Note to Network Executives......
Mar. 17th, 2009 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patgundAs a rule of thumb, saying snotty things about the audience you're trying to attact is a Very Bad Idea, particularly when you're trying to attract new viewers/
Sci Fi Channel Aims to Shed Geeky Image With New Name
So, instead of going for people who happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy, they want to go instead for people who happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy, but don't like admitting they happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy. *FACEPLANT*
Not only do they not get it, they don't know what it is, and wouldn't recognize it if it came up and started chewing on their buttocks.
Which means they've had executives that never had the slightest clue about their audience. Which explains why, with a couple exceptions, most of their programming have blown large amounts of dead penguins.
"SyFy" sounds like a name for a particularly embarassing form of venereal disease. ("Yeah, I had a lover that gave me a bad case of SyFy. It was horrible, I was on three kinds of antibiotics and had to soak my underwear in iodine for a month") It doesn't sound "hip, cutting-edge, bang-on", unless the network executive is thinking the kind of "bang-on" that involves his executive assistant, his desk, and five gallons of astroglide. Which makes sense, because they certainly have been screwing over their audience for a while.
Also completely lacking in anything even remotely like "Originality" I suspect. But originality wouldn't be "accessible, relatable, fun" now, would it? Hint #2 - give people decent shows and original programming and they will watch it. Most of the time, picking though SciFi Channel's programming for the one or two good ones is like picking though a Porta-Potty's holding tank for undigested corn and loose change.
After all is said and done, I have to ask the burning question of WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SUGAR FROSTED CRACK FLAKES WERE THESE IDIOTS SMOKING??????
It's been suspected for a long time that the executives at SciFi Network have a deep-seated hatred of their core audience, and they've just openly confirmed the fact.
On edit, John Scalzi rocks.
Sci Fi Channel Aims to Shed Geeky Image With New Name
“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.
Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.
“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”
So, instead of going for people who happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy, they want to go instead for people who happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy, but don't like admitting they happen to like Science Fiction / Fantasy. *FACEPLANT*
Not only do they not get it, they don't know what it is, and wouldn't recognize it if it came up and started chewing on their buttocks.
"Mr. Howe said Sci Fi looks at its branding every couple of years. He added that when new executives join the network, they usually ask if it has ever thought about changing the name."
Which means they've had executives that never had the slightest clue about their audience. Which explains why, with a couple exceptions, most of their programming have blown large amounts of dead penguins.
“When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you’d text it,” Mr. Howe said. “It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.”
"SyFy" sounds like a name for a particularly embarassing form of venereal disease. ("Yeah, I had a lover that gave me a bad case of SyFy. It was horrible, I was on three kinds of antibiotics and had to soak my underwear in iodine for a month") It doesn't sound "hip, cutting-edge, bang-on", unless the network executive is thinking the kind of "bang-on" that involves his executive assistant, his desk, and five gallons of astroglide. Which makes sense, because they certainly have been screwing over their audience for a while.
"The network plans to make the changeover July 7, when it will launch the new series “Warehouse 13.”
The series, about a secret government facility in South Dakota where all mysterious relics and supernatural souvenirs are housed, is emblematic of the channel’s programming direction.
“It is a dramedy and it is set in the here and now. It’s a kind of an Indiana Jones meets ‘Moonlighting’ meets ‘The X-Files,’” Mr. Howe said. “This is a very accessible, relatable, fun show.”
Also completely lacking in anything even remotely like "Originality" I suspect. But originality wouldn't be "accessible, relatable, fun" now, would it? Hint #2 - give people decent shows and original programming and they will watch it. Most of the time, picking though SciFi Channel's programming for the one or two good ones is like picking though a Porta-Potty's holding tank for undigested corn and loose change.
After all is said and done, I have to ask the burning question of WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SUGAR FROSTED CRACK FLAKES WERE THESE IDIOTS SMOKING??????
It's been suspected for a long time that the executives at SciFi Network have a deep-seated hatred of their core audience, and they've just openly confirmed the fact.
On edit, John Scalzi rocks.
"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."
