There are times in one’s life when one must stand up and make some noise. As a witness and critic of pop culture in all its forms, I’ve yet let many moments slide by without comment because I felt they weren’t of enough import — the cancellation of Angel, the new Star Wars trilogy, the “Dumbledore’s gay” backlash — these stories passed without any need for me to speak up, for the rest of the geek universe was right there covering it all just fine.
However, this time I have to add my voice to the uproar: The Sci-Fi channel’s rebranding itself to “Syfy” is just plain wrong. Why? I’m glad you asked!
First, when you’re pursuing a niche audience — which science fiction enthusiasts most definitely are, despite the fact that the beleagured genre has existed for well over 40 years now — you have to accept them on their own terms. You try to adopt their customs and present them with new things wrapped in those customs. If they feel they’re not being treated with the proper respect, they’ll drop your efforts like so much exposed strontium-90. Changing the brand after 16 years isn’t just stupid, it’s bad marketing. Who does this serve? People who want this content will find it via word-of-mouth, not because of some aborted attempt at seeming hip.
Second, I’ve always hated the term “Sci-fi” anyway, because of the simple pronunciation. You don’t pronounce the “i” in “fiction” as a long vowel, so changing it just for the purposes of a rhyme is ridiculous. And then to change it to this? When I see the word “syfy”, I can never settle for myself what it should sound like. “see-fee”? “sigh-fee”? “siffee”? I guarantee you that the traditional pronunciation is the last thing that pops into my head.
Finally, why rebrand at all? I feel comfortable in saying that that channel has gotten the entirety of its audience by now. Rebranding at this point will turn away existing audience members while failing to generate new ones. It’s not now, and never has been about what the place is called, but rather their content. And the people who brought you “Mansquito” have pretty much dug their graves long before this.
Take a look at the buzz, Network Formerly Known as Sci-Fi. Listen to your constituency. The sound you hear is that of a million voices crying out in unison, then suddenly turning away in disgust.
Comments
madroxxx
March 17th, 2009 - 4:32:52 PM
reads "sifee" to me. i'm not much of a 'channel formerly known as sci-fi' enthusiast to begin with, so eh.. but i like your gusto. first they came for the trekkies and, i did nothing then they came for the jedi, and i did nothing then they came for our sci-fi channel, and i did... job well done mr. talamasca
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Nate
March 18th, 2009 - 8:37:09 AM
I do not understand it either, but I guarantee it will not turn away anyone that is an existing fan of their shows. And there are definitely people that skip the channel altogether because of its negative "oh I don't like science fiction because it is for nerds" and something like this may help the ignorant forget what they are looking at just long enough to get interested.
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xanatos451
August 4th, 2009 - 2:06:56 PM
@Nate Doubtful. Ignorance will blissfully go on to other channels that show craptastic reality programming because it typically is all they can process. Complex plots, dynamic and interesting characters thrown into a realm outside of the little boxes they think in is too much for such people. Sci-Fi watchers aren't elitists. We just can't stand being force fed the same crap that is on the other 900+ channels out there. Give us one of our own and show us what we actually came here to watch. My 2 cents.
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