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New logo for the Sci-Fi Channel.Being sci-fi nuts you all have, no doubt, noticed that the Sci-Fi Channel has changed its spelling to SyFy, much to the chagrin of its audience.
The change came about after a long running debate among the channel's top executives, who claim that the old spelling was not copyrightable.
In a NY Times article (dated March 15th), former President of the Sci-Fi Channel and now President of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Bonnie Hammer said, "We couldn't own Sci-Fi—it's a genre. But we can own SyFy. We don't have to re-invent the wheel here, because it's similar enough to the Sci-Fi brand to convey continuity to all of the fan-boys and girls who love the genre."
In the same article, Sci-Fi President Dave Howe added, "We had sat through many meetings over the years and many people felt that the Sci-Fi name was limiting. If you ask people their default perceptions of Sci-Fi, they list space, aliens, and the future. That didn't capture the full landscape of fantasy entertainment: the paranormal, the supernatural, action & adventure, and superheroes. The brand needed refreshing."
According to media research company, SNL Kagan, Sci-Fi had 95.2 million subscribers last year, compared to 93 million in 2007 and 88.2 million in 2006. Estimates place advertising revenue at $423.9 million last year. According to the numbers this is a very successful brand.
Tweaking a brand is very difficult and risky, as the recent PepsiCo branding debacle reminds us. Their decision to change their package design on Tropicana orange juice had shoppers enraged, vociferously complaining until the company caved and reverted their packaging back to the original design. Mr. Howe vows that that won't happen with SyFy. "The testing we've done has been incredibly positive."
As an advertising executive I can understand the reasons for the spelling change. Yet, as a sci-fi fan, I wonder if this isn't adding another notch in the dumbing down of America. After all, the term "sci-fi", an abbreviation of the category term science fiction, has been around since the 1960's (at least). The term was coined by Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine's publisher and editor Forrest J. Ackerman, or so he claims. It's only logical to assume that the abbreviation's been around longer than that— probably as far back as the 1800's when the grandfathers of science fiction Jules Verne and H.G. Wells popularized the genre.
What do you think? Participate in the poll and let me know. The results will be posted next month.
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