Syfy (Sci Fi Channel)

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 10:48am on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Syfy Straying Further from Science Fiction Roots

AdAge reported on March 16, 2010:

"A year after the Sci-Fi Channel replaced its name with the more vague and therefore less limiting "Syfy," the network is also broadening its pitch to advertisers.

During its upfront presentation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York tonight, the NBC Universal cable channel will tout a slate of programs less bound to the niche of years past, announcing its first night of reality programming and other forays into science non-fiction content, as well as its growing slate of scripted sci-fi dramas and fantasies like "Warehouse 13," "Eureka" and "Battlestar Galactica" spinoff "Caprica."

"We don't want to be in the niche space; we want to be in general entertainment," Syfy President Dave Howe told Ad Age. Science fiction, fantasy and comic-book movies are, of course, already fairly general entertainment. They account for seven of the top 10 highest-grossing movies every year, Mr. Howe said. But Syfy now wants to offer more as well.

So Syfy will carry a trio of new reality shows, premiering July 15 and airing on Thursdays, that will place Syfy more in the vein of broad-based cable nets such as A&E and Discovery."

The full story:
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=142826

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 12:13pm on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Syfy Rebrand Successful So Far, AdAge reported on January 5, 2010:

"When it comes to rebrands, few were more ridiculed in 2009 than the Sci Fi Channel's much-ballyhooed switch to Syfy, a respelling that prompted an outcry of negative feedback from hardcore fans and marketing gurus alike (including our very own Adages, which asked, "Is Arnell involved in this somehow?")

But unlike the ill-fated redesign of the Tropicana logo that Peter Arnell oversaw last February and that Pepsico eventually pulled, the switch to Syfy is so far a success, with the network logging its highest-rated year, quarter (fourth) and series ("Warehouse 13") ever after its July 7 rebranding."

The full story:
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=141308

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:35pm on Friday, July 31st, 2009

Andrew Plotkin has been named senior vice president of original programming at Syfy, reporting to executive vice president Mark Stern. Plotkin was previously a development executive at Warner Bros. Television.