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The new president of the Sci Fi Channel has a dream, and that dream is apparently to make sure that you will never be able to escape the Sci Fi Channel. Channel president David Howe has a scheme to branch out into comics, video games and advertising. The first guinea pig: alien infiltrator show The Stranded.
The Stranded, based on a forthcoming Virgin Comics graphic novel, is about a group of people who discover they're actually superpowered aliens. Sci Fi and Virgin are developing the project together, and and it'll also spawn a video game. (But there's no word on who'll write, produce, or star in this show.)
And that's just the beginning. New Sci Fi president David Howe is telling advertisers it's not enough to be the fifth-biggest cable channel anymore; in fact, television itself is too small. Speaking to TV Week, Howe explained:
What we're trying to do is not migrate away from the cable screen, but actually build a business which enables us to own the entire sci-fi/fantasy category... What that means from a development perspective is we need to no longer develop TV shows, we need to develop [intellectual property] that can enable us to tell those same stories across various platforms.One of the reasons that the Sci Fi Channel works so well as a potential multimedia empire, according to Howe, is its advertiser-friendly audience:
We know for a fact that the audience that watches Sci Fi the TV channel is also the same audience that's playing video games, that is downloading content on their iPhones, that is out there buying licensed products... our audience is committed to us as a brand, committed to our content, and therefore has an openness to advertisers and an ability to recall advertisers' brands within the ad break in a way that sets us apart from other networks.You mean that Quizno's didn't tell me that Battlestar Galactica's Admiral Cain was a lesbian out of the goodness of their collective hearts? [TV Week]
Comments
Right, good thinking David Howe.
Heaven fucking forbid you should just start by doing a good job producing your product.
When he sorts out his channel's horrendous history of cancelling shows I'll consider investing my time in one of their new properties, until then I'd rather watch my Farscape and Stargate DVD's, this Roswell-redux will go unnoticed by me.
If it involves hot babes in bikini tops and short skirts, I welcome my new Sci-Fi Channel overlords.
About fucking time! Firstly cancel ECW and bad horror movies..
I love SciFi channel even though they've canceled some great shows without reason. THEN...they put wrestling on for some reason!
Not sure I'll get into their "extra" non-tv stuff though. What I really want is SciFi channel HD on cablevision already. I'd watch it even more then.
How about just sticking to good shows, sans reality, and quit wrestling altogether...Oh! I forgot how can that be if you are cancelling all your original programming to lower costs. Good luck explaining that to your affiliates, cheers!
@ParJoe: My main thought about this entire article is - Why should I commit to their content if even they can't be bothered at times?
I think we're all agreement: SciFi is some weird hybrid channel that SOMETIMES shows SciFi programming. My advice to the channel is the same as everyone's: actually try being what you say you are and then maybe we'll talk.
@PriorMarcus:
Exactly.
Great. They'll produce crap on a variety of platforms.
So effin' what?
Work on quality prior to branding. The Brand follows the quality, not verse visa.
@PriorMarcus: I concur. I don't want them to 'own' the entire genre until they figure out what the "entire scifi/fantasy category" is.
It's NOT wrestling and covers a helluva lot more ground than creature-feature-of-the-week. Pick up a damn book, look at a graphic novel and play a freaking video game or two before you set out to own the entire field. Morons.
Didn't Marvel already do a series about kids realizing they were part Krull or something like that and had powers? I dunno.
In any case.. I am a fan of Sexy Results so go for it.
So does this mean we'll be getting a Mansquito video game?
"but actually build a business which enables us to own the entire sci-fi/fantasy category."
We, the consumers, we need a competitor to the sci-fi channel, not a strengthened monopoly. A counterpart to sci-fi's grip on content, someone to spur new stories and new ways of telling stories, not a business model looking to appeal to advertisers because they're aware of this new iphone thing.
And while that might not smell like the best approach for Mr. Howe while looking at earnings, the trite yet right adage about competition bringing out the best in you can apply here.
@braak: Or giving the viewers more access to the classic science fiction we so crave.
That's a really generic sounding comic book, and that girl has no hips. It's unsettling.
Also, my favorite commentary on sci-fi's marketing:
[shortpacked.com]
"You mean that Quizno's didn't tell me that Battlestar Galactica's Admiral Cain was a lesbian out of the goodness of their collective hearts?"
Mmmmm... toasty!
@Seth L: She could be played by Paris Hilton.
@NefariousNewt: I know! He's basically following the strategy of a power-mad dictator, trying to invade Russia before he's secured North Africa!
@draconismoi: What I don't get is why he thinks the audience as a whole is committed to the brand?
I watch his disaster of a channel because it has good shows on it, like Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis - I don't watch it because I think they are a superb company.
He seems to think that having the SciFi Channel logo slapped on things will make me want to buy them, but honestly it's likely to make me want to avoid them.
Wait, I think I've seen this show already. I'm pretty sure it was called Roswell.
On all other points, I agree with the trend here. Once Sci-Fi actually commits to having quality Sci-Fi content, then they can worry about branding. Right now it's just putting the cart before the horse.
I'm commited to BSG, Firefly reruns, and the occasional episode of Ghost Hunters. If he thinks the SciFi orignal movies have any momentum on their own he's gotta be smoking something.
"What we're trying to do is not migrate away from the cable screen, but actually build a business which enables us to own the entire sci-fi/fantasy category"
Wow. You mean you want all of science fiction to suck, not just your little corner of it?
Time to take up macrame.
@braak: Honestly, I don't even watch SciFi much anymore, because they're never consistent, they tend to let good shows wither and die, and frankly there's a lot of dreck filling up their schedule. What happened to the classic episodes of Dr. Who, Star Trek, Space:1999?
HAHAHA Just where does rasslin and Mansquito fit into this bold new vision?
@Belabras: No shit. That's exactly what I said, I'm glad someone else sees the resemblance.
Until ECW is peopled with cyborgs and aliens, it has no place on the SciFi channel...and probably not even then. Wrestling, all fiction, no science.
SciFi, 2-3 hours of decent at best programming a week with absolute drek rounding out the remainder.
Oh dear, I've just vomited all over my keyboard. Obviously clueless morons will continue to control/ruin the media we like to watch. If we all chip in can we just start our own channel? io9tv anybody?
Yeah, just a soopid dream (sigh). Well, maybe "Mansquito: the Series" won't be all that bad.
Ambition is nice, but I'd settle for them not just running the same movies over and over. There has to be a slew of sci-fi/fantasy/horror films out there that Sci Fi could purchase the broadcast rights to for almost nothing. So why do they just repeatedly cycle through the same relatively small library of films? Is there actually an audience for the hundredth airing of Shark Attack 3?
The Leprechaun marathon yesterday was a cute idea, though.
@Plague: Then they will be Disney, Fox, and all the other media empires..
@Belabras: or is an MBA
I'm in full support of this guy.
If the concentration of the channel becomes new IP with energy and resources behind it, who knows where the sci-fi channel can go?
His gameplan is positive and forward looking. The previous president was more about bringing the channel to predictable profits. Wrestling, Mansquito and cancelled shows, came out of that.
take it easy with the hate and believe in hope.
Yes We Can!
@codydog:
well, they can dream.
Too bad Disney, Fox, et al don't narrowcast what they broadcast, eh?
If by this it means he wants to start up new franchises, I'm all for it. I just have to wonder if a 24/7 SciFi cable channel can actually afford to run SciFi 24/7.
**What that means from a development perspective is we need to no longer develop TV shows, we need to develop [intellectual property] that can enable us to tell those same stories across various platforms.**
ECW the Wii game, brought to you by Sci-Fi Channel.
Ghost hunting trip planning, brought to you by Sci-Fi Channel
Original programming brought to you by NBC and rebroadcst by Sci-Fi Channel
hmm...i don't think anyone would mind if Sci-fi picks up shows like Jericho from CBS...
On an unrelated topic, Arthur C. Clarke has passed away.
God Rest His Soul, off he goes through the portal, on to the land of the immortals. All Hail Hal's Daddy.
I guess it would be nice if the nerdy sf&f fans could have the perfect venue for the best stuff. It will take a little longer, but eventually we will take over the world, the re-create Sci-fi in our own image! Resistance if futile.
@All_Thumbs: Chemically enhanced superhumans engaging in scripted bloodsports inside of gladiatorial arenas, being broadcast by satellite to rabid fans all over the world? What part of that ISN'T science fiction?
@braak: Did you just compare this guy to Hitler? Bold move, sir.
@Jeff-Minor: Indeed. I tipped this site about 10 minutes back, hopefully they will have the news up ASAP so we can pay our respects to one of the greatest minds the genre has ever had.
@PriorMarcus:
FUCK.
@Plague: My responce as well. It's nice to see your upset about the news too, I think you make some great post, so it's cool to know your a fan of him too.
So were going to have a Crocogator video game, a Baracougar comic book, and Pirahntula hair care products?
That's. Just. Lovely.
Why don't they produce shows and movies that someone might want to see? OR do what I thought they would do originally -- show some of the vast oeuvre of science fiction TV and movies that already exist? Instead of producing dull Crocogator, Baracougar, and Pirahntula movies that aren't even funny or good (except the Roger Corman ones).
As long as them invading my life doesn't involve werestling I'm good. They can even do some fantasy in with the sci-fi if they like. The two kind of go together.
However, wrestling is not science fiction, nor is it fantasy in the classical sense.
What I DO like, is the direct to DVD thing they did with the SG-1 wrapup. I happily plunked down my $20 for that and would do so for any other quality series they wanted to try that with.
They need to do something. Get rid of ghostbusters, ecw and all those other crap reality shows. Better reruns of good shows than new ones that are a waste of electricity.
@Dillenger69: Woah. No. That was MGM and the production company, not the SciFi Channel. Don't give them any credit for it.
So they're taking that one scene in the Battlestar Galactica season finale and making it into an entire series?
Well played, SciFi. Well played.
P.S. to SciFi: We're not "committed to you as a brand." You have good shows once in a while and you cancel them too soon.
@Jeff-Minor: See, my thoughts exactly. Let the Dorkers seize the means of Media Production! Long live the Revolution!
People who find out they're aliens? Didn't we have that one already? *sigh
It'd be cool if they broke the sci-fi channel into a sci-fi cluster of channels, one for ghost hunters and wrestling, one for c- movies, and one for decent sci-fi shows. Then there would be greater odds of something watchable being on...
I think really their problem is they've found two profitable ventures, a few shows with high production cost and high quality/viewership, and dirt cheap shows with mediocre viewership, but enough that they're profitable. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. It might be good to split these two business models to two different channels to help their image. Maybe sci-fi and sci-fi B.
Why doesn't he start by taking away ECW and showing something umm maybe SciFi. If he gets rid of the crap movie of the week and spends that money on a quality series then maybe he can ask for some of the money I shill over to Marvel each week.
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