SYFY (TV Channel)

Logo used on the US feed.

**Syfy** (a paraphrased neology of the former name **Sci-Fi Channel**, later shortened to **Sci Fi**; stylized as **SYFY**) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division and business segment of Comcast's NBCUniversal. Launched on September 24, 1992, the channel broadcasts programming relating to the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres.

**Sky Sci-Fi** (formerly **Sci Fi Channel** and **Syfy**) is a British pay television channel service specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror shows and movies. It is owned by NBCUniversal International Networks, a division of NBCUniversal and as of 2018, Sky Group.

Alongside CNX, FX and Adult Swim, SYFY and Sky Sci-Fi have been a big inspiration to CSN in terms of programming, with the likes of Resident Alien, Chucky, Reginald the Vampire, Happy! and classic animes, and presentation, with the stylised SYFY letters.

## Ownership

### Sister Channels

Sky Showcase
Sky Max
Sky Atlantic
Sky Comedy
Sky Witness
Sky Replay
Sky Mix
Challenge
Blaze
Sky Arts
Sky Crime
Sky Documentaries
Sky History
Sky History 2
Sky Nature
Crime & Investigation
Sky News
Sky Sports
Sky Cinema
Sky Kids

## History

### Formerly

Sci-Fi Channel (1995-2010)
SYFY (2010-22)

## History of SYFY in the US

In 1989, in Boca Raton, Florida, communications attorneys and cable TV entrepreneurs Mitchell Rubenstein and his wife and business partner Laurie Silvers devised the concept for the Sci-Fi Channel, and signed up 8 of the top 10 cable TV operators as well as licensing exclusive rights to the British TV series *Doctor Who* (which shifted over from PBS to Sci-Fi Channel), *Dark Shadows*, and the cult series *The Prisoner*. In 1992, the channel was sold by Rubenstein and Silvers to USA Networks, then a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures. Rubenstein and Silvers became vice-chairs of USA Networks. The channel was seen as a natural fit with classic films and television series that both studios had in their vaults, including Universal's *Dracula*, *Frankenstein*, and the Rod Serling TV series *Night Gallery*, along with Paramount's *Star Trek* television series. *Star Trek*'s creator Gene Roddenberry and author Isaac Asimov were recruited by Rubenstein and Silvers to serve on the initial advisory board, but both Gene Roddenberry and Isaac 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'." Leonard Nimoy was master of ceremonies at the channel's launch party, held at the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan. Asimov's widow Janet and Roddenberry's widow Majel Barrett were both in attendance. The first program shown on the network was the film *Star Wars*.

In 1994, Paramount was sold to Viacom, followed by Seagram's purchase of a controlling stake in MCA (of which Universal was a subsidiary) from the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company the next year. In 1997, Viacom sold its stake in USA Networks to Universal, who spun off all its television assets to Barry Diller the next year into the new company Studios USA. Three years later, Diller would sell Studios USA back to Universal, by then a subsidiary of Vivendi SA (at the time known as Vivendi Universal). Vivendi's film and television production and cable television assets were then merged with General Electric's NBC to form NBC Universal in 2004. In 2010, Comcast purchased Syfy's parent company NBCUniversal. Comcast was one of the original cable TV operators to carry the channel. 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 entire genre, the term "Syfy" as a sensational spelling can be protected by trademark 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 became Airlock Alpha after selling the brand to an unnamed company in February 2009.
A high definition version of the channel launched on October 3, 2007, on DirecTV. In 2013, Syfy was given the James Randi Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award for what was described as questionable reality programming involving paranormal subjects. Starting in 2018, SYFY would start to greenlight more original scripted programming including Resident Alien, based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name, Chucky, based on the Child's Play movies and Reginald the Vampire, a fully original new series from SYFY.

## History of Sky Sci-Fi

It was launched in 1995 as a localised variant of the US network Sci Fi Channel (now Syfy), with a similar programming line-up. It was on air each day from 8am until 2am, but only on cable as a lack of transponder space on satellite meant that it was only able broadcast for a few hours each day on that platform. It wasn't until the launch of Sky Digital in 1998 that the channel's full broadcast hours were available on satellite.

On 13 April 2010, Sci Fi Channel was relaunched as Syfy, as part of an ongoing global rebranding. The relaunch was accompanied by the premieres of *V* and *Human Target*. The channel was given a new on-air look and a tagline of "Imagine greater". In 2018, the channel's ownership changed from NBCUniversal to Sky Group, as Comcast had purchased Sky the year prior and moved their UK operations under Sky Group.
Sky applied for a **Sky Sci-Fi** trademark on 4 May 2022. On 14 June 2022 Sky confirmed that the channel rebrand would take place at 11am on 26 July, accompanied by a refreshed schedule of new and existing content, this included SYFY series such as Chucky and Reginald the Vampire moving from Sky Max over to Sky Sci-Fi in order to make the channel more like it's American counterpart. As of July 2023, Resident Alien is the only SYFY show that still airs on Sky Max. Most archive and anime programming was phased out of the channel, which now concentrates on contemporary show, movies, and other programming. One original UK production was the late-night show *Headf\*\*k*, which featured excerpts from unusual TV shows, short films (including *Chris Barfoot*'s 'Phoenix' and 'The Reckoning') and music videos from around the world. Later episodes were presented by David Icke.

## See Also

* CSN
* Resident Alien
* Chucky
* CSMovies
* CNX
* FOX