sci fi channel, what the heck is WRONG with you???

[Talia]

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=17736

have the governing forces over there suffered severe brain damage recently? This is mindbogglingly stupid.

[DKT]

Have they ever been really smart?

[Heradel]

Have they ever been really smart?

Programming ST:TOS for when I got home from elementary school and greenlighting SG-1, Eureka, and Galactica appear to have used all of the smarts up.

[stePH]

Have they ever been really smart?

Programming ST:TOS for when I got home from elementary school and greenlighting SG-1, Eureka, and Galactica appear to have used all of the smarts up.

Wasn't SG-1 originally on Showtime, and later moved to the Skiffy channel?

Fuck those bitches anyway.  Galactica's almost over, and then I'm done.

[Zathras]

Does that mean that they won't have ECW on Tuesday nights now?

[DKT]

Yeah, SG-1 was on a cable channel initially. Can't remember which one, only that I was surprised that all of a sudden breasts were being shown.

Sci-Fi channel has done a few smart things, like greenlighting BSG. What I find interesting is that these days network TV seems to be in love with SciFi, while the SyFy channel seems to be scared of it.

[stePH]

Somebody on another board quoted this bit from John Scalzi:

That said, I think they might have picked a better name. Apparently one of the motivating factors to change the name from “scifi” to a phase-changing-vowel-filled homonym was to have a name that was trademarkable and extensible, and it seems no one else in the world actually uses the word “syfy” for anything. Well, except Poland, where the word is used to identify crusty, scabby sexually transmitted diseases, and no, this is not a joke. No one there is going to use the word to associate with their product, any more than someone here might try to market, say, Chlamydia™  brand adhesive bandages.

Note to SciFi Channel: when your new brand identity means “venereal disease” in any language, it’s the sort of thing that — excuse the term — gets around.

Full entry at http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/03/17/the-venereal-disease-channel-imaginatizes-greatastically/

[Zathras]

Nova.

[stePH]

Nova.

Input not understood.  Please resubmit in BASIC.

[Talia]

Nova.

hahaha.

I see what you did there.

[Listener]

Somebody on another board quoted this bit from John Scalzi:

That said, I think they might have picked a better name. Apparently one of the motivating factors to change the name from “scifi” to a phase-changing-vowel-filled homonym was to have a name that was trademarkable and extensible, and it seems no one else in the world actually uses the word “syfy” for anything. Well, except Poland, where the word is used to identify crusty, scabby sexually transmitted diseases, and no, this is not a joke. No one there is going to use the word to associate with their product, any more than someone here might try to market, say, Chlamydia™  brand adhesive bandages.

Note to SciFi Channel: when your new brand identity means “venereal disease” in any language, it’s the sort of thing that — excuse the term — gets around.

Full entry at http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/03/17/the-venereal-disease-channel-imaginatizes-greatastically/

NBC paid Michael Hinman of Airlock Alpha an undisclosed sum of money for the rights to the name "Syfy", since he'd been using it on his site, SyFyPortal.com, for about a decade. Hinman's a nice enough dude; I met him a couple times.

[Zathras]

Nova.

Input not understood.  Please resubmit in BASIC.

Chevy.

[stePH]

Nova.

Input not understood.  Please resubmit in BASIC.

Chevy.

Input not understood.  Please resubmit in BASIC.

[eytanz]

10 PRINT "NOVA"

[Bdoomed]

20 GOTO 10

[Zathras]

05 X=1
10 PRINT "NOVA"
11 X=X+1
12 If X=5000 THEN GOTO 30
20 GOTO 10
30 PRINT "NO VA"
40 GOTO 05

[stePH]

Nova.

hahaha.

I see what you did there.

I still don't.

[Zathras]

05 X=1
10 PRINT "NOVA"
11 X=X+1
12 If X=5000 THEN GOTO 30
20 GOTO 10
30 PRINT "NO VA"
35 PRINT "SPANISH FOR DOESN'T GO"
40 GOTO 05

[stePH]

05 X=1
10 PRINT "NOVA"
11 X=X+1
12 If X=5000 THEN GOTO 30
20 GOTO 10
30 PRINT "NO VA"
35 PRINT "SPANISH FOR DOESN'T GO"
40 GOTO 05

Ah.  Why didn't you just say so?

[Thaurismunths]

05 X=1
10 PRINT "NOVA"
11 X=X+1
12 If X=5000 THEN GOTO 30
20 GOTO 10
30 PRINT "NO VA"
35 PRINT "SPANISH FOR DOESN'T GO"
40 GOTO 05

Ah.  Why didn't you just say so?

Because this way was funnier.

[wakela]

I hate to say it, but I bet "syfy" will scare away fewer people than "SciFi."  I don't think science fiction fans are their target audience. 

[Anarquistador]

But then, who IS their target audience any more?

What is happening to cable television? The Sci-Fi Channel doesn't show science fiction. The Cartoon Network shows live-action movies. MTV doesn't show music videos. The Discovery Channel just blows things up.

I remember when cable networks had content that was true to their names...you young whippersnappers.

[FamilyGuy]

I find it ironic when Mythbusters has a warning for science content.  I'm trying to find science content on television and they are warning people like science is a danger to them.  Granted, I do know some people whose heads would explode if they actually learned anything useful. 

Yet another reason to turn off the TV and open a book or listen to a podcast.

[stePH]

I find it ironic when Mythbusters has a warning for science content.  I'm trying to find science content on television and they are warning people like science is a danger to them.  Granted, I do know some people whose heads would explode if they actually learned anything useful. 

Just guessing here, as I've never watched Mythbusters ... but perhaps the warning for "Science content" is tongue-in-cheek, like most of the content warnings for the stories on Escape Pod, Pseudopod and Podcastle?

[wakela]

But then, who IS their target audience any more?

What is happening to cable television? The Sci-Fi Channel doesn't show science fiction. The Cartoon Network shows live-action movies. MTV doesn't show music videos. The Discovery Channel just blows things up.

I remember when cable networks had content that was true to their names...you young whippersnappers.

IMHO, their target audience is everyone.  They make their money from advertising, so the more people who see their ads the better.  Discovery figured out that more people will watch stuff blowing up than a history of aqueducts.  And as a bonus, shows where stuff blows up are much cheaper to make. 

HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime's revenue comes from subscriptions.  If you like Dexter enough to renew your subscription, they don't give a crap if you like The L-Word.  So they get to make shows with a more selective appeal.