Why sci fi now syfy

Howe says "we're not worried," despite the old admonition that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it. With the new name, shows such as "Galactica" can be exposed to a wider audience, one not scared away by all that "Sci Fi" connotes "space and aliens and the future," in Howe's words. And, of course, it's about the bottom line, which has been true for a number of cable networks over the past few years. There was a time when the name of a cable network said it all. But over the years, as the cable universe has grown, each network has sought to grab a distinctive slice for itself in hopes of bringing in viewers -- and money.

Some have changed names entirely, such as The Nashville Network, once a country music channel that became TNN and then Spike, devoted to younger males. Others have simply refocused their branding, as in the case of USA -- once a general-interest hodgepodge -- and its slogan, "Characters Welcome," which has allowed the network to cast a wide net with original shows such as "Monk" and "Burn Notice" and reruns of popular dramas such as "House" and "NCIS.

Marketing expert Rachel C. Weingarten, who was part of the team that helped turn TNN into Spike, says the network's old name wasn't attracting the key male demographic or the advertiser dollars that came with it.

Changing the name to Spike gave the network visibility and -- thanks to more programming of action movies and combat-oriented shows -- more appeal to men. Having initials that can mean everything -- or nothing -- helps, she adds.

Howe, however, says that changing the name was a necessary move. We are trying to faithfully transmit the original creators' intentions. Almost every show on SYFY is close-captioned, as well as a large percentage of our movie inventory. A lot of programming is delivered with captions; however, some shows air without captions the first time. This is a timing issue.

The captioning process takes a lot of coordination and if SYFY makes a last-minute acquisition, there may not be enough time to prepare captioning for a show's initial airing.

We care quite a lot, but we're human and, as such, finite. There aren't a lot of hours we can reasonably dedicate to answering all the questions. Although we would like to respond individually to every request and query, we simply can't. The answers to many questions we receive, really are answered by this FAQ, though. Dig around. We schedule episodes and movies only a few months in advance. The best thing to do is to search the coming months' schedules on our Schedule page.

If a program has been officially scheduled, it'll show up there. You can actually find this out for yourself by checking our Schedule. If you are not sure what the title of the show is, check the "Shows" navigation item at the top of the page.

Advertisers use compression so that everything in a commercial is about at the same loud audio level, close to the maximum allowable levels. This way, you can still hear their pitch even if you get up to go the kitchen or bathroom. SYFY does not turn up the volume on these commercials - they're just recorded and mixed that way.

Most of our shows, however, are not in an audio-compressed format so they generally have a wider dynamic range than the ads. Since we can't go back and add compression to our shows, the ads tend to sound a lot louder than the programming. The reason it was moved is the same reason it was scheduled where it was in the first place: namely, ratings.

A program is scheduled in the hopes of getting good ratings and of helping the shows around it get good ratings. A show is given a new timeslot in the hopes of raising either its ratings overall, raising the new timeslot's ratings, or raising the original timeslot's ratings - and hopefully the ratings of the shows around those timeslots.

Sometimes a change can result in lower ratings for some shows that were moved yet still be the right thing to do. For example, say a show called Intergalactic Space Ninjas aired Mondays at 8pm and was moved to Sundays at 10am. There's little chance it could get higher ratings in its new slot, but if the new Monday night show gets a higher rating, and "Intergalactic Space Ninjas" gets a higher rating than the show it replaced, the net result is better ratings for the network as a whole.

On-air "real estate" is very expensive, and we have to make the best use of what is available. This includes making some things do double duty. It is true that there is a lot of horror programming on SYFY, but we try to maintain a balance between sci-fi, fantasy and horror in order to present a wide variety of programs in these related genres.

We constantly strive to bring our viewers the best in science-fiction, fantasy and horror programming. The SYFY app, available for many devices, allows you to watch full episodes of our programming. Please send us an e-mail detailing your comments to feedback syfy. Send an e-mail to feedback syfy. If your computer produces no sound at all: Check your speaker s for loose, disconnected or improperly connected wiring.

If your speakers require a separate power supply, make certain they are plugged into an active AC outlet. Check your computers sound settings to ensure the volume controls are properly set and that the mute is not activated. If all of the previous have checked out OK, verify that your computer has a sound card.

If a sound card is installed, it might be damaged. Contact your computer or sound card vendor for further instructions. Check video controller and make sure the mute button is not active. Some video players automatically load with mute enabled, causing no sound during video playback.

SYFY, as a brand, is dedicated to ALL things science fiction, fantasy and horror, regardless of whether something airs on our network or not and we care about lots more than just TV - movies, comic books, books, you name it. And what better way to show that then on our homepage? Include the show you want information about and tell us specifically what the error in the schedule is.

Is it a broken link? Is the information out of date? Is it misspelled? Please be as detailed about the error as possible. Full episodes are available to watch at SYFY. To watch the majority of them, you must log in through your TV provider.

If you already have a username and password from your TV provider, you will not need to create a new account. If you have not previously registered an account with your TV provider, you will need to do so with a valid email address. Please contact your TV provider to learn more. When prompted, select your TV provider.

You will then be asked to enter your TV provider username and password; similar to when you pay your bill online. Don't forget to check 'remember me' if you don't want to log in again. If you don't have an online account with your TV provider or can't remember your username and password, please contact your TV provider to learn more. This service is only available to customers of participating U. TV providers watching in the U.

Yes, you can continue to use the SYFY app to access show clips, highlights, and a limited number full episodes without a Pay TV subscription. Of course, in the end, Howe and his team didn't intend to change the core of their channel when they renamed it as Syfy. Sci-fi works are what they became known and successful for, and they won't stop catering to fans of the genre.

However, Sci-fi, as well as Fantasy, have soared in popularity over the last few decades. While they are fascinating genres, they aren't brands. Having a popular genre name as a brand name would make it increasingly difficult for the latter to stand out in web researches.

Especially since there are many more sci-fi networks out there. In an interview, Howe has confirmed that he chose the title after consulting fans, and it seems Syfy is something they are happy to be associated with, as opposed to the more generic SCI FI Channel. After all, popular soft drinks or cereal brands, for instance, have their own unique names, as opposed to "soft drinks" or "cereal.

You can read more about it here. And if you don't have a cable subscription, there are several ways to watch SyFy without. Jump To. Syfy name-change: Companies often change things that don't stick.