Imagine Less

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When The Sci-Fi Channel rebranded to Syfy in July of 2009, Syfy President Dave Howe insisted that it was not a shift away from the usual science-fiction/fantasy programming of the channel (bold added by The Caprica Times):

“The thing that disturbed me most about some of the comments, but if I’m honest, didn’t really surprise me is that this is not about abandoning our past. This is not about alienating our existing core viewers because frankly we are still the scifi-fantasy channel and will continue to be so. This is absolutely about embracing our heritage and embracing our future and figuring out how we can bring even more people into the camp. The thing that I think disturbs us most was people, as we expected, saying ‘Well this is just another opportunity to put more ECW on the air.’ Or, ‘This is another opportunity to do even more reality.’ That isn’t true and recent announcements, we’ve picked up Caprica, it’ll launch in the new year. We’ve picked up Stargate Universe, the next exciting chapter of the longest running space opera in TV history. This isn’t about retrenching, this is about absolutely embracing the totality of not just our core audience but actually, a new audience in the future.”

In March of 2010, Syfy was looking into producing 8 new reality shows. Today Syfy’s current 2010-2011 lineup of 14 programs actually includes 8 reality shows. That’s over half of its programming. To be clear, Merriam-Webster lists Reality as an antonym to Fiction. Imagine Less.

When The Sci-Fi Channel switched to Syfy many were wondering why this particular name was chosen. Some postulated that the spelling was intended to target a dumber audience while others not only called it stupid and mindless but ironically unimaginative. Imagine Less.

Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that Syfy has abandoned their core audience. The Science Fiction audience is long known for supporting imagination-based works of art from Frankenstein to Battlestar Galactica. When Syfy issued a Press Release announcing that WWE Smackdown would join their lineup they named it, “The ultimate in imagination-based sports entertainment.” Syfy moved their “Sci Fi Friday” shows to Tuesday (where they would ultimate drop in ratings) to make room for Smackdown. Imagine Less.
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  1. Imagine Less – Fans Suggest New Syfy Logo | The Caprica Times - Caprica TV Series News Video Photos Ringtones Info says:

    November 24, 2010 at 11:37 pm (UTC -5)

    [...] opposite of what they’ve said they would since the launch of Syfy as the official name. Imagine Less perfectly fits the message it seems they’re delivering to [...]

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