 Logo used since 2017 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Comcast Building,New York City,New York |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080pHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| Parent | NBCUniversal Media Group |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Founded | September 24, 1992; 32 years ago (1992-09-24) |
| Launched | September 24, 1992; 32 years ago (1992-09-24) |
| Founder | Mitchell Rubenstein Laurie Silvers |
| Former names |
|
| Links | |
| Webcast | Watch live (U.S. pay-TV subscribers only) |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Streaming Services | fuboTV,YouTube TV,Hulu with Live TV,Sling TV,DirecTV Stream |
| ClaroTV+ | (requires subscription to access content)
|
Syfy (aparaphrasedneology of former nameSci-Fi Channel, later shortened toSci Fi; stylized asSYFY in all caps since 2017)[a] is an Americanbasic cabletelevision channel, owned by theNBCUniversal Media Group division and business segment ofComcast'sNBCUniversal.[1] Launched on September 24, 1992, the channel broadcasts programming relating to thescience fiction,horror, andfantasy genres. As of November 2023[update], Syfy is available in approximately 69,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households.[2]
In 1989 inBoca Raton, Florida, communications attorneys and cable TV entrepreneurs, Mitchell Rubenstein and his business-partner wife Laurie Silvers, devised the concept for theSci-Fi Channel and signed up eight of the top ten cable TV operators. They additionally licensed exclusive rights to the British TV seriesDoctor Who (which shifted over fromPBS),Dark Shadows, and the cult seriesThe Prisoner.
In 1992, Rubenstein and Silvers sold the channel toUSA Networks, then ajoint venture betweenParamount Pictures andUniversal Pictures.[3][4] Rubenstein and Silvers became vice-chairs of USA Networks. The channel was seen as a natural fit with the classic films and television series that both studios had in their vaults, including Universal'sDracula,Frankenstein, and theRod Serling TV seriesNight Gallery, along with Paramount'sStar Trek television series.
Star Trek's creatorGene Roddenberry and authorIsaac Asimov were recruited by Rubenstein and Silvers to serve on the initial advisory board,[5] but both Roddenberry and Asimov had died by the time the channel finally launched on September 24, 1992. Rubenstein recalled: "The first thing that was on the screen was 'Dedicated to the memories of Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry'."[6]Leonard Nimoy was master of ceremonies at the channel's launch party, held at theHayden Planetarium inManhattan. Asimov's widowJanet and Roddenberry's widowMajel Barrett were both in attendance.[6] The first program aired on the network was the filmStar Wars.[7]
In 1994 Paramount was sold toViacom, followed bySeagram's purchase of a controlling stake inMCA (of which Universal was a subsidiary) from theMatsushita Electric Industrial Company in 1995.[8] In 1997 Viacom sold its stake in USA Networks to Universal, who spun off all its television assets toBarry Diller the next year into the new companyStudios USA. Three years later, Diller would sell Studios USA back to Universal, by then a subsidiary ofVivendi SA (at the time known as Vivendi Universal). Vivendi's film and television production and cable television assets were then merged withGeneral Electric'sNBC to formNBC Universal in 2004. In 2009 the network was rebranded asSyfy, and in 2010Comcast purchased Syfy's parent companyNBCUniversal.[citation needed] Comcast was one of the original cable TV operators to carry the channel.
Ahigh-definition version of the channel launched on October 3, 2007, onDirecTV.[9]
In 2013 Syfy was given theJames Randi Educational Foundation'sPigasus Award for what was described as questionablereality programming involvingparanormal subjects.[10]
From 1992 to 1999, the network's first logo consisted of a planet with a ring, made to look likeSaturn, with "SCI-FI CHANNEL" written on it. The network's second logo, which was used from 1999 to 2002, dropped the hyphen and the word "CHANNEL".[11] The network's third and final "ringed planet" logo ran from 2002 to 2009, and was designed byLambie-Nairn. The logo made its debut on December 2, 2002, with the launch of theSteven Spielberg miniseriesTaken. The network also launched a new image campaign with the tagline "If", which expresses the limitless possibilities of the imagination.Identification bumps depicted surreal situations such as a baby breathing fire, as well as a woman in a stately sitting room kissing a bug-eyed, big-eared animal.[12][13]
![Sci-Fi's logo rebranded now to Syfy after [[Starz]]'s logo in 2008.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSyfy.svg)
On March 16, 2009, NBCUniversal announced that Sci Fi was rebranding as "Syfy". Network officials also noted that, unlike the generic term "sci fi", which represents the entiregenre, the term "Syfy" as asensational spelling can be protected bytrademark and therefore would be easier to market on other goods or services without fear of confusion with other companies' products. The only significant previous use of the term "Syfy" in relation to science fiction was by the website SyFy Portal, which becameAirlock Alpha after selling the brand to an unnamed company in February 2009.[14]
The name change was greeted with initial negativity,[15][16] with people deliberately mispronouncing "Syfy" as/ˈsɪfi/SIF-ee or/ˈsiːfi/SEE-fee to make fun of the name change. The parody news anchorStephen Colbert made fun of the name change onThe Colbert Report by giving the channel a "Tip of the Hat" for "spelling the name the way it's pronounced" and noting that "the tide is turning in my long fought battle against the insidious 'soft C'".[17][non-primary source needed] The new name took effect on July 7, 2009.[18] Syfy has since added reality shows and edged further from strictly science fiction, fantasy and horror programming.[19][20][21]
The rebranding efforts at NBC Universal'sSci Fi Channels worldwide resulted in most rebranding as "Syfy" or "Syfy Universal"; however, over one-third of the channels did not take on "Syfy" as any part of their names: channels in Japan and the Philippines rebranded to or were replaced byUniversal Channel, while each of the channels in Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia would become Sci Fi Universal. InPolish, "Syfy" does not suggest imagination or science fiction, but rather something gross, without value or evensyphilis.[22] In Australia, NBCUniversal was a partner inSF alongsideFoxtel,CBS Studios International andSony Pictures Television; after the channel shut down in 2013, NBCUniversal launcheda local version of Syfy in 2014.[23][24]
On May 11, 2017, in honor of the network's upcoming 25th anniversary, Syfy unveiled a major rebranding that took effect on-air June 19. The new branding was intended to re-position the channel back towards targeting fans of the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Network head Chris McCumber explained that the network's goal was to "put fans at the center of everything we do", and explained a stacked, square-shaped form of the logo as being akin to a "badge". Syfy also planned to place a larger focus on its genre news division Syfy Wire, disclosing the possibility of extending the website to television as well.[25][26][27]
Syfy's original programming includesmade-for-cable movies,miniseries, andtelevision series. Under NBCUniversal ownership, the channel has expanded into general-interest programming outside of the sci-fi genre to target a more mainstream audience. Such programming has included crime dramas,WCG Ultimate Gamer,[28] andprofessional wrestling fromWWE (includingECW,[29]NXT, andSmackDown).[30][31]
Syfy has been used for overflow sports and sports entertainment programming from its sister networks. It has participated inNBC Sports' "Championship Sunday" effort to broadcast all matches on the final matchday of thePremier League soccer season across NBCUniversal cable networks.[32] In February 2022,WWE Raw andNXT aired on Syfy for two weeks due to USA Network'sbroadcasts of the2022 Winter Olympics;[33] this was repeated during the2024 Summer Olympics.[34]
During its early years, Syfy airedanime films andoriginal video animations on early Saturday morning under the title ofSaturday Anime. On June 11, 2007, the channel launched a weekly two-hour programming block called "Ani-Monday",[35] featuring English dubs of various anime series licensed byManga Entertainment.[35] During February 2008, the channel also aired anime on Tuesday nights in a second programming block.[36] In July 2009, Syfy announced that they had renewed and expanded their licensing agreement with Manga Entertainment to add a two-hour block of horror anime (also called "Ani-Monday") to sister channelChiller.[37] Syfy's anime block was later moved to Thursday nights, starting March 14, 2011, where it remained until all anime programming was dropped on June 9, 2011.[38][39]
On April 20, 2019, Syfy launched a new late nightadult animation block calledTZGZ which aired until March 13, 2021.[citation needed]
Sci Fi Pictures original films are independently-madeB-movies with production budgets of $1 million to $2 million each. The initiative was spearheaded byThomas Vitale in 2001, and was managed by Vitale, Chris Regina, and Ray Cannella, with the later additions of Karen O'Hara and Macy Lao.[40] Syfy is also one of the sponsors for the Coalition for Freedom of Information.[41]
Syfy's website launched in 1995, under the nameThe Dominion (though using scifi.com in its URL); it changed toSciFi.com in 2000.[citation needed] The site has won aWebby Award and a Flash Forward Award.
From 2000 to 2005, SciFi.com published original science fictionshort stories in a section called "Sci Fiction", edited byEllen Datlow, who won a 2005Hugo Award for her work there. The stories themselves won aWorld Fantasy Award, the firstTheodore Sturgeon Award for online fiction (forLucius Shepard's novella "Over Yonder"), and four of theScience Fiction Writers of America'sNebula Awards, including the first for original online fiction (forLinda Nagata's novella "Goddesses").[42][43]
On April 22, 2006, the site launched Sci Fi Pedia, a commercialwiki on topics includinganime,comics,fandom,fantasy,games,horror,science fiction,toys,UFOs, genre-relatedart andaudio, and theparanormal.[44] In 2009, Sci Fi Pedia was shut down without explanation.
As part of the channel's rebranding in 2009, the URL – and the site's name – was changed toSyfy.com. As of 2010, Syfy.com began to containwebisode series includingRiese: Kingdom Falling (as of October 26, 2010),[citation needed]The Mercury Men (as of July 25, 2011),[citation needed] andNuclear Family[45] (as of October 15, 2012).
SyfyGames.com is an online games portal which offers free-to-play MMO and casual games. The site features predominantly sci-fi and fantasy games from third-party developers.[46] In April 2015, the News section of SyfyGames.com was rebranded to feature "news fromG4".[citation needed]
In 2010, Syfy Games signed a deal with the now defunct publisherTHQ to co-produceDe Blob 2. Syfy Games would also co-produceRed Faction: Armageddon.
Syfy Wire (formerlySci-Fi Wire andBlastr) is a website operated by Syfy featuring coverage of news in the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres.[25] The site was rebranded in 2010 as Blastr, with the addition of feature articles, guest columnists (such asPhil Plait),popular science news and coverage, and video content.[47] In December 2016, Blastr rebranded as Syfy Wire; editor-in-chief Adam Swiderski stated that this change was to closer associate the website with the Syfy television channel.[48]
As of March 2018, Syfy Wire releases five regular podcasts,[49] including two recap series followingThe Expanse and the final season ofColony, as well asThe Fandom Files, which features interviews with public figures about their pop culture obsessions. Guests have includedLeland Chee[50] andMike Daniels of theGreen Bay Packers.[51]
Sci Fi magazine was first published in June 1994, asSci-Fi Entertainment, with the additional description "The Official Magazine of the Sci-Fi Channel" on the cover.[52] The publisher from Volume 1, Issue 1, was Mark Hintz, with Carl A. Gnam Jr. as editorial director and Ted Klein as editor.[53][54]Scott Edelman took over as editor with the December 1996 issue, holding that position until leaving after the June 2000 issue, by which point the magazine's name had already been shortened toSci Fi, in keeping with the channel's name change to Sci Fi in 1999;Scott Edelman returned to be editor of the channel's online magazine,Science Fiction Weekly, moving back to editor ofSci Fi in February 2002.[55] The magazine was published by Sovereign Media Co, based inHerndon, Virginia.[55][56] As of October 2023, the magazine is still described at the Sovereign Media website, but the link to the publication is no longer active there, and no link is available at the Syfy.com site;[56] the last functioning archived link from the Syfy.com page is for the issue available in October 2014.[57]
Science Fiction Weekly was an online magazine started on August 15, 1995, and edited by Craig Engler and Brooks Peck.[citation needed] In April 1996, it began appearing exclusively on "The Dominion" as part of a partnership with the site, before being sold to the Sci Fi Channel completely in 1999.[58] The publication covered various aspects of science fiction, including news, reviews, original art, and interviews, until it merged with Sci-Fi Wire in January 2009.[citation needed]
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 | MARK HINTZ Publisher | CARL A. GNAM, JR. Editorial Director | TED KLEIN Editor
SCI-FI ENTERTAINMENT is published bimonthly by Sovereign Media Co, Inc.. 457 Carlisle Drive. Herndon, VA 22070 (703) 471-1556 Second Class postage pending at Herndon, VA, and additional mailing offices SCIFI ENTERTAINMENT, Volume 1, Number 1 ©1994 by Sovereign Media, all rights reserved.
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