elsewhere/media relations: beyond scifi

[iainpj]

Sci Fi Channel Has a New Name - Now, It's Syfy - NYTimes.com
By STUART ELLIOTT

FOR years, television viewers, journalists who write about TV and services that compile listings have wondered how to refer to a certain cable network: Sci Fi Channel? Sci-Fi Channel? SciFi Channel? SCI FI Channel? Soon, to paraphrase Rod Serling — whose vintage series, "The Twilight Zone," is a mainstay of the Sci Fi Channel — executives will submit for public approval another name, not only of sight and sound but of mind, meant to signal a channel whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead — your next stop, Syfy....

Media Relations: beyond scifi/ March 16, 2009:

...Actually, I'm pretty sure that this will convey to "the fan-boys and -girls who love the genre" the opportunity to relentlessly mock the corporate overlords at NBC Universal. Because, seriously, Syfy? Seriously? Seriously?

NBC Universal has been searching ceaselessly for a way to rebrand SciFi almost since they bought it. [...] it's clear that SciFi's corporate overlords ardently desired a way to rebrand and trademark the channel for ... well, that's just it. What does having a trademark in a television channel get you, exactly? The right to run around telling the kids to get off your intellectual property lawn? What?

With this name change, NBC Universal manages to inflict upon itself the worst of all possible worlds....

Comments

[nonelvis]

Your column is dead-on. This is a moronic change, it won't do a damned thing to affect people's perceptions of what science fiction is, and even the trademark rationale is stupid -- after all, they could have trademarked "The SciFi Network," even if they can't trademark "SciFi" itself.

This quote, to me, sums up the stupidity of the entire situation: “The testing we’ve done has been incredibly positive,” Mr. Howe said of the Syfy name, reading what he described as a comment from one participant: “If I were texting, this is how I would spell it.”

Because kids who can't spell are their target audience, apparently.

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

I, for one, feel a lot better about watching the catchily named Syfy network. Indeed, I'm going to celebrate by breaking out a few bottles of New Coke that I keep in the trunk of my Mustang II.