Oh ya will the last real science fiction fan turn off the lights as they leave the room.

What new audience are they going after? The illiterate?

NBC has killed every cable channel they've bought. This is just one more shining example. This just means less sci-fi and more wrestling and inane reality shows. Goodbye Sci-Fi Channel, I knew thee well.....

I think they're trying to tell us something: SyFy = Shut Your Frakkin Yap and watch what we tell you to watch! Garbage in the marketing door garbage out the cable box. This goes so far beyond stupid it defies description. I have to admit its been brewing for quite some time but just like an accident you see coming and can't avoid the actual pain of the impact rattles the brain. I'll just turn my chair around and go watch the grass grow. Far more entertaining.

SyFy - Imagine dumber. Oh wait, you don't need to imagine it, it's here with the SyFy channel. Well, it was nice while it lasted, which wasn't very long.

See you, Frak you! Sounds about right.

SciFi/SyFy has become a media company which is run by mundane executives who really know nothing about the genre. They only care about mindshare among the average masses who can't appreciate intelligent programming which appeals to the true fans of science fiction and fantasy.

Suggestions for improvement:
Put Harlen Ellison in charge
Stop canceling the good shows
Stop making bad movies (or hire real SF/F writers)
Drop the wrestling crap
Cut back the paranormal shit
Add robotics competition (Battlebots)
Bring back space, science and technology
Don't be afraid to show the classics

You have GOT TO BE KIDDING. Though April Fools is still weeks away....

I mean I could not think of turning on a channel named that. Thank goodness BSG is over soon, so I will not have that problem.

Stupidest idea in a long while (oh wait, Tropicana Orange Juice changing their carton was too, but consumers managed to make them see the error of their ways.)

You can bet the network will be saying over and over internally "don't worry, they'll get used to it" I absolutely positively will not. Rather watch "Chiller" now, which is a stupid name, but a hell of a lot less stupid then SyFy.

This has FAIL written all over it. They truly don't understand their viewer base who has watched them for the past 16 years.

Go ahead, Siffy... drive the "geeks" away... they're "uncool", after all...

And you paid someone to come up with this idea? Might as well do it... you have already drifted into the miscellaneous flotsam in a sea of Un-reality TV.
I always thought it was funny that SciFi wasn't in High Def.... after all that would be science fiction.

So, are they going to change the name of this site to "syfywire?"

No. A world of no. This is what happens when you let the sales department come up with a marketing redesign.

As SciFi loses its biggest success with the conclusion of Battlestar Galactica, it is further diluting its product by moving away from its science fiction roots and "opening the brand to accommodate a broader range of imagination-based entertainment."

In short, it appears that science fiction is no longer a priority for the SyFy channel, so I will be taking my viewership elsewhere. Good thing I have a great DVD collection.

If there ever a reason to use the worn-out internet phrase, WTF? this is it.

After BSG goes out this week, I'll never watch this ridiculous channel again. How far they've fallen.

Wrestling? Really?

And here I was waiting to be able to pay for an HD feed. Forget that!

Another reason to support "non linear digital platforms" but not from big corporations out of touch with what people want but with actual fans creating podcasts, online video, fan made films and books.

I'm tired of everyone aiming for the lowest common denominator in their programming. I'm sure the real Sci-Fi fans will gladly pay MORE for a channel with true Sci-Fi content. It's not difficult to get fans to spend huge amounts of money on authentic Sci-Fi content as we all know.
As others have stated, I also feel insulted by this.

HORRIBLE NAME

This is the stupidest thing since TNN (now Spike TV) did the "We've got pop!" add campaign.

I take that back. This is even stupider than that.

Syph-Eye. Sounds like a venereal disease.
Stupid. Just stupid.
I like the comparison to stupid city slogans.
I'm from Atlanta...
For years the city motto was "The city too busy to hate".
The city government created a marketing organization to come up with a new motto. Now it's- "Every day is an opening day". Stupid. Just stupid.

"We love being sci fi and we're still embracing that. 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.'"

This person has a great point. The word Sci-Fi does lead one to only think of space and aliens. This new name has a fantasy element to it that will draw in more people.

I like it. It is brighter with fewer letters.

What? Really? I'm now embarrassed to be here. I'm guessing someone in a suit made this decision.

AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. oh wow... AHAHAHAHAH

Worst
Idea
EVER

I hope you didn't pay someone to come up with that....

This is dumb retarded this is worse than National Geographic changing their name to Nat Geo. WHo are they trying to appeal to? because it looks like desperation when none is needed.

it is sad because that smell like the beginning of the end of my favorite channel :-(

Wow, stupid.

I guess I can watch the final BSG and kill the channel goodbye. So long to my favorite network... Though I guess once they started canceling all the shows I enjoyed the writing was on the wall. Now, make way for more stupid TV with a bad name...

I have a couple of suggestions for new taglines. How about "Imagine better", or "Imagine smarter"? Both of which you have failed to do for a number of years now.

I was really excited about the launch of Sci-Fi 16 years ago. Due to where I was working, I was able to pull down the satellite feed and taped the countdown to and the first broadcast ("Star Wars", for those who don't remember). I tuned into the countdown on occasion, and watched it "evolve". Unfortunately, over the years you've by and large dumbed down the original programming until, with the end of BSG this Friday, it's as barren as the rest of what's getting aired in the U.S.

Sci-Fi was a place where the SF/F fans could watch good SF/F programs. Now, we're stuck where we were before Sci-Fi started 16 years ago - scouring the airwaves for a few shining moments of hope.

"SyFy"? "Imagine greater"?

EPIC FAIL! You're all fired.

This is pathetic.....
Just change the name to SPIKE TV and be done with it. I'm convinced that the execs at Sci-Fi aren't happy with alienating (pun intended) their audience but insulting our intelligence as well.

Well, that's moronic, but what did you expect from the Wrestling Channel?

Seriously, why you even bother to have a sci-fi (excuse me, sy-fy) channel when you have contempt for science fiction and its fans is beyond me.

This is what happens when marketing people are allowed to be anything other than hourly workers. They cost you a lot of money and make you look stupid in the process. Wouldn't "SFN" have worked just as well without alienating your audience?

As for "Imagine Greater"...it looks like George Bush english is still alive and well.

This is pathetic.....
Just change the name to SPIKE TV and be done with it. I'm convinced that the execs at Sci-Fi aren't happy with alienating (pun intended) their audience but insulting our intelligence as well.

Too bad Forry Ackerman is gone, or else he would be logging on here to tell you he is very, very disappointed.

The proposed name change is ridiculous. Why try to cover the fact that you're a Science Fiction channel? If you think you can trick people into watching Science Fiction because of the channel name, I don't think it's going to work.

"Siffy" it is than.

Can't wait til the Canadian station: "SPACE" changes their name to something just as awful, since they keep adding more non sci-fi (SCI-FI. Science Fiction, not syence fyction) to it. But it's just another step towards channel death.

SyFy... mmmmm Let's just all 'smile and say bai bai!'

I know your new parent company wants to trademark and you can't trademark a genre. I get that, but siffy is plain stupid. As somebody who works in advertising and marketing, I can truly say, you got taken by your branding company. Did you not market test this? It truly does sound like a VD. You will increase your viewership by delving into it's core base not by whitewashing the brand to appeal to greater masses. As a sci-fi fan, I kind of find this new move insulting and as a designer I find your new logo lame. Either way you look at it you have lost me as a viewer.

dont you think its a bit early for a April Fools' gag?

I rarely post comments to news items but I felt it necessary to add my name to the list of commenters here. It's all been said in the above posts. Lame Name, canceling great shows, wrestling and ghost busters suck, etc.

Read EVERY one of these comments, print them out, make the executives read them, and come to your senses. These are the fans that you haven't completely alienated so far. Can you afford to lose any more?

Another example of MBA's screwing the pooch.

I wish some guys with some cash would start a real SciFi channel. No reality shows, no wrestling -- run stuff like MST3k. the various Trek series, Dr. Who, Twilight Zone, Buffy, etc. There has to be enough of that to fill a programming day.
But no, we get some empty suits who have no idea what they are doing coming up with this moronic idea. I can understand the branding idea put forth by prior posters, but this has FAIL written all over it. And I'd say the chances of them actually reading all these comments and realizing this is a stupid idea they should not implement is about zero.

This is sad and pathetic and in keeping with the cancellation of programs such as Farscape for dreck, producing and repeatedly showing horrid movies such as Ice Spiders and wrestling. The channel has moved far away from its original intent.

So the USA Network will change its name too?

Oh, the excuses!

That's a horrible idea. It looks like SIFFY- IFFY- SISSY-SIPPY.

This is like a bad joke!!

What's wrong with the SCI FI corporate people?? Don't they have anything productive to do with their time like maybe come up with some decent programming instead of another giant crocodile monster movie?

Wow, that's just horrifying. SciFi has been something I was willing to try out because of the positive connotations of the name; it let me know what I was going to find when I turned on the channel. Syfy? What that tells me is that SciFi is ashamed of showing science fiction -- the entire reason most of us are watching in the first place.

On the bright side, with BSG going away, there's nothing else on the channel worth putting up with this slap in the face for anyway. I'll be leaving SciFi as the name does.

Have you gotten the picture yet? You execs have done something very stupid and lame here. You should redact the announcement and STICK WITH WHAT YOU ARE.

Sheesh.

Please don't do this--this has "New Coke" written all over it--a terrible idea on its face "validated" by dubious internal research. Fail.

You've got to be kidding. Bad enough they've lost shows like SGA and BSG while keeping wrestling, but now they're going to more ghost shows and reality TV too?

No thanks. My SciFi channel viewing has declined since SGA was canceled, and I see no reason to continue watching the chanel for wrestling and reality TV.

What's everyone bitching about anyway? Sci Fi hasn't shown Science Fiction in such a long time. 95% of their programming is horror anyway. The New BG sucks and I stopped watching the Sci Fi Channel when they canceled such shows as Invisible Man and Farscape.

WARNING!! WARING!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!

This is definitely the wrong direction. I remember when The SciFi Channel first started, I loved watching the old shows. Then those went away and the only way they redeemed themselves was with the Stargate series, Farscape, BSG, etc. But The wrestling shows and all of the infomercials in the nighttime hours (I love watching old SciFi late at night) it started to lose its gloss. Now as they move farther and farther away from the original blueprints, I think the amount of viewers the WILL lose will outweigh the POTENTIAL new viewers and then lead to the eventual downfall of the channel, which will be a sad day for us all.

Stupid. Do you think this excuses you all for the god-awful "Sci-fi Original Movies"?!?!?! Changing the spelling won't change the quality.

Time for Viacom to step up and create its own sci-fi/fantasy franchise - "Imagine TV" or something. Hell, they could almost start an entire new cable channel with the six Trek series (the five live action and the animated series), the 11 movies and the countless specials, documentaries and features that have been done about Trek over the decades.

Throw in the other sci-fi/fantasy stuff owned by just by Paramount and you'd be off to a great start.

There you go, Viacom. Some marketing advice for no charge. On the house.

Oh for pity's sake...another attempt to fix something that ain't broke.

Well, maybe somebody else will start another SF channel, without the wrestling and MOTW movies on the "scariest day on television."

I'd love to see a channel like TVLand for SF; one that would show old Twilight Zones, or Nightstalker, etc.

I hope the idiot exec sees all the comments here saying how stupid an idea this is. Oh wait. Idiots don't pay attention to the smart ones.

16 years of history and committment to bringing the highest quality of science fiction DESTROYED in one news article. I have always looked forward to the made-for-Sci-Fi-movies like "Chupacabra - High Seas Terror" or any of the After Dark movies, but to reitterate many others -- Where does wrestling fit in?

Making the trip toward MTV has started. I can tell my grandkids this, "I remember when SYFY use to broadcast science fiction movies." Oops! Appears I'm a relic, already.

SyFy == Stupyd.

BOOOOOOO! BAD IDEA! I DON'T LIKE IT. I WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL BECAUSE IT HAS SCI-FI. OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS YOU HAVE SLOWLY CREEPED AWAY FROM THAT. I DONT WANT ANOTHER GENERIC CHANNEL.

ITS JUST LIKE MTV (MUSIC TV) DOESN'T PLAY MUSIC ANYMORE SO IT SUCKS. SAME THING WITH VH1 (VIDEO HITS 1). UGH!

PLAY MORE SCIENCE FICTION. THATS THE WHOLE POINT! YOU'RE GONNA LOSE YOUR CORE AUDIENCE CAUSE THATS WHY WE WATCH.

Dear SyFy,

Whyle Y understand your yntrest yn attractyng a hypper audyence, Y hope to ympress upon the executyves who green-lyted thys decysyon that yt does not syt well wyth the fan base. Thys ydea has all the yndycations of beyng the braynchyld of some suyts who are out-of-touch wyth theyr vyewers. Next tyme, consyder focus group research that actually yncludes the target audyence.

Is it April 1st? What in the gods name do they think they are doing. Next thing you know, Crest will have teeth whyting..

How much will this cost? Couldn't they buy some new programming with is or is this how they justify the head of marketings bonus.

HA HA HA!
KansasBard got it right!

So....if the marketing boys really do want a trademark-able new tv channel name, what could they do that would be right?

I agree with a lot of what ya'll are saying, but figured the thought experiment would be fun.

Let's say they implemented our suggestions.
Old classics
More science and tech
Intelligent, edgy programming
Battlebots!!!

What could they call themselves and what could their tagline be?

FGBG (FugBug?) - For Geeks, By Geeks?
ImagineTV?

Come on! Let's show them that we fans are smarter and know ourselves better than their marketing people!

Of course their goal is to make money and currently that happens through advertising. Unfortunately fans who like scifi are the kind who also DVR things and skip commercials entirely. So of course they have to appeal to a more mainstream, possibly less technically advanced portion of society. This is happening across the board. Dollhouse and Sarah Connor are getting low Nielson ratings because Nielson doesn't factor in that the people who love those shows also know how to rid themselves of commercials. So how do we solve this problem? How do these shows/channels make money when we're not willing to watch their commercials? It's not a complain; it's a challenge. If we can figure out a way for us to get intelligent programming and not watch commercials, we have to trade them a way to make money so they'll want to make the kind of programming we love! Otherwise we'll keep losing.

Changing the name of the channel in an effort to appear cooler is not only insulting to the millions of viewers that adore science-fiction, but a sign of an executive team that is fresh out of ideas.

Seriously, fire every single executive that thinks this is a good idea.

Here's some free advice to the Sci-Fi Channel. How about acquiring the rights to some real science-fiction and playing those shows? I'd love to watch reruns of past good shows instead of the utterly horrible monster movies and wrestling and other crap that's on.

Gee, SyFy. Not only is the new name dull and unimaginative, the new tag-line "Imagine Greater" is just lousy phrasing. Seems like a bunch of pre-teen schoolmates got together and worked out your new branding scheme. Abysmal and ill conceived are all I can think of when I see this image.

"We want to move away from the geeky..." Really? Have you thought about removing wrestling from your schedule? What does that have to do with action, adventure, fantasy, or anything else? Do we need another video game challenge show? Don't we get enough garbage like that from G4?

What could THE SCIENCE FICTION CHANNEL offer that they don't offer already... hmmm... older science fiction series? And I don't mean Twilight Zone and Star Trek. Its like the people in programming don't even know other programs exist.

Let's play the hell out of Stargate SG-1 again and run 8 hours of episodes every Monday! Only done it 100 times already, they'll tune in for 100 more...

Let's try grabbing runs of limited run series... um, The Fantastic Journey... Otherworld... Logan's Run... try running them uncut in a 90 minute slot.

Lots of opportunities here... a change of logo and tag-line is not the boost the channel needs.

So just because Universal owns you now, you have to do everything they say eh? There is nothing wrong with the Sci-fi channel logo looks right now. When you try to improve open things which have no history of problems you find that it creates problems. Syfy? Really? You might as well change your name to Hello Kitty.

Worst idea since some moron put wrasslin' on a science fiction centric cable network.

Oh yeah...

What a stupid name. Is that the only domain name you could get or something? It looks like a text message misspelling. What's your new demographic - tweens?

i never seen so many ppl moan and bitch about a name.

Way to alienate your fan base.

The idiot executives that came up with this idea must be the same #@$@#$# people that run AIG! Oh I forgot this company is owned by NBC which is GE. They already have ruined GE, a 125 year old brand with their lousy management! They probably will change GE, to GeeEee.

I almost forgot... they could also play older films.... Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds, It Came From Outer Space, This Island Earth...

Yuck. How is trashing your whole history for a really stupd web2.0 name. It would be ok as the Sci-Fi channel 2.

First these pages and now the channel goes down the pan,

This is a very bad idea,get rid of wrestling and put more sci fi on.

R.I.P.SCI FI

to gg:

It's just the point that now even more people aren't going to take this channel seriously. I mean did you even see Rock Monster!?!

Apparently for the people who have been supporting the network it stands for screw you, f*ck you.

-Z

Today it was announced that the SciFI Channel died....After yrs in a coma, the executives pulled the life support.
They will "rebuild" using NEW NON-Original ideas from other networks.

Cue the funeral march.....

RIP SciFi channel...you will be missed!?!?!?

Wow. Just wow.

Quite possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever seen a network do.

Just had to comment to say, this is a terrible idea.
Just in case that's not obvious from the many comments above mine.

Listen to your viewers is my humble suggestion....

Imagine greater... amounts of crap.

Hopefully somebody will come along and give us the sci-fi/fantasy channel we deserve, as Sci-Fi Channel hasn't deserved the name for many years now.

I

This is how downfalls get started.
You create or monopolies a niche in that large sections of the public are interested in.

You get Rich off of it and you think they would be happy because they are right where they wanted to be when they came up with the idea.

But in Comes Greed.
They get a taste of some Fools Gold by ratings of some Fake Reality shows and Fake Wrestling and you get a Moron thinking. Ahhh theres more money that (could) be made.

All of a sudden their too good for what they previously represented and Think they can be much bigger.

Plans of mice and men.

The Heads of SCI FI have a lot of Dumb a$$ decisions in there past. but nothing on a grand scale such as this.

If they want more they should start another channel with nothing but WWE and Fake Reality Shows (im sure they have)

WTF? In the annals of incredibly stupid marketing decisions, this will proudly takes it's place amongst the worst.

Sounds like an attempt to further divorce the channel from its original content. It's like they're trying to dumb it down. Apparently people can't wrap their head around SciFi, so now the channel will provide everyone with a phonetically correct misspelling that's easy to text. Give it a year, and nobody will be texting it at all.

This is how downfalls get started.
You create or monopolies a niche in that large sections of the public are interested in.

You get Rich off of it and you think they would be happy because they are right where they wanted to be when they came up with the idea.

But in Comes Greed.
They get a taste of some Fools Gold by ratings of some Fake Reality shows and Fake Wrestling and you get a Moron thinking. Ahhh theres more money that (could) be made.

All of a sudden their too good for what they previously represented and Think they can be much bigger.

Plans of mice and men.

The Heads of SCI FI have a lot of Dumb a$$ decisions in there past. but nothing on a grand scale such as this.

If they want more they should start another channel with nothing but WWE and Fake Reality Shows (im sure they have)

This is inane. I'm and MBA and am truly embaressed by the Network Execs (aka Chuckleheads.) You have a brand that has been established for 16 years, and you're throwing it away. Is this the same marketing team that dreamed up "New Coke"?

"Imagine Greater...drops in viewership"

Someone wrangle the giant snake and put it in the executives office....No not that one, the other one...NoNo the other one....who cares there all the same!!!!

Slogan "Death to Originality"

This is a really stupid idea. Dave Howe needs to be fired and replaced with someone who actually cares about science fiction.

Then again, what difference does it make to me? I stopped watching the SciFi Channel a long time ago. Now I just rent DVDs of the good shows (BG, Eureka, etc) when they come out. No commercials, no editing, no stupid logo in the corner, and a sharper picture to boot.

What a horrible idea.

"Syfy" looks like a typo to any actual sci-fi fan, and like the catchy new way to refer to the latest venereal disease to the rest of the population. Not enough vowels, too much idiocy. And "imagine greater"? That does not even sound like proper English.

Take a page from the Canadians and call it "Space", both a sci-fi term and a concept of area. Stick with a logo or image rather than some fruity new-age phrase.

And for heaven's sake, stop obsessing over crap like this and start focusing on actual quality programming, with plot and acting and themes and BSG-quality intellect. Employ Bear McCreary immediately to score all the channel bumpers.

If this is a last-ditch effort to retain the BSG audience, it's a poor one. You knew this day was coming; should've started looking at serious epic dramas two years ago. "Syfy" is just... moronic.

Its all about advancing a gay agenda - duh

How does spelling it wrong attract more viewers? I get the fact that they want to have a "brand" now, but this is just kinda dumb.

I'm sure that fans who know Polish will LOVE to tune into a channel that is the plural of the word for dirt, filth, grime, pimple, spot...

...and SYPHILIS!

Seriously. Look...
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/syf

I'm thinking that the marketing team did 10 seconds of research, because it took 11 seconds to find this in Google. Fans need to advertise this fact. If we start associating Syfy with syphilis, we can stop this change dead in its tracks.

Ok, instead of the new spelling just keep it the same and instead of the slogan saying Imagine Greater have it say "Cool Beans"

Why not just cut to the chase and call it G4-2 since that is what your are turning yourself into? Very original.

What an unnecessary corruption of a classic abbreviation. Our youth who took "creative spelling" classes have finally grown up and landed jobs in marketing. What a glorious day! The sarcasm shouldn't have to be implied here, but I suspect otherwise. This is just syly.

This is just stupid.

The guys who think this up will probably get a bonus and then proceed to run the sci fi channel into the ground.

You have got to be kidding me!!!

Nice way to continue alienating the original core viewers. Nothing like being told we are geeks... As if that is a bad thing. Thanks SyFy...

When are they going to actually put a real scifi movie on Saturdday??
Always the crappy b movie monster type and they are always horrible.
Then they cancell all the good shows they have !!

As everyone else here as already said - SyFy is not a good name. Sci-Fi already has a good name. There is no reason to change it - unless you want to shed a ton of viewers.

"SyFy: We don't get it!" or how about, "SyFy: Like Science Fiction but a lot more crap mixed in!"

Like Diamonelle and Tofurkey, it's not the real thing, but an incredible simulation!

Utterly hideous.

I read and watch (quality) science fiction with pride, not shame. Still, as so little of what this channel broadcasts could ever hope to be regarded as quality, perhaps the move away from that strong literary heritage towards populist oblivion should come as no surprise.

With Galactica finishing this week, I don't know when I'll next be tuning in at all.

I always wondered what happened to the guy who invented new coke. Now we know.

Wow. That's... terrible.

I understand the desire to have a unique, marketable name, but make it a good one, at least.

It's a shame that what was once a good channel (even with the occasionally unintentionally hilarious made-for-Sci-fi movies) will be devolving into yet another Reality TV/mindless garbage channel.

Though Syfy *does* sound like a euphemism for a venereal disease. May want to get someone to look at that.

It's still Sci-Fi on Dish Network and since It's FREE, I don't think It'll change anytime soon and SyFy isn't even a word and yet It defines SUCKS!!!

MISTAKE.

The person or persons that thought of this don't know jack about scifi or the people that love it. They're trying to jump on some bandwagon. I hope they fall off it and break both legs :(

SciFi had a nice little niche that appeals to--not a majority of viewers--but certainly a more discerning class of viewer. People looking for vision and creativity on television.

They're going to become another A&E--another station that I used to love and now disdain. Wrestling? Pseudo-reality? Paranormal? Yuck.

We don't want you to be more than space and aliens and the future. THAT is what we were tuning in to see--not frakking wrestling or other crapola.

You're not competing with Fox and the networks. Let those idiots continue to cancel shows that we, SCIFI fans love. You guys can pick them up and give them new life (hi, Firefly, NightStalker, Moonlight, and a million others).

UNIVERSAL, ARE YOU LISTENING TO US?

This is stupid and pointless. Way to suck. I hate it enough that I might stop watching. Certainly I'll stop going to this website, if it's called that.

It doesn't even sounds like "Sci. Fi." to me. To anyone from the Mid-West US, it's probably going to look and sound like "Sif-ee".

And one more thing......

"Imagine Greater".....is that like....Think Bigger?? I'm thinking thier marketing staff needs "Greater Imagination" to get this schlock off the ground.

I'm also going to consider the fact that since SciFi Wire is to remain "SciFi" that the new "SyFy(llis)" execs WON'T be catching much wind of the hundreds of posts here that are decrying the blatant ineptitude of overpaid, overdressed, overconfident overlords who think they can use an anomolous cross section of viewership to make decisions for the CORE fans who DON'T watch wrestling or any of that other mindless drivel that they used to draw in substantially more viewership. We're already well aware of how much "dumb" is out in the world....we're supposed to be making American more intellegent not dumbing it down even more and taking the rest of the world with it.....or perhaps, that's their plan!!!!! Dumb down the rest of the world so we can look smarter!!...That's it!!!..............*hack*

How to win friends and influence your base…not, I truly think this is the nail in the coffin, I’ll have to review my cable plan to see if I can drop the new syphilis channel. Let your local cable provider know what you think of the format and name change. I can only hope that some smart entity steps in to fill the SciFi void soon.

Totalli rytarded decision. So now, what, you're the Scynce Fyction network? It's hard enough to get people to spell correctly in this country!

I remember watching the SCI-FI CHANNEL from the beginning. I loved it. The movies and TV shows weren't Star Wars and Star Trek, but they were real science fiction which inspired the better film makers of the present. Over the years, very little real science fiction is played anymore and the emergence of SyFy confirms my suspicions that TV execs don't really know what science fiction (scientific fiction) is all about. What the execs don't understand is that their fanbase does know. I see this as an end to commercial TV viewing all together. Even though commercials pay for the programming. I still have to pay to get the channel. I would rather just pay for the DVDs.

Goodbye, SyFy....

I guess I look at this way....
It's like a marriage that's just gone downhill. Communication is one-sided and you wake one day and realize you just don't know her anymore. So you file for divorce and she changes her name. You move on with your life while she just WHORES herself out to any low-budget incoherent script she can wrap her legs around.
What did I ever see in her ?????

Not a great idea guys. The world is pretty much into the idea that focus groups are stupid and just an excuse to get easy positive reinforcement for bad concepts.

Sounds like the geniuses who thought "New Coke" was a good idea. Or the ones who think Dumbing Down is good!
Bad Idea

Absolutely THE DUMBEST THING SciFi has EVER done! Hopefully it isn't too late to rectify this INCREDIBLY STUPID decision.

...adjectives formed with -sy may be ironic, implying that the quality in question is self-consciously assumed or feigned (artsy; cutesy; folksy).

Fy\, interj. [See Fie, interj.] A word which expresses blame, dislike, disapprobation, abhorrence, or contempt. See Fie.

What do you know, it fits.

Wrestling, reality drivel, infomercials, soft core horror schlock are not science fiction. Sci-Fi Channel has never lived up to its potential. There are hundreds of old movies and series that a science fiction audience would love to see if the network is unwilling to spend the money on quality shows to fill the schedule.

I'm not sure which is sadder, that a show like Ghost Hunters exists or the fact that people watch it. It is however cutesy and abhorrent, so I guess SyFy works.

It's not the name change that's sad, I could live with that, it's the programming.

Great idea! I think all well established companies should make similar innovative changes - like maybe Coke can get rid of that stale old formula and come out with some kind of "New Coke"

Dear Marketing dumbass,

Nevermind, I think the salutation says it all...

Sincerely A SCI FI channel viewer.

After the BSG finale this Friday, I am through with SciFi (or SyFy!!) for good. You've ticked off your fans by canceling really good programs like "The Dresden Files" yet hanging on to ridiculous content like wrestling. I guarantee your viewership will plummet after BSG finishes its run. The only thing mildly interesting you have coming up is "Caprica," but like a lot of other fans instead of actually turning on the TV to watch your awful network, I'll just watch it on Hulu or rent the DVD.

From all the comments so far, it looks like SyFy's "core audience" will be going elsewhere. It's really stupid and pointless.

We should look at this as a blessing.
There is now a opening for a real Sci-Fi Channel !!! This group of @$@$#$% can either ride this into Spike TV 2 or the sink the dead ship. Then a new group can start this idea again (new channel & name) with this as a model of what not to do. Also stop bitching to them here this group NEVER hears its fan unless they say what they want to hear.

Hahahaha!

SieFie!

Silly. Somebody in marketing is hoping to save their job in the recession, eh?

Did you guys hire G.W.B.? Only he could come up with something as stupid as "Syfy." Remember the Tropicana O.J. fiasco? How about the New Coke fiasco?

One comment:

Fire the twit who though this up. It's "SCIENCE FICTION," not "SYENCE FYCTION." Someone at NBC-Universal has to get their cranium removed from their rectum.

Dear SyFy Channel,

I love this move, because Y is my favoryte vowyl. I use it whenever I can, to replace the other, more borying vowyls, which are for geeks and squares. Y is bettyr than all of them combyned. Y is awesyme.

What difference does their name make? They haven't been the Sci-Fi channel for a long time. They've been the schlocky-horror-reality-wrestling channel that occasionally shows some science fiction.

After BSG ends on Friday, I won't be watching them anymore.

Instead of 'Syfy' rename the channel USA Network 2. That way you can show all the wrestling, Law and Order episodes, and paranormal travel shows you want and the average viewer will know exactly what to expect.

Lame, Lame, Lame, Lame, Lame...

SciFi viewers will keep watching SyFy while they keep reruning stargate and bsg, so all this is pointless people will just get used to this because we have no options otherwise. we all can scream, but yet they are gonna frak us all. just saying

i dont like this either. but there is nothing we can do. you think that producers care about us? have you seen the new trek movie? the dragon ball movie? all this wave of reboots and "new versions". Frak this shit. have you seen The Day Earth Stood Still? HAHA... sad.

SyFy = EPIC FAIL

Seriously, how much did you all have to drink over the weekend when changing the networks name to "SyFy" seemed like a good idea?

I know people really got trashed at St. Patty's Parties and probably made some HUGE mistakes this past weekend, but this takes the cake...

I don't see how naming the channel after a venereal disease will attract more viewers. Why don't they focus on good programming instead?

This is just amazing. Every post on here is negative and for good reason. We want the SCI FI channel with stargate, bsg, atlantis, eureka. We DONT want SYFY wrestling, and reality. Now i am not sure about the rest of you, but all the sci fi fans i know hate those damn ghost hunter baloney shows

please get rid of whoever had this bright idea. Create another channel and call SyFy and keep SCI FI!

What a stupid change. Get wrestling off the channel, bring it back to the sci fi and fantasy it was supposed to be about, and create more quality shows like BSG, Farscape, etc... and stop with the really horrible CGI monster of the week that eats random teens/campers/towns. Show the same vision and imagination in your programming that you want to portray rather than taking on a stupid name and filling the hours up with something that has NOTHING to do with SCI FI and Fantasy. If I wanted to watch wrestling I'd go find a sports channel. And nice going insulting your audience. Lots of us are over 30, our own homes, and pay our own bills.. thanks. It's good to know you hate your own audience and consider us basement dwelling dysfunctional teens.

This is ludicrously stupid.

change is just the illusion of progress this new "syfy" channel is going to be absolute crap
we should boycott it as soon as it changes

you know half way through the article I was waiting for the page to load rick astley singing "never gonna give you up" in hopes I had been rick rolled. This is Epic Fail Sci Fi/Scyfy.

As a lifetime fan I have been dissapointed over the years but this does it. Really as others have said fire your marketing dept and executive staff and get a clue!

I think the name change is the symbolic final straw of the overall treatment for the past few years; less science-fiction, more generic television. I, for one, love all genres of storytelling, including science fiction, and am disappointed in the squandering of this network's potential.

In response to Michael Hinman's response that we give them a chance...

You see, fans are griping about the name, the new slogan/logo because overall, the channel hasn't changed for the better. In fact, it's gotten worse over the years. Without Stargate and Battlestar to bolster it, it has a tough fight ahead of it. It's obvious that the network doesn't have a clue about its viewers (aka clients) who pay to watch their channel. I know more people than I can count who dumped the channel once Stargate Atlantis got axed, and suspect even more will bail out when BSG does its swansong this week.

The enormous amount of money spent on this’branding’ is a waste. People who like scifi will watch the network, people who don't will NOT watch a channel devoted to science fiction because it's now spelled differently.

That money could have been spent better in creating actual programming instead of changing legal documents, advertising information, magazines, etc. etc.

First, guess I should change my name to syfy-ED.

Second, I worked for a pro sports team during their 1-15 season a couple of years back. And their slogan for the next season was Respect the Code. They revealed this slogan at the draft party and everyone laughed at them.

The execs quickly fired the firm that created the slogan and went back to something that appealed to the core fans.

For the past few years, your record in decision making has been 1-15, and these responses, is us laughing at you.

Don't be stupid, well too late. But don't continue to be stupid. Listen to your fans and get back to what WE want.
I don't understand how everyone knows how to run your channel, but you.

That's got to be the biggest load of crap I've ever seen. What sets Sci-Fi apart is its emphasis on science fiction. To forsake that uniqueness for a new name is a shame. To do so for a name that implies no one at the network can spell is pathetic. You just lost another viewer.

from the people who ax'ed farscape, SG, SGA and BSG................

Bye Bye, Stargate. Steeerike 1.

Bye Bye, Stargate Atlantis. Steeerike 2.

Bye Bye, Battlestar Galactica... Steerike 3.

Bye Bye, SyFy. (It hasn't been the same for a while anyway... we've grown apart. Best of luck.)

Dave Howe and his cronies should be taken out and shot. If they did not have an interest in Sci Fi and wanted a more generic audience why did you ever get involved with the Sci Fi Channel to begin with? Why not just play around with the USA channel instead?

Morons. The whole lot.

See Fee?

Fire your marketing team.

Do you know what means "Syfy" in Polish language?
It means "mess". :)
You want to make the mess from this channel? LOL!

Ok so this change will allow them to show more 90210 shows, soap operas and game shows, less science fiction and become another useless channel to skip over.

Hahahahahahahahaha *cough cough* hahahahahahahahahaha

This is either a joke or one of the worst marketing decisions since "New Coke". Good luck with that guys.

However, to be honest, I rarely watch the Scifi channel anymore due to the lousy programming.

Somebody needs to drop the turds and tards who dreamed this one up down a blackhole. Can anyone out there name one decent product owned or operated by a company that has microsoft or NBC in it? I learned a long time ago that when it comes to SCI-FI that it is always about the $ with these people. I took my money for the last 42 years and built my own science fiction collection that these Syfy / NBC idiots couldnt match with a 100 million dollar bankster bailout! Its time to cut the cable,satellite, and network feeds and spend your money on something worthwhile. These people have never been able to come close to what the minds eye can create anyway

I hope they enjoy losing their fanbase.

Someone is lying. Either the pinhead executive who said, regarding trademarks: "We couldn't own Sci Fi; it's a genre...but we can own Syfy." Or, some other pinhead lied to him. Either way, those pinheads deserve to be fired. (But, that's just a fantasy -- isn't it? It's sure as hell not sci-fi!)

"The Weather Channel" is trademarked. True, you can't trademark natural phenomena. But you can trademark "The Weather Channel".

"Microsoft Windows" is trademarked. You can't trademark architectural elements. But, you can trademark "Microsoft Windows".

"Apple" is trademarked by two companies! You can't trademark fruit. But, you can trademark a record company and a computer/and other stuff maker.

A pinhead decision has led to a campaign of lies and deception. They know that they messed up -- big time! So, they're trying to cover up with the lamest reasoning:

"We couldn't own Sci Fi; it's a genre...but we can own Syfy."

I'm surprised anyone cares one way or the other. as long as they put caprica and stargate universe on, i'll watch. if they don't have shows i like, i won't watch. the name is irrelevant to me

Somebody needs to drop the turds and tards who dreamed this one up down a blackhole. Can anyone out there name one decent product owned or operated by a company that has microsoft or NBC in it? I learned a long time ago that when it comes to SCI-FI that it is always about the $ with these people. I took my money for the last 42 years and built my own science fiction collection that these Syfy / NBC idiots couldnt match with a 100 million dollar bankster bailout! Its time to cut the cable,satellite, and network feeds and spend your money on something worthwhile. These people have never been able to come close to what the minds eye can create anyway

Nameinvent greater

This is mind blowingly stupid, really who came up with this? By the way April First is not for a couple more weeks but I hope you are still joking.

I can only imagine that this will make it easier for them to sleep at night after they switch to showing nothing but "reality shows" 24/7.

I hope your executives have the balls to admit this is a craptastic idea and then reverse course.

You're gonna get a lot of grief for this.

Let me guess...this is the brain child of the same marketing genius that decided WWE wrestling was a good fit for Sci-Fi too.

I keep scanning the program listings hoping to see some classic Science Fiction features on the Sci-Fi channel. Things like the old Flash Gordon serials (or any of the Superhero serials from the 30's and 40's). Sci-Fi classics like "It Came from Outer Space", "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Vintage series like Space 1999. Even the old Godzilla/Monster movies, or Horror movies from the Red Genre (Dracula, Black Sunday, The Mummy, etc) would be welcome.

Instead we get things this Ultimate Gamer series, or Who wants to be a Superhero.

I will give props where they are due, with series like Stargate, Sanctuary and BSG, but so many with potential got killed before their time (Dresden Files).

A real shame... My biggest complaint against the SciFi channel was that they ran all this non-scifi crap... now it looks like we will get more of it

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMED!!!
(Someone had to say it)

This has to be one of the dumbest marketing PR moves in the history of tv. This is like watching the younger generation butcher the english language like they do on the internet nowdays. They can't spell so they change it all up. Seriously, whomever though of this should just quit now. Sci-Fi Channel should always remain the Sci-Fi Channel. Your stupid gimmicks aren't going to keep folks watching your channel. Get some decent programming on again (after BSG is over) and stop making retarded B movies. The average Sci-Fi viewer isn't 10 yrs old anymore.

Good, cause they never showed SCIENCE FICTION anyway.

Would be neat if someone started a Sci Fi cable channel sometime. That would be cool.

The 'genius' who came up with this probably was the one who did not renew The Dresden Files because despite it's large audience we were 'the wrong demographic.'

terrible. just terrible. i'm done. thank goodness the better shows have all fallen away so that i don't feel compelled to keep "syfy" programmed in my channel line up.

Warehouse 13?! That's going to be your flagship show! The insulting off spring of Friday the Thirteen the series and The Dresden Files after a drunken night together in Vegas?!

Stupid, yes. Idiotic, yes. But now they can show more wrestling without looking like they are exploiting the viewers.

Yes, it's stupid. Yes, most of their programming is crap. Wrestling? Scare Tactics? Ghost Hunters? Bleah. Their Saturday night waste of money? Pointless. Frankly, there are times I think the Sci-Fi Channel exists to keep Stephen Baldwin and Eric Roberts employed.

But are you really going to stop watching? No. You're going to TiVo Caprica, you're going to TiVo Stargate Universe, and you're going to ignore the rest of the dren, just as you currently do.

That said, SyFy is stupid. "Imagine Greater" is stupid. You've had a fantastic recognition campaign this entire time, with the "iF" bumpers. Imagine Greater? With wrestling and "ooh look, a ghost!" programming? Bleah.

The Sci-Fi Channel is dead.

Since they wouldn't trademark "The Sci-Fi Channel" that means that another company is free to start a new "The Sci-Fi Channel " -- emphasis on "The"

They cannot go through all the trouble of changing the name to Syfy and then claim later in litigation that the new "The Sci-Fi Channel" infringes on their (crappy) brand name.

Would any one mistake "The Sci-Fi Channel" for "Syfy"?

Morons.

Just like “pleather”, I don’t expect it will be as good as the original.

This has to be a joke.

Well, with Battlestar over, I guess I have no reason to watch anymore anyway. RIP, SciFi. I'll miss you. :(

New Coke

Feh.

Idiotic. Can read every reply here, but how did they find anyone who thought this was a good idea?

Contrary to the opinion of marketing people, you don't need to change your logo and/or name every 3-5 years.

Okay Sigh-Fy! I'll play! I guess this change will justify all those horror movies, Sci-Fi original one star monster movies and wrestling programming. Why not add a soap opera about a wrestler who murders ratings during the night. Or maybe call the channel SlyFi because you think you are so clever in playing on words??? My preference would be to have my old Sci-Fi channel back (1998-2003) plus Battlestar Galactica and a great Sci-Fi mini series like the Dune remake, Children of Dune and Taken.

this is a terrible idea

woooow, that just hurts my eyes, and my brain. bad, bad move. I suggest you steer off this course immediately or accept responsibility for creating TVs "crystal pepsi." Seriously, I'm not a super fan and I'm FEMALE, which would presumably make me more of whatever new demographic you're trying to attract, but this just feels like you're taking something that is supposed to be cool, intelligent and futuristic and trying to make it cute and relatable - it's a completely transparent move and it's offensive.

In other words: we want to try to hang on to the pretense that we're a science fiction channel while we branch out more and more into stuff completely unrelated.

I mean really, if you want to be a wrestling channel or a psychic scam channel, then create a brand for them and leave scifi alone. with dvrs it doesn't even really matter when things air any more, just be consistent and predictable.

SyFy..Imagine Stupid

Proof that people desperate to seem hip, edgy and youth oriented will buy any line of crap. I'm sure whoever sold Sci Fi this rebranding told them it was "cool" and with it. Too bad they were wrong and this is just kind of sad.

It's not so much the name change, but the crappy programming.

Time to send in the Klingons, Romulans, Imperial Storm Troopers, Browncoats, Cylons, Shadows, Vorlons, Goa'uld, Replicators, Ori, Asgard to straighten out their programming department and kill the Saturday night movie writers.

SYFY huh?
does that stand for "Shut Your Frakkin' Yap?"
i mean..... gods forbid the sci-fi channel ACTUALLY CARRY sci-fi programming.....
ECW? give me a goddamned break.....
ghost hunters is pushing it... but ya... let's not make a bid to pick up "Enterprise" for new seasons, and how about we cancel the stargates and BSG...... makes sense to me.....
at least now they can counter "but you don't show sci-fi programming" complaints with "we're not the sci-fi channel anymore"

Like another commenter alluded to above, this name change and 'broadening' of content does remind one of the Violence Channel from Idiocracy.

Well at least Battlestar is over this weekend.

THEIR WWWYYVVVEERRNNSSS!!!!!

YOU ARE ALIENATING YOUR ENTIRE VIEWING POPULATION YOU STUPID IDIOTS.

Expensive.

Once again, the people running this network demonstrate they have NO FRAKKING CLUE about why the network was ever popular. Once upon a time, SF fans had a haven. That haven was destroyed several years ago, and only shows like SG1 and BSG kept the network from becoming yet another irrelevancy in the great cable wasteland.

Now, the network executives themselves have hammered in the final nails in the coffin of what was once a source of hope for fans of science fiction.

I think we should look at this the other way. "SyFy" could be a good thing.
Reading that part, "Syfy more clearly captures the mainstream appeal of the world's biggest entertainment category, and reflects the network's ongoing strategy to create programming that's more accessible and relatable to new audiences. Syfy will continue to celebrate the traditional roots of the genre, while opening the brand to accommodate a broader range of imagination-based entertainment."
Could very well be an attempt to go back to their roots, without looking dated, or "out of touch".
We should also look at the current viewers on the Sci-Fi Network. Para-normal based reality shows, reality based game shows, sports (yes wrestling is still considered a sport), and yes of course Sci-Fi based shows. By re-labeling themselves as "SyFy" they could be returning to a stronger Sci-Fi showing without having to dump it's non-Sci-Fi viewing base.
If this is nothing more then "just marketing" (which nothing really is "Just Marketing"), then hopefully they take advantage of this chance and go back to it's roots while looking ahead.

"For the rest of the world, which generally is not into random leetspeak, the new name will sound more as if it was the Syphilis channel."

Considering the quality of the fare they typically offer, that's not an inappropriate name.

Guess that means more wrasslin, and less aliens. Or maybe alien wrasslin!

Well I must admit that I am not surprised to see this. For the past couple of years I have watched this channel slowly go down the drain. Wrestling? Come on, we are actually intelligent viewers. Reality TV? Garbage. Monster of the week movies? Worse than garbage.

The only thing that kept me watching this channel at all was: Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Eureka, and of course BSG. Which, except for Eureka, you have all cancelled in the past 2 years. The writing has been on the wall for a long time that something like this was coming. As soon as BSG ends this Friday, I will never watch Sci Fi, oh excuse me, SyFy again.

Great job ruining a once great channel.

Clearly whoever came up with this is out of touch with the base. I think it's time for a new sci-fi channel that actually supports quality sci-fi/fantasy shows and not crap reality tv and over terrible "original" movies.

I've never commented here, but I have to say this is the stupidest marketing ploy I've ever seen or heard of. Syfy? REALLY? How much did the network pay for someone to come up with this name? It was a complete waste of money whatever it was.

makes perfect sense, its not as if its really shown much sci-fi on the channel anyway in the past decade.

I agree with EVERYONE here. This is a terrible idea, and I too have been lamenting Sci-Fi's regrettable decision to steer away from science fiction programming. Whoever came up with this idea is a complete and utter moron. Did they even attempt to do a market test among their core audience? Wow. I used to watch this channel all the time; now I hardly do. BSG is pretty much the only thing I watch anymore and now that's going too. Great job, idiots.

W.T.F.? The mind wobbles...

Actually, I've always had the feeling that the people directing the SciFi channel movies, either didn't KNOW any science fiction, or were focused on and 'anti" ending, where they it seemed like a satisfactory ending, then almost everyone dies ... pretty shoddy.

noooooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm confused SciFi executives? Science Fiction is about the genre. Its about shows like Star Trek and Stargate. I can understand that horror & fantasy get lopped right in with the rest of your programming, but how does wrestling fit into your network and to the new image of SyFy? Branding or not, I am trying to understand the marketing value you have placed on four little letters. I hope the people who make the programming decisions can actually understand the difference between reality programming vs Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror which is what your network should be programming in the first place. Dont screw this up!

Well, here's the weird thing....

SCI-FI (as they are for the next ten minutes according to this) has obviously gone the whole mile in order to get in marketeers, designers, focus groups, cheerleaders (yaay!), brainstormers and feng shui experts....

Unfortunately: it obviously hasn't worked.

The important thing would seem to be, as so many other posters have made the point, the name change is so not good that, when it does take place, viewers and subscribers will be almost reminded to look at what the service is actually providing them. If the premium products - a la 'BSG', or hopefully 'Caprica' - aren't there, then you make a choice and maybe choose to not use that service any longer.

As with some of the posters here: I don't want to beat on the idea of the SCI-Fi Channel. Far from it. At it's best, we've got hold of solid gold genre entertainment.

But this new name - assuming this post isn't a deliberate joke - is pretty dreadfully insulting to the kind of people who would opt to tune in to the channel.

The really bad bit?

...right now some SCI-Fi / NBC Universal execs are being quietly whispered to by the marketing bods: "...it's OK...they'll come around...3 years from now they really won't care about the name!..."

Oh, and SyFy doesn't mean a thing...

Just FYI...

Wow, please tell me an April 1st post ran early. This is truly a bad idea. Their original programming has been sliding downhill for a while, and the addition of wrestling was just an insult. Once BSG is gone next week, this will be the icing on the cake.

R.I.P. Sci Fi Channel

This is my third attempt. I'll briefly summarize previous comments. Commercial suicide, DyFy. Ion Television redux. You need to listen to the backlash.

Actually how about a different name:

E N C

That's right: the Emperor's New Clothes channel...

Any takers?

Does that mean SciFi will be available as a channel name and url? Let's start an actual SciFi Channel.

Well...maybe they will quit making stupid movies like 'MegaGator' or 'SuperGuppy' or 'BigAssSnakes'....There's never anything on anyway...I used to watch Ghost Hunters but...

I'd watch SupperGuppy if it eats professional wrestlers.

I can understand the spelling change for the sake of copyrighting (though I think it's stupid and, yes, sounds like a disease). I am deeply concerned that there seems to be a push to expand programming beyond sci-fi, fantasy and horror. I seem to remember that MTV did the same thing with the addition of the Real World and My So-Called Life, and now MTV doesn't stand for Music Television (since the no longer play music videos), but Mediocre Television.

Actually I'm the amazing marketer who thought of this brilliant idea. Here's a sneak peek at the other re-branding changes coming to TV:

The Food Network --> Fude
The Learning Channel --> LurnN
USA --> US
Lifetime --> LyfeTyme

Also, I was paid $1,000,000 for the SyFy rebranding effort so it must be a good idea.

I'm sorry that today isn't April 1st. I remember signing a petition to get the Sci-Fi channel carried by our local cable operator way back in the early 1990s. It's sad that they don't want to stick with us geeks who helped get them started.

Abandoning their niche isn't the way to gain ground, they should be bettering their niche instead. With the budget they currently spend on the CG equivalent of rubber monster movies, they could hire real SF writers to create high-quality Science Fiction -- less frequently than the crap, sure, but it would build an audience. Imagine two BSG series and no weekly monster movie. I think tha'ts a win-win.

Seems like it's too late now. The Sci-Fi is dead. Long live the next Sci-Fi (pass the petition, willya?).

This is the worst. idea. ever. I too checked to see if it's April 1st.

A "broader range of imagination-based entertainment?" What? That would include pretty much any programming that's fictional. They might as well start running Murder She Wrote and feature stories from Fox News.

"By changing the name to Syfy...the new brand broadens perceptions...beyond just the traditional sci-fi genre, including fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure."

We already got a name for that. It's called speculative fiction/spec fic.

These assholes are so dumb. No wonder their original movies suck. They're too busy focusing on marketing when they should think about the quality of their CONTENT.

checkout syfy.com...looks like they are serious about this...

I laughed at the "Syphilis" comments so much that I registered SyFyL.US and have set up a forum there for anyone to discuss their opinions on the matter. I would also welcome any SciFi-soon-to-be-SyFy staff/employees that would like to express opinions there as well. I think the change is a little silly, but I'll get used to it. I understand the desire for a trademarkable name, for sure... But I still think Spike is stupid. SyFy is a bit silly, but... meh. So come on over and discuss! I won't be running ads on the site, I'll make NO MONEY from this project... Just to provide a place to speak out and discuss...

on a positive note, if the magazine becomes "the SyFy magazine", I guess that's one less magazine I'll be buying, and I'll use that $20 to buy Eureka season 2 when it goes on sale.

Hm. Long thread, so I hope I didn't miss somebody pointing this out:

"“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network."

Yeah, I'm insulted.

Dear SciFi, SyfY, Sify, management,
Look at all these negative posts! Look back at our (your viewers) biggest bitches! We (your viewers) have not been happy with you for a while. We appreciate you trying to fix things to increase our viewing pleasure, but we (your viewers) do not think this latest idea is a very savvy business decision. If you do decide to move forward with this plan, I believe you will see a decrease in your ratings, which in turn will reduce your advertising income thus causing you to tank, fail, plummet to the abyss of Hell.
Thank you for your time,
A long time viewer

This is beyond idiotic. I guess we can expect more of the lame B- horror movies and less real scifi. It's too bad as well considering the vast amount of really good scifi that could be used for mini series, movies, shows, etc. Was bound to happen with NBC at the helm (just need to take a look at all the "wonderful" scifi NBC has produced the last 20 years).

WHHHHYYYY! I USED TO LOVE THIS CHANNEL! NOW THEY CANCELLED EVERY GOOD SHOW THAT I LOVED ON IT!!!!!!! WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!!! YOU WERE MY FAVORITE!!!!!! Now your almost as bad as FOX.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Yet another step on the journey of alienating your core fan base. I, for one, will avoid SyFy like the plague. Good thing BSG ends this Friday. Because I'm done after that. You guys just don't get it.

I heart groupthink.

So.. you have a specialist channel (e.g. sci-fi), but what you WANT is to have a generalist channel (e.g. USA (or You Essay?). Good luck with that. You'll lose the core audience (e.g. wwe - wtf?) but without adding any compelling differentiator (general = not focused or unique) to draw in joe or jane sixpack.

Why not lose the fluff and just come out and say 'we couldn't TM a general term like Sci-fi, so we made one up'?

Epic fail.

ENOUGH!! What damned idiot has taken over this network? Ever heard the one about leaving well enough alone???? *sigh*

I think it is another sign that SciFi channel really doesn't want us SciFi fans watching it. I mean after they cancelled Farscape, I really limited what I watched on theeir channel. The stupid reality shows blow! Wrestling is not Science Fiction or fantasy that I want to see. I don't want Lost either! The Horror is ok if it isn't some cheap arse movie that took less time to film than it's script took to write. I like Stargate and it's spin-offs. Finally SciFi brought Doctor Who, which was a promise the network made early on before it began production. I miss those little news blurbs from the future. I want more programming like Doctor Who, Stargate, Farscape, Eureka and their kind. Don't get me wrong I love Anime and want to continue seeing Anime on the network too.

this is so a move towards completely getting away from Scince Fiction programming. I forsee them in moving away from SyFy meaning SciFi meaning Science Fiction and move to more common place cable channel. next they be running Magum PI reruns.

I thought I had landed on "the Onion" news site when I read this news at first.

Dumb. No, not dumb, stupid. But actually no dumber than running wrestling, Ghost Hunters and the unbelievably bad "original"movies we've been blessed with lately.

I thought this was stupid enough when I heard about it, but that logo is even worse. I'm not going to be watching anything on this channel after Battlestar Galactica ends on Friday anyway, so I don't really care. Do whatever you want with your now-terrible network.

Awful idea, Dave Howe has lost his mind.
How much will the rebranding cost, has already cost? Pointless.

anyone want to start a betting pool on how long it will be before David Howe, President of syfy is in the unemployment line. cause this channel is getting canceled from my sat next month reality tv and wrestling sucks this channel looks like mtv and it sucks too

Holy crap. They continue to destroy themselves. This isn't even remotely within the realm of ANYTHING that could be considered intelligent.

I used to love this channel. Now, when BSG ends I will have NO reason to watch this channel. At all. Not a single one.

I tried hard to like Sanctuary but I failed. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING else is horrid.

Atlantis was slaughtered and given the worst series sendoff I have EVER seen.

It's finished, it's done. It's over. Just do us all a favor and pull the plug. Please do not subject us to this utter insanity.

It's dead. Let it go.

How effing depressing. This has got to be one of the more ignorant marketing ideas I've encountered. It's right up there with New Coke and Pepsi Clear. Well, I guess it opens up the possibility for someone to start a new Sci Fi channel that gets back to its roots. Welcome to Phail, Mr. Howe.

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Hell if I'll be watching a channel called SyFy.

How effing depressing. This has got to be one of the more ignorant marketing ideas I've encountered. It's right up there with New Coke and Pepsi Clear. Well, I guess it opens up the possibility for someone to start a new Sci Fi channel that gets back to its roots. Welcome to Phail, Mr. Howe.

It's funny, there are already people who look down on the term Sci-Fi, and they want to dumb it down even more? They should just give up the pretense, it's clear that the suits they hire to run things don't really care about the genre. They aren't interested in creating a first rate SCIENCE FICTION channel, they just want to put up any cheap, third rate crap that they can find.

What the FRAK are the "powers that be" at SciFi thinking??? Or better yet NOT thinking????

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Thank you so much Sci Fi for letting us know that one of your former minions thought so highly of the viewership! We watch the and the advertisements that bring in your revenue and pay your jobs so it makes perfect sense that you resent us all.

On the bright side, I have tivo and I skip all your commercials. I would find programming elsewhere if you went out of business tomorrow and I hope you last just long enough for the last episode of BSG.

However, it would be great if the last job of your marketing team was to write the press release announcing their terminations for insulting their viewers!

Have a spiffy day!

Warehouse 13 with an aggressive marketing campaign? You mean what you SHOULD have done with The Dresden Files. No thanks. I'm not interested Sam the wallet boy. I liked Bob.

I don't see this posted here, but on some other sites it's been pointed out that Syfy is a word in Polish which can lead to this other new slogan - SyFy: It's Polish for "Crap"

SyFy International will be known in parts of Europe as "The Crap Channel".

imagine greater a world that has an intelligent science fiction channel.

and that is all you will get a fantasy cause it sure is not here on the SY(URGHH )FY(YURGG)

we will be lucky to get any decent shows on this channel.

WOW!!! didn't think I would ever get to the bottom of this thread! Yo Sci-Fi Channel Peopple!...there seems to be an ummmm...negative response to your rebranding idea. That tell ya anything?

To answere a question posed at the top of this never ending thread...Now the don't have to come up with an explanation for having wrestling on the channel...fits right in..sorta..kinda...maybe...maybe just a little...well no it still doens't fit does it. Never mind.

Maybe you Sci Fi Channel Exec-typtes should, oh I don't know, RETHINK this whole thing. Just sayin' so don't be hatin'.

Sci Fi Wire people! For the LOVE A HEAVEN...FIX THE CAPTCHA FEATURE! GEEZ...EVERY FURSHURLGENER TIME!!!

Welcome to Spike TV 2.0!!!!
So now we get wrestling with a side of stargate instead of star trek.

I am glad this is happening after BSG is done.

"SyFy" reads like the name of a retarded dog on a children's cartoon. Honestly, what a terrible, terrible idea. After this Friday, I'm done with the channel anyway. Enjoy your new stupid name, losers.

PLEASE FIRE ANYONE WHO APPROVED THIS NAME CHANGE!!!

Let me add my voice to all those who hate this latest attempt at brand extension. There was a time when you turned on the SciFi Channel and recieved some blast from the past as well as the occasional new bit of programming. Now we get reality tv and monster movies so bad Roger Corman wouldn't make them shoved down our throats. Perhaps if more resources should be put into original programming than into stuff like bad tv and pointless name changes. Maybe they should go back to their roots and put on some old stuff during the day rather than marathons of rejects from the now defunct UPN. At some point in the future this network will have as much to do with what originally brought it into existence as what was once known as TNN (now Spike TV). The name will be changed completely and scifi will be gone from the schedule. I guess we can only hope that whoever starts the next science fiction themed channel will stick with it.

This is the lamest idea the operators of this channel have come up with, to date. How many of GE's subsidiaries are run by idiots these days?

This is a moronic ploy -- typical of "suit thinking", insulting to sci fi fans, and stupidly confusing to everyone else. The spin of calling it "forward thinking" is weakly pathetic. Welcome to the "everything" channel -- where we (NBC) plan to shuffle whatever we choose. The Haunting of the Real Wrestling Housewives of Andromeda -- now that's entertainment!

Sounds like New Coke to me. We've known this was in the works for a long time with the insipid wrestling shows and big snake movies and endless drivel that has nothing to do with Science Fiction. The only time I watch any more is to see the merciful end of a promising BSG series that hasn't been any good since the middle of the first season, SG1 reruns, and the occasional Twilight Zone marathon. Hopefully another channel will fill the void created by this homogenized corporate marketed buffoonery so we can all be appreciated again.

And by the way, New Coke is dead, Classic Coke still rules.

To the moron "SyFy" execs who approved this:

Imagine Failure.

Well, the channel has slowly detiriorated to reality tv show crap and little on scifi. The only thing I was watching on that channel was BSG and a cool Sci-Fi movie every once in a great while. I remember the days when all I ever watched all day was the sci fi channel. Alas... they find a way to screw things up much like G4tv which used to be geared for gaming only. That chanel has gone to crap too. Pity.

Syfy? Siffy. Sniffy. Stiffy. Spiffy. Hmmm... I'd seriously re-think trying to brand 'Sci Fi' phonetically. LOL!

FAILURE.

Wow... of all the dumb things I've seen this network do.. this has got to be the top of it all!

I mean.. wow.. this is dumb

It is amazing that scifi has treated their fanbase so crappy over the years no one believes their "commitment to the core fans" garbage for even a second.

"moving beyond scifi" means they want to start showing either CSI or Law and Order everyday just like EVERY SINGLE OTHER CHANNEL ON MY CABLE SYSTEM! I promise you they'll be doing that within a year.

Last month when it looked like my job might be going away and I'd have to cut back i considered the idea of getting rid of cable. Although my job is safe after the galactica finally on friday I can't think of a single reason to shell out $137/month since there is nothing left on cable i want to watch. I'll get myself a $30 DSL connection for internet and turn off my entire home entertainment center (except for the occasional DVD) and save a bundle on electricity too.

Come on!

Do you really expect us to embrace you ideology that you are trying to escape the non-portability of the term sci-fi, and replace it with SyFy---a much more user-friendly, well known term...not.

But, I guess you need to expand your roundness, while being able to contract the edges of the reality that is being transposed by its very lack of opaqueness in a world of transparent squares and globes (hey, if the dude in the article can babble a bunch of crap, so can I.

I hate the idea...and have hated all of this extra crap that has gone on lately...wrestlling? Really? You have to introduce the one thing that is probably furthest from a sci-fi fans mind when he/she wants to tune to the sci-fi channel.

Get rid of the moron that had this bright, skippy idea and bring back sci-fi to the channel.

Gotta love this stuff:
Battlestar Galactica
Star Trek
Stargate
Sanctuary
Twilight Zone
Outer Limits
Dark Shadows
The Time Machine
Land of the Giants
scifi movies

Gotta hate this stuff:
Wrestling: Morons of the shallow end
Ghost Hunters
Reality Games

There is plenty of sci-fi to go around, without this other crap...you have sister channels for that stuff.

Out

sigh-fie!

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php

----quote---
"The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

---and---

"We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction"
--- end quote---

Gee, thanks for the insults. And don't think we haven't noticed the drift away from science fiction ON THE SCIENCE FICTION CHANNEL, and hated the station execs for it (you reading this, Ms Hammer?).

Wow that's horrible. We can expect more lame content I'm sure. Maybe now we can get a different, real SFF channel from a different group of people, becuase these guys can't deliver.

Wow that's horrible. We can expect more lame content I'm sure. Maybe now we can get a different, real SFF channel from a different group of people, becuase these guys can't deliver.

This smells fishy. Though it is in line with the Scifi content being made utterly generic, split into categories, (Dvice, Fidgit, Wire) neutered and watered down so it fits with more mainstream channels.

Perhaps heres an idea, for a program to be on the 'new improved' SyFy Channel is needs to have a 'SCIENCE FICTION' component !
Another suggestion SiFi exec's...Why not run a viewer vote to see what the viewers want to watch

Syuffy is a stupid name. Glad to hear you dislike Sci-Fi fans so much. Makes it a lot easier to go out of my way to not support your advertisers.

Lame. Misguided. This is regrettable. Dave, your bright idea smacks of a certain smug "new way of thinking" that humiliates the foundation on which Sci Fi built its reputation. Sci fi IS what it IS. Discovery Channel. Food Network. There's no confusing what they offer. If they altered the spelling of their names, their target audience would certainly question each channels ability to intelligently present the subject matter. Changing the name in this manner just opens the door for a more genuine entity to swoop in and assume the Sci Fi mantle you've so conveniently dismissed. Sy Fy will soon be looked at as a successor to the ridicule which MTV received when they stopped focusing on music. You may be lucky to get that broad an audience, and if you do, you deserve all the distaste we heap upon it as well.

That is not a good name. Booo. Sci fi channel should stay the same.

DUMB! Seriously. Dumb. A Name thought up by people who know nothing about pop culture and trends. Old people with marketing power in a new world = hahahahaha.

WTF! My first reaction was that I was reading an article on the Onion.
But alas it was not so. Now I must part with what remains of an old, dear friend; beaten and battered though he was, from years of decisions made by the dark minds of the network executives and their hordes of minions. Alas, my friend is gone and so I have little need nor desire to associate with the pale and lifeless likeness that has been thrust upon me in his place. I shall instead retreat back to the books and DVDs from which I came and shall forever leave SyFy to ROT upon the mindless wasteland of wrestling and reality shows so loved by the dark and foul executives. Goodbye SciFi you shall be missed.

...because "SCIFI" doesn't cheapen "science fiction enough" (and now retarded children won't be intimidated by the silent "C").

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience", They have already done that. Once BSG is gone, there is nothing left to wath but re-runs of SG-1( haven't seen Atlantis since the final episode).

This explains why Battlestar Galactica is such a lame excuse for a show. All fluff with no substance.

Wow, looking at all the comments here, perhaps the marketing department should have done a focus group or a survey or something to see what the reaction to this would be ahead of time. Clearly someone did not do their homework. I realize all you want is a name you can trademark so you own it... sometimes you don't need to clearly own everything to profit from it.

Hey Mr. Howe it's not nice to call Sci Fi fans dysfunctional and anti-social boys in basements.

But its really stupid to say it out loud and then announce your new SUBSCRIPTION based MMORPG .

Apparently you want to distance your network from us geeks but not our wallets?

In the Immortal words of Stewie Griffon
"Aaaah Hows that workin out for ya?"

April Fools day is April 1st.... Thats what this crap sounds like to me. Scifi means something "science fiction" channel. what the heck does syfy mean....

You guy are really getting dumb, but I got the next idea for you while you're on the roll lets completely abandon all your "scifi" shows and I mean everything. And lets put on nothing but the rediculous biased programming that makes absolutely no sense at all on the channel similar to the rumors and ignorant reviews that your writers have posted on this web site lately.

"Imagine Greater" hahaha don't even get me started on that one.

Syfy is a vulgar word in polish:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/syf

This is just awful. I just hope that the powers that be read all of these comments as they are all accurate.

I agree, this is bad. Combined with the shift in programming over the last few years, it's INSULTING TO SCIENCE FICTION FANS.

Does anybody know how many comments on are on this page. I had to stop reading them but it looks like they are all vehemently against this change. Please, someone tell me this is getting sent to SyFy's marketing department... and lots of other people who work there.

Frak you.

el oh el

Once BSG goes of the air I'm done with the Scifi channel.

"Syfy—unlike the generic entertainment category "sci-fi"—firmly establishes a uniquely ownable trademark that is portable across all nonlinear digital platforms and beyond, from Hulu to iTunes. Syfy also creates an umbrella brand name that can extend into new adjacent businesses...."

What a load of Feldercarb!!! You want to 'brand' something sci-fi, you call it "Isaac" or "Hugo" (okay, that one's taken) or "Ray" or "Jules" or "Wells" or "124C".

WTF is a Syfy??

Watch where you stick it, you might get Syfy!!

Marketing in the bane of humanity.

If I hear/see/experience one more asinine "re-branding" my head will likely explode.

I'm done with "Syfy"

You know, I haven't watched Sci-Fi since October of last year. What I really wanted to see, I can watch on Hulu or buy/rent on DVD. I thought I'd miss Sci-Fi, but I really don't. For me, this is just the death knell. I could never understand the rationale behind airing a WRESTLING show on Sci-Fi.

This name change... stupid. Just stupid. "Sci-Fi" had become a brand over the last 16 years. For that matter, when they were known as "The Sci-Fi Channel," they had a brand. At one time, it was all I watched because... well... they aired science fiction shows.

Now... not so much.

Bye-bye, SyFy.

I think the syfy channel should have to pay me to watch the crap they want to show like reality tv and wrestling, also you should try some common sense instead of college smarts because the college part isnt working for you Howe

I'm not going to say this is a stupid idea, because I think that's already been said ad nauseum.

I will say that I have come to expect this sort of stupidity from the execs at SciFi. After Ghost Hunters, Wrestling, the douchebag psychic guy, Scare Tactics, and those lame monster movies they make, it's only par for the course that they woudl do this. This is their attempt to slowly divorce the network from "Science Fiction". When last I checked, reality shows are not fiction, and certainly not science related.

You CAN make a load of money on a network based entirely on Sci-Fi. I wish I lived in Canada where I could get Space: The Imagination Station on cable. They at least seem to play popular sci-fi shows.

If I could, I would cancel sci-fi after BSG is over. Alas, it's part of my cable package and my hands are tied.

I have nothing but hate for the execs at Sci-Fi and have for years. This changes nothing. It only brings out into the open what we're already known for a long time: they are stupid douchebags.

Stupid. SciFi or whatever retarded name is next sucks anyway. Jeez, they could have brought back Firefly instead of the lame junk they trot out. They had a shot at it, and passed. Also canceled MST3K. Yep, I have a loooong grudge against this lame channel. I never watch it, just torrent, baby. Screw SciFi.

Yeah,if it's working you can always count on some Frelling Dranhead to fix it.
Motherfrakkers!

As a 43 year-old female geek, I can assure the network-formerly-known-as-SciFi that my disposable income will in no way be used to support their advertisers in the future. Like many dysfunctional spazzes, I generally can't wait to buy the latest and greatest science fiction or tecnology merchandise and won't be bothered to wait for a sale or a price drop. Say bye-bye to that cash sponsors and advertisers! Hope some of it was used to pay the salaries of the odious "executives" who have driven this network into the dirt...

Douglas Adams in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" defines the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes." It seems to me that Mr Adams had foreknowledge of this idiocy when he wrote that!

This is what happens when marketing is ran by people who have no clue about the market they work in. I will take a wild quess that all the exec. at "syfy" got their start in marketing, so they will believe anything these liberal arts grads shovel out. All those old "sci fi" programs and all those great novels looking to be adapted to tv and this is what we get. Long live the mundane.

LOL! EPIC FAIL!!! Disenfranchise your viewer base and make more room for Informertials! Great strategy. Since the only movie worth viewing on a saturday was "splinter" and I had already seen it. are you guys really trying to kill this channel? why?

Syfy that rolls off the tongue well. /sarcasm
This i think is a step in the wrong direction like "cough" canceling farscape

May as well rename the channel "penis."

Wow. I knew the rage would be flying in these comments, and I'm glad to see that I underestimated it. This is a stupid, stupid move. When your fans are raging because you've got off-genre programming on the network, you don't change the network branding so the points of objection are no longer outside the channel's scope.

Are there any cable channels out there that haven't succumbed to the urge to appeal to the slavering masses in a desperate bid for ratings? Are there any channels with integrity left?

"The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Wow.... Nice way to keep your audience hangin around lets just insult them. I would think if I was CEO of the network I'd be finding ways to kiss these people's asses after all they pay your salary by watching the same aged-old episodes of star trek, twilight zone and low rated b-movies noone really likes every week.

All we need now are writers to insult your readers in the commenting area who diss their posts each day.

If you people had any intelligence whatsoever you'd fired the moron who changed this site and the name of the channel and get back to the original way things were.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I can't "Imagine Greater" ways into screwing up this network more than it already is, but I'm sure you guys can find a way. I have absolute confidence in that.

OK...I've now read about half the comments.
The're more fun than 90% of the stuff on your channel. Is that the reason for the story? To inject life, albeit vitriolic, into the lackluster world that is now your stock in trade? SciReal. Bah, humbug. With all the scifi material, much of it in the publc domain, (read: costs nothing), on the market, why can't you just be who you are. The only TV network catering to fans of this genre. If you want a new channel, start one. But, leave this one alone. PLEASE!
Ps. I don't wanna even get started on how you've mucked up this website.(mostly ,cause, apparently, noone's paying any attention.

FAIL

this is just stupid, but ever since they were bought years ago they have be on a long slide in to &%$%&^%&^%!

What this really means is an end to quality scripted shows like 'BSG' and a new cheaper line-up consisting of:
-10 new Ghost Hunter shows ('Ghost Hunter:Alabama'!)
-wrestling 3+ nights week
-and 'Stargate: Universe' aka 'SG-Voyager'.

Meanwhile 'Stargate:SG1' repeats will be spun off onto it's own 24 hr channel.
Actually, a 24-hr retro science fiction/adventure/60's spy channel would be pretty cool.

Man, this channel has been slowly dying ever since they cut Farscape. Nice way to treat your fans. Forget us leaving our money on the nightstand after this.

OK, first you killed Farscape, then SGA and now you make a stupid move like this?
Is there anyone with 2 brain cells in your orgainization?
I won't be watching any future programming, as you seem to be very disdainful of Science Fiction fans. Who should be your base audience. If you didn't want them, why did you even create this channel in the first place?

Why not concentrate on getting good programming back on instead of wasting your time changing your name to the stupidest, least descriptive name in the history of television? Might as well rename yourself Stupid F*cking Television...at least it has the same initials as SciFi. Seriously, stop with the "reality" crap and other bad programming and drop this asinine idea.

First wrestling, now this?!!??!?

I can somewhat understand having a show like Ghost Hunters since it deals with the paranormal which is sort of attached to "Science Fiction" but changing the name to L33T Speak isn't what I'd call a good idea.

I mean I somewhat see part of the point in that they can copyright the name but I actually think it will be more difficult for people to remember. And is Howe smoking crack? I can't remember one time I've seen a text or I've sent one saying "Check out the syfy channel", lol, come on now, we're not stupid.

My guess is they're going to venture into airing reality tv as well as some sappy dramas. Just look at Caprica and how it really doesn't have much to do with battlestars. I mean, it looks like a good drama sure but when I dive into that universe, I want to see Battlestars! lol

Also, as many have said, I was also one of those people that miss the old Sci Fi. Back when there was mostly sci fi programming on. The downfall began with the butchering of Sliders and then continued with the cancellation of Farscape and First Wave, two of the best shows Sci Fi has ever had. If I were to jump ahead in time from back then to now, I simply would not recognize the channel.

Wouldn't it be great to have a channel in which they viewers decided what kind of shows should stay and go in regards to genuine science fiction? One can only hope that with the ever evolving Internet that maybe a new channel could spring up that could be half Internet / half tv based that the viewers controlled. Wishful thinking indeed.

So yeah, you have the winner;

(SyFy) Stupidity & Short sightedness: 1
(SciFi) Common Sense: 0

Dumbest.

Idea.

Ever.

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience"

Man, this is a COMPLETE insult to that core audience that this company is lauding for. *snort* This whole 'marketing and peer groups' is crap. They don't take into account the REAL people who DO watch this network. But this is more typical corporate network tv that ignores the base for which they started on and have supported them through the years.

The last of intelligent and well-written television is now gone. Thanks, Dave Howe.

@kubiaka - The sad thing is, Howe claims in the press release that early focus testing of the new name was positive. He comments on how there will be complaints, but points out that there were also complaints about the re-imagining of BSG, and that fans accepted it in the end.

Still waiting on that TIN MAN series.

It is too early for April Fool's Day. What is going on here??? Was Sci Fi too cerebral?

SCI - FI Channel Jumps The Shark...

Looks like The Jonas Brothers will soon be playing a halftime show during wrestling.

ScFy? The dumbing down of America? Here it comes now... "Git R Done, Robot!"

Get ready for reruns of well, CRAP.

Another thought - do we start sending them bags of peanuts??

@ Myke
I wonder what "demographic" this "focus group" consisted of? Wrestlers? LMAO!!!!

I think this is the most posts a story has received yet. Plus they are all negative. Does that tell you something and will it make a difference??? Please don't do this name change because it will eventually take away what is so special about this channel.

Scifi fans are an under-served market, and we are HUGE, we watch stuff like HEROES (doing well), LOST (doing well, heck my town shuts down for LOST), BSG, etc...

There are a LOT of us, and we spend money, we spend money on high tech, we spend money on DVDS.

We'd LOVE to see more classic sci fi, we'd love to see things like the DUNE miniseries... we'll watch Plan 9 from Outerspace before we'll watch wresting. We'd love to see FARSCAPE, and Stargate, Star Trek, Star WArs. (ok Star ANything)

We'd like stories with complicated plots, interesting well developed characters. If there are dragons/hobbits/elves/wizards, that's cool.

Please NO More "reality" game shows, no more cheesefests like ROCKMONSTER, and SNAKEHEAD TERROR (which rerun a million times a year). We'd like MORE stuff like DUNE, like Grendel, like STargate and BSG.... and Twilight Zone, Next Step Beyond, and Outer Limits, and Amazing stories...

How about Nerd-News about SciFi conventions?
How about stuff about SciFi clubs, New books, New games, New Movies, New shows... or even reviews of Old stuff that shouldn't be forgotten

Are you kidding me.... It's a Sci-Fi channel, and that in itself sets it apart from every other channel. Take that away and it will melt into oblivion. Silly, very silly!

Amazing! 500+ comments in one day. Not one positive response. How did the marketing people not anticipate this? What an absurdly stupid move on NBC/Universal's part. It'd actually be kind of funny if it weren't also sad. Way to go geniuses. No one is impressed.

There use to be a website named SyFy Portal, which changed its name to Airlock Alpha a few weeks ago. And I thought the reason they gave for changing it was odd/stupid. Now I know the real reason it was changed.

WOW! I've never seen so many comments posted for any one single article before! Just something to be noted here: From what I've learned so called "true" science fiction aficionados of past never cared for the term "sci fi", poking fun by pronouncing it as "skify" and preferring to use the acronym "SF" instead. "Sci fi" is apparently a term that's been exploited purely by the media over the decades and hence it's become the accepted norm used by the masses. Using "SyFy" instead is merely an extension of this media exploitation. So all of you ranting and raving as if you're purists-- do your homework.

Look into the face of the new SyFy demographic of the illiterate tween.. the add for twilight is as big as the name change announcement.

They forget its us the parents who actually have the $$.

Same dumb thinking that relaunched this site as a crap-fest. Way to go, brains.

This is 16 days early.

Unless you're NOT joking.

Ah, welcome to my island of hate, Scifi fans. I haven't had any faith in the Scifi Channel since they didn't renew The Dresden Files.

Moronic. Completely and utterly moronic.

Do the universe a favor and just cancel this channel now. Maybe then we can get Canada's Space channel, and some decent programming.

How useless! They should worry more about programing. What a foolish idea to waste money on.

This is the most stupid thing I have ever heard of. Way to alienate your loyal base, way to appear stupid, way to blow useless amounts of cash on a mistake. There has been so much blowback on this, I'll bet they don't go ahead and do it.

Well it sure looks like they meessed up big this time. All of these negative responses and i bet they are just going to ignore everone and go ahead with whatever crazy idea they. I have been a huge sci fi fan for years so i think and hope that they fail at this.

Maybe it just means they don't know how to spell.

Actually I don't think the SciFi channel has ever been very much in touch with the fans.
I remember when this channel first started thinking I didn't like the name because SciFi had always had a negative conotation.

In other words. More reality shows and less shows with substance. Oh and more cheesy movies to boot.

No thanks SciFi, your network in already in the crapper ever since Universal took you over.

SyFy???? You CAN'T be serious!!!!

First TechTV now Sci Fi. This kind of stupidity and a deep hatred of commercial advertising is why I download the media that entertains me.

So long, Skiffy. It's been nice knowing you. I'll tune in for the finale of BSG, then I'll find my SCIENCE FICTION elsewhere.

Ha! This probably won't change much for me, I don't watch Si-Fi that much, but this change to syfy may be a good thing, who doesn't want to check out the syphilis channel?

'who doesn't want to check out the syphilis channel?'

I always knew this channel was a plague!

I think its funny that people here are bashing Sci Fi. Yeah. It's the Sci-Fi channel! YOU WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL! The joke is on YOU. haha.

I watch the SciFi channel because I KNOW what to expect. Get over yourselves people! YOU WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL!!!

Sy Fy? That's the most frakking retarded thing I've heard!

"I think its funny that people here are bashing Sci Fi. Yeah. It's the Sci-Fi channel! YOU WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL! The joke is on YOU. haha.

I watch the SciFi channel because I KNOW what to expect. Get over yourselves people! YOU WATCH THE SCI-FI CHANNEL!!!"

Haha, what a pathetic and lazy line of reasoning. The new name stinks of wasted marketing dollars and brainless exec-think.

You came to Sci-Fi for the wrestling and can stay for the funeral. Enjoy your stupid self.

That is the WORST, lamest name ever.

And it insults our intelligence. SciFi is too nerdy?

Prepare to have all the content worth watching removed from the schedule. Paranormal (anti-sci) ghost hunters, macho-man reality series (Dumpster Wrangers!), anything Nazi, and fashion makeovers shows are on the way.

Horrible news.

Back when the Scifi channel was new it was stated that 'It's called Scifi and not The Scifi Channel' because we cover Science fiction, fantasy and supernatural horror.' Clearly they don't think anyone's left who remembers these things have ALWAYS been on the channel.

It's the reality TV and wrestling we don't need.

Embarrassing,ridiculous,and confusing.
Is it April 1st today?

Syfy? Sounds like a venereal disease.

Expanding the material for Sci-Fi, I mean SyFy, is a good thing. Honestly, moving into something more than outer space and starship battles would be great. But I draw the line at reality tv. You bean counters smeg off, and keep the least common denominator off Sci-Fi Channel.

wow, "syfy"? What a cool name....

Well if they don't pull away from this idea they got, then well after over 500 negative comments it's obvious they don't care what their audience thinks. Especially after that insulting comment "antisocial geeks that live in their basements" lol, what kind of moron insults his fanbase.... even a 5 year old has more sense than that. There are some stupid people in this world, but I think the majority of them work for this network.

This is similar to Tech TV announcing that it was "too techy" and morphing into the inane ramblings of G4. It's not unexpected. Sci-Fi lost me a loooong time ago. This is just the period at the end of a really depressing sentence. At least (between the ridiculous announcement and the hilarious comments in reaction) they gave me a few laughs on their way out the door.

We still have BBC America for our Doctor Who and Torchwood fixes!

Oh dear God.

Has the Sci-Fi Channel just plain given up on ever trying to capture an audience of Science Fiction fans? The only reason they have to fall back to wrestling as a ratings-grabber is because none of the people in charge understand what science fiction fans like. This is tantamount to putting interior designers in charge of ESPN. (And no, that's not a veiled anti-gay statement, even though I realize it could sound like one.)

Memo to the Sci-Fi -- er, "SyFy" -- execs: The reason Wrestling worked for "Spike" when nothing else was is because it's the "manly" network. The cross-over is obvious. I defy you to find the cross-over between wrestling and your average "Doctor Who" fan.

Why have you given up on the Science Fiction audience? It's not hard to get them, you know.

Stop the crappy reality TV. (Yeah, I know it's cheap. So are talk shows. How about one that interviews people in science fiction?)

Stop the b-grade horror original movies. ("Mansquito?" Really??)

And LISTEN to science fiction fans to figure out what they respond to. (Where's the sequel to "The Lost Room?" People were RABID about it, and it couldn't be any more expensive to make than "Mansquito II" would be.)

I hate to say it, but "SyFy" is an admission of failure. The people behind the Sci-Fi Channel have failed to on deliver on the network's mandate. It should have been a place for science fiction classics, pulp favorites, and innovative new programming. It's sad that they're just throwing up their hands and walking away from something that could have been a no-brainer if the right brains had been in charge.

Haha...here's a tagline for you're channel - SyFy, Home of Frankenfish

Why don't you just cut to the chase and rename yourself Mtv4.

Dear Bonnie:

Please go read some Peter Drucker (the father of modern management and the godfather of marketing). What is the point of a business? To determine what is of value to your customers, and then innovate to meet that value.

Based on this malinspired marketing move, I think Drucker is spinning in his grave right now.

If your intention is to finally kill this network and rebrand it as something new with different content, a la The Nashville Network (TNN) turning into The National Network (TNN), then into Spike, then please just do it now and go find your new core audience. You are obviously not interested in the college educated, affluent, and literate audience you already have.

Frankly, as a viewer, I'm insulted by both the childish name, the manner by which you have presented it in one of the most unprofessional and amateur press releases I have ever seen, and the completely off-point evaluation of your audience. I think this Friday's finale of BSG will be my last screening on your network.

Los Angeles, CA

I just checked. Syfy or Syf is Polish for dirt or waste. That certainly is the right name. Of course I've been calling Scifi similar names ever since they did not renew The Dresden Files. The name finally suits the product.

Syfy is Sci-Fi...TO THE EXTREME!!!! It speaks of corporate synergy as well as being proactive and a whole new outrageous paradigm...TO THE EXTREME!!! Congratulations Sifee...you're now the Poochie of television networks......

P.S.-DO THE DEW....TO THE EXTREME!!!!!!!!

Okay, I have to join in with the rest of the Sci Fi community in saying how completely and utterly stupid and ridiculous this whole idea is straight from the beginning. I seriously started laughing when I read the first article about this fiasco. For a moment, I thought I was reading an extremely early April Fools' Day joke, but knowing you guys, it obviously isn't. Honestly, I can't get enough of the severely negative comments people are leaving! Absolutely none of them are far from the truth.

Tim Brooks' comments about Science Fiction fans to TV Week are absolutely disgusting at best, alienating and back-stabbing to the community of people who support the Sci Fi Channel through its advertising dollars. If you thought the genre was so "dirty" as you put it, why did you ever use the term in the first place?

But there's one person that can't be let off the hook so fast, and that's Mr. Dave Howe. Obviously a change of this magnitude wouldn't go without approval from the network's president. Apparently you guys are came off your best year so far. I do have to give congratulations to that, but at what cost has it been to the network? I know that Sci Fi Channel is about being able to make a profit, after all, most business are, and I don't have a problem with that. However, there is a line between the want for profit and the alienation of your customers (psst, I'll give you a hint, it's those people who are your viewers).

But the writing has been on the wall for a LONG time. With the cancellation of so many hit shows, or axing of shows before they even had a chance, none of this comes as a total surprise. I, along with so many people here, will obviously have little use for Syfy after the end of Battlestar Galactica this Friday. After all, it will be the #1 "Crap" network.

I end this comment with a link to a little freestyle music video on YouTube describing the decision behind the rebranding and the behavior of the executives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6dJtScSnxM

LOL MONEY
MONEY LOL
MONEY MONEY MONEY
LOLOL
MONEY LOL
LOL MONEY
MONEY LOLOL

End of an era. Ultimate slap in the face and kiss off to sci-fi fans who have supported the network since Day 1.

Seriously stupid idea. Sci Fi means a lot to a lot of people. SyFy means nothing. Changing the name to seem less geeky is really a lame excuse, too. Hello.. geeks are watching the channel.. well, they were. Very lame idea. Like a slap in the face, as said before me.

WHAT THE FRAK, JACK!!! A name change! Did that work when the WB went CW. What you people need to do is ask us first when ever you get a bonehead idea and we(the viewers), can help you out.. SYFY...REALLY! I'm sure there are lots of shows you can find for us that don't insult us....cough..ECW! Help US help YOU.

Nuff Said.

Please don't do this.

I

EPIC FAIL.

Reconsider your decision. I've been a fan since the beginning. This is a joke.

You obviously don't care about the true science fiction fans that have been behind you for years. Hey I can catch most scifi on BBC America or Hulu. I don't need no silly syfy.

We should boycott NBC and this SYFY they are both run by NBC and if I was on the NBC board of directors I would ask for the removal of the NBC president because NBC sucks and now they want SciFi to suck like them IM done with both

What the frak? I know it's way before April 1st, so this can't be a joke. This had to have been thought up by a bunch of suits that never watch their own networks. I'm guessing MBA students that are now patting themselves on the back?

Seriously though, this is one of the WORST marketing ideas ever. This ranks below the Quizno's sponge monkeys...and I hated those things.

You know, it just dawned on me too...I wonder how long it tok them to come up with this crappy idea. And how many thousands of dollars they coughed up to some marketing company to come up with it.

It's Polish crap (seriously, Syfy is Polish for Crap)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/syf

The Sci Fi Channel also ran into problems with trademarking the Sci Fi brand!
"We're going to have upwards of 50 Sci Fi Channels in various territories and yet you cannot trademark 'Sci Fi' anywhere in the world," explained Howe.

If you can't brand SCI FI, brand "SCFI Channel" If Marvel and DC can trademark "Superhero" maybe you should hire their legal team.
I agree with the above posts this is really really "STUPID"!

Aliens is on Fox Movie channel if anyone needs some real SciFi

Wow. It's as if you're activly trying to kill off the last bits of a decent station.

I've been watching this station for over a decade and for the past few years it's been going down hill.

For my entire household, the tv was almost always set to Sci-Fi. I would move my friday's around things like Battlestar or Secret Adventures of Jules Verne. I loved them. But once BSG is over, I can't really think of a reason to watch anymore. I'll get my Dr. Who from the internet and if Joe Mallozzi does a good job on SGU, I'll get that from the net too.

I refuse to support a station which does such poor branding and marketing research.

I would rather turn on TNT or USA and watch Law and Order episodes I've seen 3 times already then a lot of your programing. And the fact that I frequently do is sad.

You used to stand for science fiction. You used to show counter culture shows. Things that really were outside what the mainstream cable station would air. Now you've got paranormal shows, which A&E does better with Paranormal State. Wrestling, which spike does and an untested afterthought show called Stargate Universe.

Thanks for really making geeks and sci-fi fans a minority again. After BSG I don't think I've got a desire to check the lineup anymore. And depending on how dissapointed I stay, I may take scifiwire off my news reader.

Hope you network types get the response you wanted.

BBC america has DR. Who Ill probly go back to renting fox scifi movies

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

You will forever be known as Siffy. Like everyone else, I thought it was an April Fools joke.

This is about the silliest TV move I've ever heard. Admittedly, SCI FI is the *only* reason I have digital cable (to catch the shows and even record them).

Guess it's time to get a lyfe.

Imagine Greater?
Yeah! and THINK MORE BIGGER AND GOODER TOO!
My God! I didn't think you guys could get any more cretinous than snake movie of the week and wrestling ghost hunters,but I was wrong.

Soon enough, some genius at NBC Universal not unlike Mr. Howe will reach the conclusion NBC Universal doesn't need/can't afford two channels with similar programming. Therefore, SyFy and USA will be merged into [insert stupid name], that, of course, after a bunch of good people lose their jobs.

SCIENCE FICTION is the sole reason the SCI FI Channel has been around for 16 years. If the suits overlook this fundamental truth, they're bound to disappear along side their precious Syfy Channel.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php

^ I find what was said in this article about this channel's core audience appalling. Apologies are in order.

What a bunch of greenblatts!! Not a wise move at all.

Most of these posts don't offer anything critically intelligent to say, just "that's dumb!"... which has a net value of zero as far as I'm concerned.

And yet... I can't help but agree with them. Taking a tried and true name and changing it to something incongruous, obstinate and (need I say it) lacking in class when the original name is quite distinctive in it's own right appears to me to be a sign of desperation and lack of understanding of it's audience.

Changing to SYFY to me is like painting a rolls royce neon green. Yeah it's different, but it totally misses the point of it's own existence.

Great markyting. Nothing will stand in the way of Wrestlyng and Ghost Huntyrs now.

No, really. Si-fee? I had to come back to see if that was a joke or something.

This is the single stupidest thing I've heard in a decade. And hey, I've listened to Rush Limbaugh for five minutes, so if it's worse than that, you have a disaster of unimagined proportion happening.

Egads, stop. Just... no. Shoot your marketing department now and spare us the agony.

LAME!

I began subscribing to satellite TV ten years ago, specifically for the SciFi channel (RIP Farscape). It had the shows I love to watch that I could not find anywhere else.

Syfy? It looks more like a weird vanity license plate than a "brand". Who came up with this? Was it the SciFi president's six year old when he texted his dad with, "wen wil u put wreslyn on syfy?"

They're practically dancing on Forrest J. Ackerman's grave by doing this. And then posting his final words to fans, the man who coined the term Scifi... This is low, Syfy. Even for a channel named after the Polish word for dirt. This is low.

The ONLY reason I still have cable (after many financial setbacks) is for the SCIFI channel. If this change goes into effect I will have absolutely NO reason to keep cable. This sucks big time!

nice guys...
Good way to get your name spread around...
Alienate your core audience, then have them spread word on how freaking lame your new name is.

And FYI (or FYy as ya'll may prefer): Noone likes little cutesy names to go with good science fiction. Oh, wait... nevermind... last time I saw good science fiction on sci-fi was the last episode of Stargate Atlantis. But everytime shows get good on sci-fi, production costs lead to cancellation. Then as filler we get reality TV and wrestling. Woopee.

Thanks, Mr. Howe. You've taken a channel I really liked and killed it. Please feel free to give the reigns to someone who gives a flip about science fiction and go apply for a job or at Hallmark or Lifetime. Crummy original movies seem to be a favorite of yours. They have an ample williness to shovel that stuff out on their audiences over there. Plus, most of their stuff has a budget you'd be happier with too.

This is a dumb move IMHO it's been the scifi channel for this long & they have already screwed things up a number of time they need to stick with what works.

Brilliant.
Are you sure you don't want to go with "SyPhi"?
After all, if you're going to come that close to renaming your channel Syphilis, you might as well spell it correctly.

First I checked the date to see if it was April 1st.
Then I thought: "See Fee?"
Then I felt nauseous.
Seriously guys...

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience"

Lemme see....

First the Nashville Network went Spike. What a great network that one is...

That left GAC and CMT to carry the banner.
CMT has become just another fluff network.
GAC is now showing entire evenings dedicated to Bull Riding...
Guess SYFY will show entire evenings dedicated to Bull SH*T?

Everytime one of these guys tries to "improve" any of these channels, it's down the tubes.

Wish the old SFAN network attempt had flown.

"Imagine Greater" -- Well, there's a grammatical tagline.

You should replace it with a more accurate tagline:

SyFy -- "Polish for syphilis"

Wow this reminds me of when MTV stop showing music videos. F$^## you Real World, F$^## you....

Boycott NBC and SYFY

I work in the gaming industry and I can say that we are pretty appalled. Nothing like marginalizing your core audience........

Anyway, after MTV stopped being a music video channel we got VH1, BET, and MTV2 (until they mostly stopped playing videos).

I guess we just have to wait for SciFi 2: Electric Boogaloo.

ACK, that's horrible! I do NOT want to watch the Syphilis Channel! I'm sorry, but that's just about the most insanely idiotic marketing decision I can imagine from a roomful of overpaid pinheads!

Even "Imagine Greater" is an uncompelling tagline.

Boooo! This sounds like a horrible idea. I watch SciFi because I'm into science fiction and like the current format of the network - except I'd like to see more old sci-fi. Not sure what to expect from SyFy...

We have too many science fiction shows for them to become broader! You can only put so much on one channel! Now, instead of finding Doctor Who, I might find Lassie instead!

hey scifi, while you're at it, why don't start showing reruns of i love money, for the love of ray j and rock of love bus. but it could be worse, they could have given mad mad house another season

The irony of this entire talkback is that it will reach exactly NO ONE who's in a position to reverse this gawd-awful decision. And if trademarkable "branding" was a concern, why not just go back to when it was called the Sci-Fi Channel? Remember, with the rocketship logo? It's truly a sad thing when with all the damn cable channels full of vacuous nonsense, there can't be at least ONE channel that caters to geeks. TechTV got bastardized into G4, which doesn't even focus on its original charge of video game "culture" anymore. Now the only channel that even gave a slight emphasis on science fiction is poised to go the way of the dodo, at least in spirit if not in flesh. Well done, you fools. Now that you've entirely torpedoed your base viewership, prepare for years of sucky ratings and COPS reruns until NBC/Uni wonders what this crap called "SyFy" is that's caught in its collective shoe. Beware the Great Scraping, you blistering morons. Beware the Great Scraping!

SciFi has been insulting science fiction fans for years by flooding the channel with cheap, idiotic monster movies, moronic "reality" shows and wrestling. Now they spit in our face by abandoning their identity to "appeal to a broader audience." I can hope some other broadcasters decide to create a REAL science fiction channel.

Dear Universal: Since everyone is laying people off in this economy, why don't you save some money by laying off Bonnie Hammer and the other bozos behind this brilliant move?

I watched the Last Frakkin' Special tonight and had to laugh over the comments Bonnie Hammer made about BSG; about how people realized that they were offering quality program or some such syfy.

That's it! I will give up my use of the word $hit and just use syfy. Four letters, begins with S....a great use for that new name :P

wonder if we can put scifi on the oxygen channel so guys have something to watch on a womens channel

Do they SERIOUSLY think anyone will be drawn to watch the "Siffie Channel"???

Aaarrrgghhhhh!!!!

I'm female. I watched the Scifi Channel since the start. I'm twenty-seven-years-old. Scifi doesn't know what it wants. When they did not renew The Dresden Files (despite high ratings) we fans were told we were the 'wrong demographic' (They wanted younger males and not adult females). Yet with Battlestar Galactica they sexistly condescend and think that's what women want! And then they pat themselves on the back about it. They think the term Scifi alienates them from women... sorry, it's the dumbing things down that's alienating this channel from me.

Another network fully ruined, along the lines of TechTV, TNN, MTV, A&E, and TLC. Unthinkably stupid. My god, it's really been a horrible era for television.

new reality show on syfy called reality check NBC and SYFY suck also scifi is anything science fiction not just space morons dracula is sf along with dungeons and dragons and others that aren't space not to bright are they

This is ... silly. You are a niche market. Most channels are these days. Stop alienating your niche. Seriously.

The stupid. It hurts our eyes.

I can understand why they did it, but it is stupid to go away from your roots. Dance with the one who brung ya!
Also, don't give us the recent graduate BS. Tell it like it is. Say "'SciFi' is too generic a name for business, so we needed something that distinguishes us from the category itself. 'Syfy' is the best we could come up with after a night of drinking."

Nothing more to see here. Move along.

The verb: Fail.

The adjective: Epic.

The brain: broken by stupid.

I can't say much more than what has been said...and I'm in advertising and marketing. Fail. Sigh.

So, since no matter what we say will convince them to revoke this branding suicide (apparently it was talking to the fans that brought them to this brilliant idea in the first place) who is going to take on the mantel of the true Sci-Fi audience and start a rival station? Perhaps 'Space' from Canada will venture south?

Suggestions anyone?

Seriously?! Do you people even know who your fanbase is? Dumbest move ever. I really can't see any reason to watch your channel ever again. Toss the cheezy movies, toss the crappy "horror" shows, toss wrestling. Put some actual science-fiction on, bring back Farscape and do good productions like Dune & BSG, and I *might* consider it.

I lost count of all the negative comments about this totally arbitrary, mindless decision. You didn't even poll your "core audience" regarding any proposed changes--no input from the very ones you depend on for an audience. Do you even have any conception of who we are? Perhaps I should say, who we WERE. Now the question is, will you pay any attention at all to this tsunami of outrage, or will you continue thinking that you know what we want, if what we want has EVER factored into any of your programming? It's really too bad that ratings can't sink a network like they do shows. You'd be gone faster than The Tammy Grimes Show.

Good God. Talk about jumping the shark.

What drug addled, clue free, anencephalic crotch stain came up with this utter loser of a name change?

Let me guess, the high point of the day for your marketing department is when they get to have their milk and poke each other with nerf sticks after lunch.

Your complete and utter sucking up to the lowest common denominator has already basically driven me away from your channel, with a very few exceptions, and they're not enough to keep me around with this travesty of marketing vomit.

You started sucking, hard, when you decided that moron wrestling and 'ghost' hunting should be used for anything other than toilet paper (except that even used toilet paper has more intrinsic value).

And that 'tagline'. "Imagine Greater"

Yuck.

When I imagine something 'greater', it isn't SyFy.

Oh, and by the way, that word SyFy? It's a polish word meaning dirt, or waste. It's also a slang polish word for syphilis.

So, it sounds like you actually *do* have a good grasp on the value of your channel.

Apparently, you've decided that you want to contribute to making the future, as described in 'Idiocracy', come true.

Although, if you do decide to air a version of 'Ow, my balls!', I might actually watch it if the victim is your president and the marketing department, and the audience that you threw to the curb gets to do the kicking.

Good luck with your new 'Fart Joke' channel. We wouldn't want you to hurt yourself attempting to actually think.

I lost count of all the negative comments about this totally arbitrary, mindless decision. You didn't even poll your "core audience" regarding any proposed changes--no input from the very ones you depend on for an audience. Do you even have any conception of who we are? Perhaps I should say, who we WERE. Now the question is, will you pay any attention at all to this tsunami of outrage, or will you continue thinking that you know what we want, if what we want has EVER factored into any of your programming? It's really too bad that ratings can't sink a network like they do shows. You'd be gone faster than The Tammy Grimes Show.

I hope this is a double post!!!

Who did NOT notice that this is more likely to be pronounced like the beginning of "Syphilis" than Sci?

Man, I glad I have Net Flix, because I don't want to catch Syfy.

Their rational says it all. They care more about the ability to brand the name than they do holding true to the genre. I guess this is what you get when you hand the reins over to faceless drones with no soul. Sci Fi has been on the skids ever since some fool handed it over to Ms Hammer. Corporate FemDrone that she is. Seems she hired in her own image. Anybody want to chip in to have several tons of animal waste delivered to her office?

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Guess I'm down a channel. I'm not feeding into this garbage.

One hopes that their target demographic goes elsewhere for their entertainment.

That's the BEST way to catch their attention, when all else fails.

As for why they added wrestling to the SciFi Channel? I'm assuming it's because it's all basically fantasy to begin with...

"What, Siffie? There's a little Asian boy trapped at the bottom of the mine shaft and he's going tinto a diabetic coma?"

Arf Arf!

Whoever came up with this dog of an idea needs to be hounded out of the building.

"and on this day we lay to rest the last bastion of hope for an intelligent network." ~ the last SciFi channel fan

i have come to reap your soul and bring you to the nether realm, but it seems that you have beaten me to it.

yours truly,

DEATH

No need to change the name (and to something so incoherent.) What’s next for summer 2010? Another name… Like “Blah” lol.

Time to write Cox to lose this from the upgraded package I pay for. I was so hoping someone that actually *read* SciFi/Fantasy would take control - yes most people that watched and paid extra to watch SciFi in the beginning actually *read* it too. Pity that the twits that be won't listen to all of us. Look what happened to Moonlight - instead of renewing a show that was winning it's time slot Tassler threw them yet another CSI clone. Even those of us that didn't watch Moonlight heard of that idiocy. Guess NBC wants to keep up with the idiots at CBS.

The name is stupid, but it fits the direction the channel has taken. .. to not be sci fi. Wrestling, ghost hunting, dragons and Charmed are not sci fi.

Asinine. Branding asinine.

Your car's transmission is sticking, the tires are bad, the interior is a mess, one headlight is out, and the engine is probably going to give out this Friday. What's your solution? Change the paint-job and detailing.

I read it as "see-fee" and "sigh-fee" initially before I knew what it was. This is not good branding.

'dragons and Charmed are not sci fi.'

Actually Rogue I agreed with you until you said those words. Fantasy IS a sub-genre OF Scifi. Back when the Scifi channel was new it had three main catagories. Science fiction, Gothic supernatural horror and fantasy.

Without fantasy a LOT of science fiction wouldn't exist. Not all science fiction is space ships and time travel.

Now the reality TV and wrestling, that's not Scifi. The first show Scifi ever aired was the Gothic Soap Dark Shadows. Back when the Scifi Channel was new it had a LOT of fantasy. Dark Shadows, Forever Knight, Highlander: The series, She-Wolf of London...

God, I miss when the channel was new. Of course I'm still annoyed about the sheer stupidity behind not continuing The Dresden Files a few years ago. That was their now second stupidest move for the channel.

SyFy Imagine Greater?

more like SyFy &#@& the fans

Snarky, not sure if you'll read this but if you liked Moonlight I highly recommend the old Canadian series, Forever Knight from 1992. Moonlight was very much a remake of it, (Just no refrigurator thing which I never thought made much sense anyway). Forever Knight lasted three seasons (used to air in rerun on Scifi) and the only real big difference between it and Moonlight was it was a little more intellectual and the hero was named Nick instead of Mick. The pilot plot was even identical.

WTF?? Really!!

Looks like there will be no more Stargate SG1 or Atlantis, Farscrape, Firefly, BSG.

Looks like i will have to just buy them all on DVD... Sigh...

Moronic. It's not going to drive me away, if they keep showing the things I want to see... but it's certainly not going to attract new fans looking for good science fiction.

I guess they can't justify using the term SciFi if they are shutting down their last decent SciFi show...

Farscape
SG1
Battlestar Galactica

RIP

Read the above post NBC sponsor's, we buy cars, we buy big ticket item, we don't like the move from a narrowcast to a broadcast audience. SciFi has lost it's focus, it's vision. It used to be they owned Friday night, well that's over. When the ratings die maybe someone else with some geek gred will pick up the torch.

Sounds like "sissie" but put a pair of f's where the middle s's are. This has got to be an April Fools joke. I thought they had already abandoned sci-fi since they shpw those loser ghost programs where everyone runs around in the dark yelking that the saw something and all the horror genre stuff. Maybe it is the sissie channel.

Is this a joke? Are you serious?

Worst idea ever LOL

so, now there isn't a reason to watch it at all... I'm about to give up on cable completely. Is there a web site, like hulu.com devoted to only scifi? I'd prefer legit, but if there isn't any I'll go to a torrent feed instead. good bye scy fy, you did not age well.

Daft.

That's pretty much all there is to it.

Agreed w nearly 100% of the posts here.

Not that scifi will recognize the quote, but...

"this is the worst idea in the long sad history of bad ideas." -ian malcom

ill add my name to the list of 500+ insulted by this. I'd actually watch legend of the seeker over 99% of the $#!T they have put on the scifi channel lately, and anyone who's read the books knows my hatred of that tv series.

I will pirate SGU, Eureka and Sanctuary's creators and mail them the $ directly before i will allow these morons to profit off of the people who deserve my appreciation.

That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard. The name is fine as is. DO NOT CHANGE!!

No one wants to watch the Syphilis Channel. Why take a well-known name and replace it with an STD? Who is running Scifi - a brain damaged chimp?

After years of watching this channel. I think it is time for me to move on. With Farscape, BSG, SG, SGA, and Eureka all gone, there is nothing new or worth watching.

what's wrong with you people?!? there is a shockingly large amount of material out there to turn into movies, tv series and mini series.

this is the best you can come up with?

the channel isn't watchable in the prime time except for BSG. in regard to the writing, all of the Stargate crap is formulaic, self-referential and dumb.

this is what's driving people away from the channel and tv in general.

i'm at wit's end. i won't be watching the channel anymore. i'm less and less interested in even having cable tv.

I'll be the seemingly only person to say that I actually like this idea! I'd love if MTV changed it's name to RTV or something more suitable. I actually am pretty surprised people are so upset, cause I hear people complaining all the time about channels not showing what their names describe, though I guess the backlash against this name change probably isn't really about the name but the ever-changing programming represented by the name change.

But, I don't really have a problem with it, cause X-Files has been shown on Sci-Fi for quite a while, and it's not in the genre.

Also, when you google "SyFy movies," it'll come up with the crap you're looking for like Megasnake and Ice Spiders.

Maybe this will open it up for the better. Maybe they'll start rerunning Buffy or Supernatural. I can dream!

(I do think the tagline is right stupid though.)

Well, if you want truth in advertising (or channel naming) then why not SCIFI-LESS

Absolutely one of the most stupid ideas ever. Sounds like phase one of getting rid of actual Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Next it will be wall to wall reality that has nothing to do with either genre.

Utterly stupid idea. Now people watching their plentiful advertising and informercials at 3am will Imagine Greater.

Of all the pointless marketing decisions I have ever heard of this ranks right up there with Dell's refusing to use the word "Laptop" for their laptop computers because they had some battery fires. I mean I will NOT watch the stupid wrestling although I agree it is 99% fantasy. But "SyFy" Come on people stop acting like idiots it will cost more changing all the letter heads than you could possibly gain in such a move I really have no faith in your judgement anymore at all

BSG is over soon. The last episodes of Eureka will show this summer. After that, there's nothing till Caprica next year. Guess it's a good time to cancel the channel.

One more example of how the industry is completely out of touch with the real world. It's Sci Fi, always has been and always will be.

Between wrestling and those horrible CGI "Monster of the week" shows, Scifi's programming has gone steadily down the crapper.

Don't even get me started on all the Ghost Hunters drivel. "Did you feel that cold spot? OMG!"

Scare Tactics?

Give me a F$%KING BREAK!

You feed us crap while canceling anything remotely intelligent or entertaining.

WTF was wrong with Stargate Atlantis, The Dresden files, Farscape, Eureka. etc?

Let the networks run all the so-called "reality" shows.

YOUR VIEWERS ARE NOT IGNORANT SHEEP!!!!

If your intent is to alienate your viewers and drive us away then guess what? Your succeeding!

You are steadily becoming just another random generic cable channel.

Fire the idiots in charge, restructure your programming, and DO MORE INTELLIGENT SHOWS before it's too late.

R.I.P. Sci Fi, you will be missed, you were loved.

It's really interesting that there has been absolutely NO response from Sci Fi/Syfy (what an incredibly stupid name!!!) about all the outrage. Either what we've all been saying here is true, that they just don't give a sh#t, or, they just don't give a sh#t about giving a sh#t. Or maybe they DID listen and are preparing a response AND a retraction. Yeah, right. I'll just go with the first two...

This has got to be some sort of a sick joke

i don't like it...
sounds incredibly wrong...
for a more elaborate reaction, read the above posts..

Well, so much for this channel. Maybe someone who actually cares about science fiction can start the Sci-Fi Network or something. This makes as much sense as AIG giving employee bonuses, or Congress giving themselves a pay raise.

Sci Fi has had so little of interest airing these past few years, their web site is useful only for what they want you to know, and their ideas of what actually should be on a channel devoted to SF about 75% lame that I wasn't even aware they were changing the name. But the new name pretty much follows suit with all the other stupid decisions they've made in the past (Cancelling Stargate, cancelling Farscape, broadcasting Who Wants to be a Superhero and wrestling, and a slew of "reality" programming, etc.) I once fought to get Sci Fi on my cable network many years ago. If it went away today I'd only miss Eureka - which I still can't find out if it is coming back or not.

Wow, this turns me off of SciFi. I hope they reconsider.

:barf:

>>It's really interesting that there has been absolutely NO response from Sci Fi/Syfy (what an incredibly stupid name!!!) about all the outrage

As far as I know they never commented on all the outrage over including wrestling in their line-up so why should they start caring now?

They just don't care about their viewers anymore.

I'm in agreement with the above posts. I thought we were in a recession, so we should save money, this is just pointless. I enjoy SciFi being it's own entity. You wanna watch kid programs? Switch to Disney. You wanna watch games or video game reviews? Go to G4 or ESPN. Man, Syfy sounds very similar to Sissy. "Sissy Kids," "Sissy Games." Was ANYONE THINKING HERE?!?!?!

I have always been a big fan of the SciFi channel.

RT
www.online-privacy.pro.tc

Obviously your marketing people are way overpaid. If you have to change the name SFTV or SFN or SFF (Sci Fi Fantasy) would all have worked. But SIFFY?? That's just insulting. It shows no respect for your audience.

This is incredibly stupid. Is it now an embarrassment to show Sci-Fiction material? This channel has cancelled Stargate, Stargate Atlantis and Farscape so that they can show Wrestling and Who wants to be a superhero. Incredibly stupid! Hopefully another network will decide there is money to be made in a dedicated SciFi channel. Good Luck SyFy.

After the Battlestar Galactica finale, I REALLY have no reason to ever watch this channel again, which is a shame considering it used to be my favorite channel back when they actually aired more than 3 science fiction shows. Their programing is ridiculous, and wrestling is unforgivable, not to mention Ghost Hunters, which is wrong on so many levels. Thanks for flushing a great channel down the toilet over the last five years.

Well, considering that all the science fiction we see that is now becoming science fact, SciFi is simply paying homage to the progress we're making as a species, and taking it's "science fiction" more seriously.

Besides, I don't like a lot of science fiction which makes me pass over a lot of the great programs on the SciFi channel. With this name change I may just do a double take.

I actually said "Oh my god" out loud when I read about this. I had to laugh at myself and you.

Then I thought about the business ramifications of this. You are gaining the "Sigh Fee" brand and losing the "SciFi" brand. There is now no legal barrier to stop, for example, Rupert Murdock from starting the Fox SciFi Channel with a Saturn based logo. You have given up your options, instead of expanding them.

You could have rebranded as the Universal Sci Fi Channel, with Saturn logo. Your name and logo are memorable. The "Fox" example would continue your brand - the brand you are giving up.

Whoever counciled you to brand this way, was not doing you any favors. The NBC-Universal lawyers who OKd this travesty did not earn their money this week. There are ways to trademark supposedly generic terms. Get some experienced "in the trenches" lawyers, you greenhorn neophyte marketing "geniuses".

I liked the New Coke comments left here. At least, Coke acknowledged it was New "Coke", not Neue Koook.

Overall, a lost opportunity really. It's sad.

while i don't particularly like the name, i understand their motiviation for doing it. they may be the first major "network" to change their name because it will be easier to find in google. you type in sci-fi and you get a hundred different results from magazines to movies to whatever. it's not a real enforceable brand. but "syfy", as stupid as it looks, is a brand that can be googled, won't get confused with sci-fi and phonetically communicates the old name.

I must agree with all the others that feel the name change is unneccesary and stupid. Then again, much of the programming on the channel has been bad lately. While I of course applaud shows like BSG, Star Trek TNG, and Star Trek: Enterprise, wrestling and all forms Ghost Hunters must go. At the very least, they should stop showing so many promotional commercials for Ghost Hunters.

Changing the name is completely ridiculous. You created this brand to market to a specific set of people (Science Fiction) and now you want to go outside of the group that got it where it is. All you will do is alienate people and move them to the web that much quicker. Your demographic tends to be technicaly adept. What kind of idiot marketer came up with this and ignored the fact that there are now alternatives that are on a different distribution model. Hulu comes to mind.

Siffy? Really?

Good thing my new cable company has BBC America. With all the interesting, intelligent shows ending, the only reason I had left to watch Sci-Fi any more was because with Comcast (which didn't include BBC America standard) it was the only way to see the new series Doctor Who.

Great job, Sci-Fi, alienating your viewers in order to get the reality show crowd. I mean, it makes perfect sense to drop loyal viewers like those of us writing with disdain for this decision here. We've only been devotedly watching these programs you're now dropping in favor of crappy monster of the week movies, Ghost Hunter, and reality crap like Scare Tactics.

But who cares about us? Now you'll have the reality show idiots whose fickle viewing habits and American Idol obsession will throw your ratings in the toilet from January to May every year and will abandon the network whenever something better comes along.

But WAIT! I'm sure the gaming audience you're going after will absolutely abandon G4 for you, right? RIGHT?

Siffy =/= Spiffy.

My issue with Syfy is that they are showing stuff they should not. There is too much good Sci-Fi out there that is new or re-runs. I don't understand why they make and show so many in my opinion C and D grade movies. Most of them are more horror than anything else. Now there is the cable network called Chiller (also owned by NBC/Universal) that would be a better fit. The channel could take shows on NBC & USA or other networks that are struggling and give them a home. Imagine if Firefly had come to Sci-Fi instead of being canceled.

Just one more reason I'll stop watch SciFi (or now the SyFylis) Channel. Now the BSG is done, and Atlantis is too- and there is no re-runs of old Star Trek. I'm done.

Really? Your marketing team was really desperate to keep their jobs, weren't they? Well fire them anyway - that's idiotic. What you need is more quality and less crap, not a dumbed-down name.

Stupid.

This name is just another example of the dumbing down of our society. SciFi was at least a shorting of a proper spelling. SyFy is at best texting shorthand, which is maybe their point, a lame attempt to be young and hip.

For me one of the joys of Science Fiction is that it doesn't try to talk down to reader/viewer, that it presents intelligence as a virtue.

Given some of the cringe worthy "original" programming on this channel I guess this isn't too surprising. I had hoped for more of the good stuff, less of the bad, this announcement doesn't give me much hope.

New tagline?

Syfylis...Catch It!

SciFi channel is trying so hard to widen their viewer-ship, they're completely ignoring their core base viewers. After March 20th, no one will be interested in watching (Wrestling? Really? Do people who watch that even know about the Scifi channel?)

This is just the networks way of getting away from SciFi programming and doing more general programming.
A terrible move, IMO. I can tune to any station for other garbage. I watch SciFi for scifi, paranormal, fantasy programming.

Aside from anything else, the name looks weak, with its pair of dangling Ys. It would look and work better, and might provoke less disdain, if they'd simply gone with "sifi", in parallel with hifi and wifi. But that might have been too simple for the numbnubs in Marketing.

Sci-Fi becoming SyFy = Joaquin Phoenix's new career

Boring and suggests one more step toward irrelevancy.

I think SciFi is a perfectly appropriate contraction.

Because of the overlap between the genres that is why it is always known as Science Fiction & Fantasy. If they must must change the name, and I personally think it's an unwarranted and stupid decision, why not change it to SciFan which is at least a little closer to it's roots.

SyFy is a spelling for people who can't read.

Hey, everyone! I just posted a poll on Facebook. Check it out and PLEASE VOTE!!!

http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/poll.php?pid=1237297446&_fb_fromhash=0767a329559d1cc561191c451985f75e

I just Googled "SciFi Channel". Guess what came up? It was www.scifi.com, the SciFi Channel web site. There was no confusion, no need to rebrand because of search engines.

What was the real reason for the rebranding?... a new executive's need to make his mark, marketing execs looking to justify their jobs, attorneys lacking conviction who are afraid to fight or fail, foreign Universal execs who do not understand the US connotations of the word "SciFi"? We will never know. It's Chinatown, Jake.

This might not be the best move because viewers were expected to see sci fi movies on this channel. With this move, some might be upset because the only thing they want on their channel is sci fi.

Fire the person who decided this was a great idea.

Then do everything in your power to overtake the company they end up working at just so you can fire them again.

Then sleep with their husband/wife.

Then apologize only so you can offer them a job which they'll take.

Then have someone else fire them and film it.

Then superimpose Donald Trump from The Apprentice firing them.

Then show it on primetime.

They're just getting everyone worked up so they can come out of the closet on April 1st...... April Fools I hope anyway!

I give it 6 months before either it's changed back, or the channel gets shut down cos no-one watches it anymore.

Oh, and I might add: I wonder if the execs at Syfy (UGH!!!) did a simple poll like the one I posted above. Bet they didn't.

Please make your voice heard! Vote: Hey, everyone! I just posted a poll on Facebook. Check it out and PLEASE VOTE!!!

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I can remember back when "The SciFi Channel" premiered by showing Star Wars. It was great. They were actually >gasp

I wonder what they will program that will show first when they become SyFy? Survivor-Alpha Centauri?

This is hilarious. Do you guys really think this is what your audience is looking for? You haven't figured out yet that if you have quality programming you can call your channel whatever you want? Really?

OK, here's a clue for you: it won't matter to me what you call your channel. As soon as BSG ends this week, I won't have any reason to tune in. And since the only way I learn about new programming on your channel is from the ads that run during shows I do watch, the likelihood that I'll be back is pretty small.

I didn't know you guys ran wrestling. Are you really doing that? There's no other channel that might be more appropriate for wrestling, or already have a viewer base that watches that? Are you kidding?

But yeah, that explains a lot. Same thing goes for reality shows...it's a good thing you guys are pioneering that genre, since nobody else is doing it.

But credit where it's due: SciFi has produced some original movies. They really suck, but at least you're trying. And I'm sure a small number of people are really excited about yet another Stargate series. But think what you could do if you focused more on being different from all the other channels clogging up cable/satellite right now.

So good luck with the rebranding...you'll need it. And I'm sure SyFy Kids will be a ratings bonanza for you.

Fools.

That's the stupidest thing they could do.

I'm not sure if anyone now this, but in Poland (where Sci Fi is quite a popular channel) word "Syfy" means "Sh*t" (in plural) :P

Worst idea ever. Please dont do this! SciFi actually means something, syfy is just branded crap that sounds like a teenager came up with it.

* anyone know, of course :)

Dumb move NBC Universal. When newbies are channe surfing and see Sci-Fi they know exactly what it is. Whey they see SyFy what will they think? ... another food channel, some ethnic channel, siffy... what is that? good lord, what were you thinking?

This is exactly what I expect from the programming geniuses that put wrestling on SciFi.

There are plenty of brilliant SF writers who would work for pizza to provide stunning content for a true SF channel. When will someone ever figure out that good writers are not hard to find and not too expensive. You've just been looking in the wrong places.

It astounds me to think of what you could do with a modest budget by inviting great writers to participate.

From my work with the studio and hollywood types in the past, it was always clear that they had no real clue about what the SF community is really about. There have been, what, *two* shows with decent writing in the last 15-20 YEARS. The SF community is so used to drivel, they accept whatever drips out of the tail end of the beast.

So many opportunities lost.

Thank goodness you waited until Forrest Ackerman passed away before you made this change. He coined the word "SciFi". In my opinion, he would not like what you have just done with it. Of course, your lawyers and most of your staff have probably have never heard of Mr. Ackerman. That's another one of your problems. You don't know your market.

in Polish "syfy" is a plural form of "syphilis" :)

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Get ready for the sh*t channel :D Cosmic SyFy (sh*ts)

It is really stupid to rename the network after all these years unless they were going to change the direction of the network like "Spike" did. The name was already in use for years at SyFy Portal.com and although it looked and worked good as a name there, looks stupid here as if they are trying to "dumb down" the network. But that is believable when you add wrestling to a network when it has nothing to do with Sci Fi. The name has been Sci Fi Network for years. It is stupid to change it now after all these years to just this simpler spelling. NBC/Universal you make enough money without trying to brand the network with a stupid looking name which in essence will make the channel look like a joke. If it had been called this from the start, it would have been a different story. And by the way quit lieing about where the name came from. We SciFi fans have been familiar with SyFy Portal for years. We know where the name originated.

Effing stupid idea. Sci-fi works. Don't change it. All you're going to do is confuse and alienate people.

@JavaDouche If that were a channel, I would watch it...

Dont worry, this channel has so many great shows to keep its audience around. "I work at roto rooter!"

Imagine Greater

(We do, we did, and we were!)

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Bad move, "SyFy."

What the heck is wrong with you guys?

Someone should be fired on recommending that name. Why dont you just change it to SyeFye, or how about EyeSpye or PsiFigh or SlyFive or Stu-Pid.

Leave the original name alone. It has a brand and following.

This is just another attempt on the part of the idiot woman running the network to tak the network further away from actual Sci Fi. With Sci Fi as the name it limits what can be shown on the network. By renaming the network they can now feed us more crap like they do on Saturday night by claiming they now have a broader definition with their name change. Go back and take a look at how the channel started and return to tha. And by the way what ever happened to you all broadcasting all of the Star Trek shows like you claimed you were years ago. Why does Spike get to broadcast them and Sci Fi doesn't. I suggest everyone keep referring to Sci Fi Channel as that even after the name change. Don't spell it their way. We all know how to Spell Sci Fi and it isn't SyFy. Thanks a lot Hinman for selling them the name. Now we have to put up with what will likely result in fewer quality shows. And to the people running the network. I am a big Sci Fi fan. But I do not watch your channel nearly as much as I used to for one simple reason. You have forgotten what the channel is about. Maybe if you refocused the channel back to it's original idea things would improve. And start airing quality programming. BSG is one of the few well written programs on the network. The rest of the time we get crap like the saturday night movies and Ghost Hunters. We Want Quality. Not the cheapest thing you can produce.

I feel dumber for having read this. SyFy? Really? REALLY???

How about, instead of spending money on bad marketing advice, you invest a little more in your programming? All the "SciFi Channel exclusive movies" that just SUCK (Frankenfish? Really?) could instead be replaced with, oh, at least C or D grade movies instead of the crap you're currently producing.

Imagine Greater?
Greater What?
Greater Sh*t?
More than likely!

If they get rid of the Twilight Zone marathon on New Year's Eve, I am so totally out.

As a long time Sci-Fi channel fan and marketing major this is very disappointing. The entire purpose of having different TV channels is to have different types of programming on each one. By changing to an all inclusive generic channel they will lose viewers instead of gaining them. People want to be able to turn on a channel and have an idea of what will be on it. They are taking a brand they have built up over 16 years and completely changing it, which will eliminate their major viewer base in the process.

If I worked in their marketing department, I would have them immediately drop all the stupid reality shows, wrestling, ghost hunters, etc. and focus on Sci-Fi. They will have no competition since no other channels have regular Sci-Fi programming.

So typical. Why not give it a stupid name to go along with the stupid programming.

SciFi channel jumped the shark when it cancelled Farscape, SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and so many more.

If it weren't for reruns I doubt I'd ever watch this channel anymore.

This is GREAT news for producers. Can't wait to pitch my "syfy" movies to them!

Bravo to the suits for breaking out of the pigeonhole. :-)

I bet the reason they did this is cause kids these days don't know how to spell anymore. Why don't we just switch up the rest of the English language to be strictly phonetic... oh wait... "ph" makes an "f" sound...? How degrading.

this feels so much like idiocracy its almost funny... if only it werent so sad.

This is typical of most of the cable networks. Soapnet now shows programming that is not not Soap Opera related. MTV show too much programming that doesn't contain videos. And Fox News doesn't contain News. The problem is there are just too many Networks out there vying for the same ad dollars and there just not enough to go around. As a result we get programming which is cheaply made and usually the quality suffers. Close down some of these extra Discovery, ESPN, MTV and other channels when all we need is one of them. Shut down the CW. If anyone wonders why Network programs don't do as well as they used to why programs on the SciFi network to don't do better. It's because there is just too much out there to watch now, and unfortunately most of it is crap. Fewer Cable channels will result in more money for the rest and in some cases better quality programming

Just unbelievable. The Channel that I started out loving is now full falling apart. I think my biggest question might be is, Mr. Howe, do you, or for that matter have you EVER not only watched SciFi shows? Or EVER liked them or been a fan? Because from what you have been doing the last few years the Obvious answer is NO.

SciFi fans are not like regular TV watchers, we are loyal to the shows we love, voice our opinion when we are unhappy and truly mean what we say when we tell you that we LIKE science fiction.

We don't want to watch wrestling, or reality shows, there are plenty of networks that do that. We came here because you said you would provide quality SCIENCE FICTION programming, but while you have had some good programs, you have this bad habit if canceling them too soon, and from a marketing stand point that is just stupid.

Take the Star Trek model. Did you EVER happen to notice that approx. around year 5, they started a new spinoff, ran the new show for the last 2 years of the first show, then when the first show ended, the spinoff had it's audience. Did you not notice how well that worked with SG-1 and Atlantis? so you thought by ending a great show like SGA early, then waiting 9 months to show the new spinoff it would endear people to you?

I cant even fully express my disappointment in your channel, and now to hear the stupidity of changing the name of the channel, that name that has gotten you the fans you have (that you are driving away mind you). Did it ever occur to you that when someone does a search for Scifi on the internet your website now comes up first. So, thankfully, in the future when someone does a search for it..at least your stupid new name SyFy, will not hopefully show up so we can at least find REAL science fiction.

Attention SciFi channel:
People keep commenting on this even though you put a bunch of new articles up. Take the hint.

Are you kidding!!!

"...beyond just the traditional sci-fi genre, including fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure."

I watch this network to see sci-fi shows - not fantasy or paranormal. I want to see space ships and aliens! I want to see outer-space, the future, alternative time lines, nano-tech and robots!

The great Rod Serling said: "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."

"nonlinear digital platforms" is a HORRIBLE bit of marketspeak and anybody who uses it should be shot.

Whoever is responsible for this cackup idea should be fired.
Whatever focus group said it sounded like a good idea should be retired.
This is how new channels are born- when existing channels do stupid things like this.

Why not just make it SiFi

SyFy has been and always will be the name that I connect to Michael Hinman. They would have done wise by actually offering SyFy Portal a chance to Merge and combine efforts.

What a bunch of Corporate stupidity. Thanks for your socialistic attitude boo boo boo. I have been a long time fan of Sci-fi as well as many of my friends and this idea is the worse any of us have ever seen.

Its as bad as the baloney that MTV, G4, and some of the major channels I used to watch but no longer do because of their ignorance.
As for other stupid things.... GET WRESTLING OFF SCI-FI and RECONSIDER the name change.

GET RID OF DAVE HOWE if he really is that stupid and does not know his own market or group. Get on track for the future, don't suffer the idignities and errors made by others.

I realize making money is important during hard economic times, but changing the backbone of a company begins to unravel all the support that you have gained.

Think about it, I like "Imagine greater" but build off what works not "Imagine More Because we are Stupid"

Syfy? Way to lame up the channel's name.
Can't think of anything good to say about this change.

This is beyond retarded.

and you wonder why my handle says "no more garbage". that's exactly what this network run institution has given us since this website went live! it's not the first time either!

a few days ago there was another in a LONG line of articles on this site about how horrific 'Watchmen' would be. as someone pointed out NBC/Universal--err, "sci fi network" has been saying for a good 8 months why the film will tank.

I say to everyone who is posting here JUST STOP! they don't care what your opinion is. if they did a response would've been drafted after 500 negative comments, but it hasn't been. there are no real writers working on staff. only raving fanboys who do what they are told and if not their cool toys are taken away.

stay away. STOP posting and hopefully another network will offer a legitmate science fiction channel in the future.

I don't know what's more embarrassing, how stupid the new name is, or the fact that a company full of supposedly educated people don't know that the new name is pronounced "Siffy" not sci-fi, like they want it to be. It's like calling someone named Fred the name Bob, and saying it's the same thing. I can't believe not one person at SCI FI Channel didn't catch that. Aside from that, everyone is already referring to the new name as Siffy, or Sfy-eye (which should be treated immediately if you ever get it, by the way), so the new name is already a joke, and it hasn't even launched yet. I can only "imagine greater" how much money is being wasted on this ridiculous rebranding. It really is shocking how anything like this could have been approved at any level.

Also, it is mentioned that SCI FI Channel wishes to continue to "embrace its core audience," but what you've done is just the opposite, proven by all of the posts here. None of the posts, which come directly from your viewers (your core audience) are favorable. They are all negative, which should tell you something. This is a BIG mistake. If the name must be changed, simply change it to something like SFN, which could stand for Sci-Fi Network or Sci-fi/Fantasy Network, and not be so ignorant and childish looking, like Syfy. Syfy looks like someone can't spell sci-fi, or has no idea what sci-fi stands for. It's just promoting ignorance, which is sad.

If SCI FI Channel no longer wants to be associated with sci-fi, then move away from it completely. Don't try to keep your foot in the door with that laughable new name. All you're doing with the Syfy name is exploiting the genre. You're not only destroying a brand you've been building for sixteen years, but tainting the science fiction genre in general. You're making it look childish with that ridiculous Syfy name, chipping away at the respect that has been building for the genre in recent years.

You cancelled Farscape, cancelled Stargate SG-1, and cancelled Stargate Atlantis. Those were all bad decisions as well. And you're losing Battlestar Galactica. You've made the decision to get rid of all of your best shows, while keeping lesser shows on the air. I like BSG, but Caprica looks questionable, as does Stargate Universe. Warehouse 13, frankly, looks like a low budget bomb. I hope I'm wrong about all of those shows, but I know I'm not wrong when I say the last thing this channel needs is more idiotic reality TV or 100 ft. snake of the week movies. Who watches that? What the channel needs is more quality programming. How sad is it that some of the best sci-fi/fantasy shows in recent years haven't even been SCI FI Channel shows, but shows from other networks? Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Legend of the Seeker, Heroes, and Chuck, for example. All good shows, but not SCI FI Channel shows. I know Heores and Chuck are NBC, which owns SCI FI, and that SCI FI shows Firefly reruns, just as it shows new Doctor Who episodes from BBC, but none of them are original SCI FI Channel shows. The original shows are pretty much all gone now, except for Eureka and Sanctuary (which actually started on the Internet).

I hope someone at SCI FI Channel is seeing these posts, and realizes that the posts that are here are giving you valuable information about just what a bad decision this move is. If not, this Web site should pass these posts along to someone with the power to stop this before it happens (How long do you think it will be before the Siffy name comes to this Web site?). Like I said, the Syfy name is already a joke, being called Siffy, Syf-eye, etc., before it's even launched. It's not too late to change your minds, and save face. Don't become a laughing stock. If you must change your name, change it to SFN and keep your diginity.

Siffy - Imagine Lamer... Trust all of us, your core audience, on this one, before you no longer have an audience at all.

wow, a channel that will show sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, reality, mystery, action and adventure. That totally doesn't sound like every other channel on television.

I shed a tear for the loss of a good channel

Yeah, this is dumb! Stop listening to broadcasting consultants "Experts" and executives. They don't know what their talking about. Syfy makes it look like you were in public schools over the last 8 years. It is insulting to Sci-Fi fans everywhere. You had the coolest name ever, and now you throw it away. Any publicity is good publicity, but this is STUPID publicity and makes you guys look like dummies.

Terrible. It's all been said, but the day they stopped showing quality science fiction, and started showing non-stop, scripted reality-like TV shows (ghost hunters?) and wrestling, they lost a fan. My wife and I were considering dumping cable, but SciFi was the one channel I held out hope for returning quality. Now that they are SyFy, I'm finally able to dump my cable and not care. I've worked with re-branding organizations before. This is called putting lipstick on a pig. You can't rebrand yourself out of stink without ponying up for quality entertainment. Let the other channels have the schlock and stop this madness before you wither away and die. This reminds me of just about every decision the company Palm made in recent years. Just digging yourself deeper into a hole, not innovating, and complaining that no one gets your new "image." -- disappointed former fan of Sci Fi

yuck

Seriously Mr. Sci-Fi channel, you're changing your name to SyFy? Who gave you a ride in the lame-mobile?

Listen to me. People who read science fiction want to watch it on TV. They want the intelligent, wondrous, plot-filled, well-constructed stuff they read ON THE SCREEN. They do not want to watch wrestling.

You folks have been the "Sci-Fi-Less" channel in my house for some time now. I very much doubt this name change will change that fact.

Somewhere, Bjo Trimble is alternatively laughing her ass off and crying in her pretzels.

Uhhh...Editors...Anybody...Are you guys getting this? Any comments from you?. About a billion nos. And no yeas. Anything to say. Respond please.

They are building on their success, and then undoing it completely with this awful, awful, awful, awful, horrible rebranding. Seriously, whoever you hired to come up with this needs to be barred from branding forever. "Imagine Better" makes "Think Different" Shakespearean in comparison.

I hope this is a joke.

DIDNT SUPRISE ME AT ALL CONSIDERING SOME OF THE MOVIES THEVE BEEN SHOWING I'LL MISS YA SCIFI CHANNEL HOPEFULLY SOMEONE ELSE CREATES A CHANNEL TO TAKE SCIFIS PLACE

Wow.. I read this today on DIGG and felt physically sick. And like many others, I did check if it was april 1st already... but alas like many others before me, it wasn't.

Whoever is the moron exec that authorized this name change, should be tossed into the street, way to alienate your customer base. Who came up with this turd? SyFy? wtf... insult peoples intelligence and then toss on wrestling and call it SyFyMania!

Its really sad to see that SciFi is going downhill like this, its one of the last channels that I watched regularly due to the great SciFi shows like BSG, SGA and Eureka.

Is it april fools or are the same fools who didnt keep BSG going forever running this channel now. This could be the dumbest idea of all time

Bloody retarded.

Wrestling and Ghosts/Paranormal crap has slowly rotted away at the SCI-FI (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) heart of the channel.

There is no decent source for this anymore.

Syfy, you are dead to me. I'm glad Battlestar is finishing so that it's not sullied by this stupid change.

Also, I hope Stargate moves permanently to a new home.

Can't believe you stupid people doing another step away from the MAIN PURPOSE of your channel and further alienating your viewership.

You have got to be frakking kidding me. Oh, well. As far as I'm concerned, Sci-Fi stopped being a science fiction channel the moment it began broadcasting pro wrestling. Might as well stop pretending and follow the dumbing-down branding trend of deliberately misspelling words for effect.

Idiots. Is there one positive comment in all this? looks like you marketing boys and girls missed the fallout on this one in your weekly dashboard meetings!

What a shame....

I hope the SYFY idiot execs take the time to read each and every post (doubt it), or maybe count the amount of negative to positive posts.

I agree with everyone here that it all started with trying for ratings grabs with wrestling. However, though I used to leave scifi on all the time, I now have to switch it off.. happens more and more often as they ad more and more junk

This is a case of moron executives and bean counter run amok. SyFy? REALLY? Are we that retarded? BSG was the only reason I watched this channel. Now with wrestling and the steaming pile of shit movies of the month they make, I'll have no reason to waste my time on this channel. I have a feeling that in their attempt at finding new viewers, they will find the back of the unemployment line.

It's the New Coke of television. Looks nice, but tastes bad.

I've known this for a long, long time. The new Battlestar Galactica was an accident. The place has been run by idiots and fools since the beginning and it has only gotten worse. Now, "Syfy." The name now reflects the content: A steaming, putrid pile of refuse.

Yet this decision is still remarkable for its sheer, inspired idiocy. The SciFi channel was why I had cable in the first place. Without BSG and with "Syfy," there's no point in keeping it.

At long last, they've succeeded in destroying themselves.

Once BSG is done this Friday, I am done watching the syfy channel.

That logo is terrible. The only thing it's missing is a stupid "BETA" sticker on the side...you should add that in to get that oh-so important tween crowd to watch your stupid channel.

How utterly, utterly pointless.

terrible. i'm done with this channel. first wrestling. then stupid super hero reality shows. now this? i'm out.

OK, 3am and the marketing people are all coked up this must have seemed like a greate idea. Now in the sobering daylight admit your mistake and back away from it quickly.

dumb, dumb, dumb

OK, 3am and the marketing people are all coked up this must have seemed like a greate idea. Now in the sobering daylight admit your mistake and back away from it quickly.

dumb, dumb, dumb

What focus group did they pass this by who thought this was a good idea? Were they on X? or were they preteen school girls?

Please, please tell me this is a joke! For the love of GOD!

Bottom line SciFi.... When you go SyFy, we go ByBy.

DEAD AND BURIED!

I couldn't believe it when I read this. I had to read it twice to believe it. What an unspeakable disaster this is!

How could this have happened?

The one channel in a sea of crappy tv networks that I USED TO look forward to watching. I waited years for the SciFi Channel to make it to Boston and when it finally did around 1998/99 (round about the time Farscape debuted) I was thrilled to death. I religiously watched that station for years and years. At first it was a rewarding experience--only diminishing a little bit over the years until about few years ago.

When they started putting the aforementioned reality shows like Ghosthunters, Mad Mad House, Who Wants To Be A Superhero, etc., and then WWE Wrestling, that was really the beginning of the end of this once venerated network. It didn't help matters either that every movie of the week was Monster X vs. Monster Y, or a new disaster flick, etc.

What happened to Farscape, First Wave, Good vs. Evil, Invisible Man, The [new] Outer Limits, the Stargates (that are about the stargates, I'm not bothering with SGU or should I say, SG Voyager), Firefly, Babylon 5, Highlander, Night Stalker, Forever Knight, The Chronicle, and a host of good shows? Some of these were from other networks and either rebroadcasted on SciFi or moved over to it, either way, that's what was so great about the channel: it was a "safe haven" for awesome science fiction/fantasy shows to continue on.

And God bless Ron D. Moore for ending Galactica this Friday on HIS OWN TERMS. He has the guts to do what's right by the show he nurtured and made us all love and never regret investing 6 years our lives into it!

This cross-branding channel-marketing BS is not SciFi. Heck, it isn't anything but a paltry attempt to make a quick buck off of our hopes and dreams. It's extortion! Plain and simple. We waited years for a channel like SciFi to come, and when it finally did, we had a brief honeymoon, but now the marriage is "frakkin'" over.

Divorce!

That's it. And I thought Bonnie Hammer was a bad top exec over there back in the day: she killed Farscape if you recall.

Now the "emperor finally has no clothes." This is it. Once BSG is done; so am I. I'm not bothering with Caprica either. I'm just going to have to start my own SciFi Channel. Thanks to the Internet that is going to be so much easier to pull off.

Good bye "SyFy-iis!" We don't need you any more...

[As I play Triumph's, Say Goodbye in the background!]

Less science fiction content -- I dub thee "siffy-less."

The Syfylis channel...Blahahahaha.

I love it Mikey G.

Don't become what G4, MTV, Discovery, and other channels have. Stay with your roots. Hopefully once the realization sets in that the name change and program liquidation are going to make things worse, the channel owners can be rest assured that changing back is still an option. Don't bullhead your way into loosing everyone important. I always considered SciFi (and I will continue to call it that even after the change) to be a safe haven amongst the channels. Now, seeing this, I am loosing faith in television as a means of good entertainment.

Before when it was called "sci-fi" I wouldn't go near it. But now that someone is calling it "syfy", now I want it! It's cool now! Oh, oh, AND look at all the neat things it now incorporates!

So when I talk about it, make sure you don't misunderstand when I say "sci-fi" I really mean "syfy".

I frakking swear the first time I see a 'reality' show listed on that channel, i'm dropping it forever. Dumbasses.

I LOVE IT

...no...wait...uh...

Bad idea. Terrible tag line. So sad...

This better be an early warning for an april fools joke.

Really? They want to become another generic cable channel? Why? Dont these idiots know the only reason they are successful is because of SciFi shows like Stargate and Battlestar Galactica? What a bunch of idiots executives shooting their network in the foot.

I actually heard someone pronounce sci-fi as "skyfi" once.Are these the people you're hoping to attract?So, when it comes down to it,all this is about is a brand name to make money off? I guess we should be thankful the nutsacks that came up with this weren't smart enough to put an "X" in the name. You know they tried,

Thats ok...BSG will be over soon. Its the only reason to tune in to the channel anyway. I mean unless you want to watch Stealth Pterodactyls starring Coolio. NBC should just pull the plug all together.

I’ve been following this discourse since the article came out yesterday and I’m surprised at the number of responses. Most are heartfelt and erudite. Well written criticism that is sincere and strikes at the heart of the matter. And that’s exactly why we’re losing the battle. The execs want to dumb down the content, broaden the base and make the whole mess more acceptable to the mindless masses. They will figure out too late that when you make your programming indistinguishable from that of the other channels you’ll just get the 30 second look from the channel surfing illiterates with zero disposable income and no viewer loyalty. It all comes down to dollars and cents and when those dry up (and they will, I promise you) your staff members can use ‘Imagine Greater’ and all those other lovely buzzables in their résumés.

Going the way of MTV I see, a channel that doesn't show what it's named after. So change the name to something mispelled, that'll attract the audience of people stupid enough to watch the reality bullshit.

Genius, the channel will be off the air in no time.

Well you can call it the XYZ network for all I care it still doesn’t address the problem. You want to have a marketable brand name that’s fine, go for it… SyFy it is. But the problem is you have NOTHING to market. You currently produce ONE marketable show, BSG. That show ends this Friday. After that all you have is a full slate of Grade-D but edible Sci-Fi shows, really bad reality programs, and wrestling.

The follow up announcement from the Executives at the SyFy network had better be a fall programming slate with at least 2 hours of prime time programming a night, that will contain meaningful, well produced, well written, imaginative, intelligent, and engaging programming or all of this will be for not. You all currently have a slate of pure crap, and like so many of the other posters here on this thread, I only tune in your network for Battlestar, and Dr. Who. Oh wait, that’s right, BBC produces Dr. Who you all just air the US First run.

Take the hint SyFy programming gods. Your views are not happy with your network, and if you are going to try to take a brand name global, make sure you have a fracken product to market, rather then just a silly play on words “brand name.”

Ghost Hunters wouldn't be so boring if they actually found a ghost.

GOOD GOD that is a dumb name! Siffy sounds like a venereal Disease, for god's sake. Did you guys actually pay someone to come up with a spelling that needs to be mispronounced to be your name so you can copyright it?

"Image grater" indeed! You've shredded your brand.

This is a joke...right ? Somebody please tell me the Sci-fi channel is not stupid enough to think that this new name Syfy is a good idea...Oh wait these are the same people that added wrestling and cancelled Farscape...my bad.

I'm going to second everyone's opinion on this page for safety but hold to the idea this is just too stupid to be true.

"Without abandoning our legacy or our core audience..."

Bull.

Its obvious that these corporate knuckleheads don't know or care what their viewers want... Please someone forward these comments to the fat heads who are destroying good peoples lives....

Wow. What a terrible idea.

Dave Howe and whoever else came up with this should be fired immediately.

Bad name. Worse tagline.

I can't "Imagine Worser" or "Imagine Stupider" than this.

Lets not forget this little gem that Tim Brooks said before:
“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,”