Meet the Sci-Fi channel...
TV SCI FI Channel Growing, Looks to Expand
Posted by Sam on Friday, 23 May 2008 7 Comments so far... Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF
Assistant Editor)
Over the years, we’ve had a lot of fun pointing out the fact that some of what ends up on the SCI FI
Channel isn’t necessarily science-fiction, or fantasy, or horror. Wrestling anyone?
But based on recent ratings results and audience figures that move seems to be paying dividends for
the SCI FI Channel. The network is one of the few owned by parent-company NBC/Universal
that has shown growth in the past few quarters. This led SCI FI being rated the sixth
overall cable network for the month of April.
Part of that is the demographics for SCI FI viewers are slowly starting to change. Once
thought of as a predominantly male-viewership network, the latest figures show that the cable outlet is
picking up lots more female viewers. Growth in female viewers outpaced that in men and 43
percent of SCI FI’s viewers are female, reports the New York Times.
The network is riding high on the ratings from original programming as well as repeats of
favorite genre shows. Two of the biggest ratings winners are “Battlestar Galactica” and “Ghost
Hunters,” both of which have promos that downplay their science-fiction elements to entice female
viewers.
Both shows are number one in the coveted 25-to-54 demographic during their timeslots. This may
explain why SCI FI is eager to sign on for three new “Battlestar Galactica” movies as we reported at
our website. And the new attempt to reach a female demographic might be the reason that SCI FI
inked the deal to syndicate repeats of the Jennifer Love Hewitt hit series “Ghost Whisperer” and has,
so far, declined the chance to pick up a third season of “Jericho.”
“There were a lot of mis-perceptions that SCI FI was [just] for men, that it was for young men
and that it was for geeky young men,” said Bonnie Hammer, the president of NBC Universal Cable
Entertainment, which ultimately oversees SCI FI. “We had to broaden the channel to change the
misconceptions of the genre.”
“It’s not just aliens, spaceships and the future,” said SCI FI president Dave Howe. “It’s about asking
that simple question, ‘What if?’ ”
A frequent discussion at NBC Universal is whether to water it down even more and do away with the
“SCI FI” name altogether. Among the new names that have been considered are “SCF” and “The
Imagination Channel.” However, Howe has nixed any idea of changing the name.
“We always come back to, we are not going to change the name because with the fragmentation of
media, there’s a real advantage of having that signpost,” said Howe. “We just have to manage the
downside.”
The growth of SCI-FI in the United States has led NBC Universal to begin plans for
expanding the network internationally. A Russian version of the network is planned for later this
year and NBC/Universal is looking to expand into up 25 more channels in international
markets by the end of 2009.
“For an international standpoint, we really have two global brands,” said Jeffrey Zucker, the chief
executive of NBC Universal. “We have CNBC, which is in 400 million homes worldwide. And SCI FI.
Business is universal. And science fiction is such a well-known global genre.”
Each outlet would be tailored for its market and included shows dubbed into the local language. First
targets for SCI FI’s expansion could include Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Portugal and South Africa.
“We are now what MTV was 10 years ago, or what ESPN was 10 years ago,” said Howe, who joined
the SCI FI Channel six years ago after 15 years at the BBC. “We can own sci-fi as a category
globally.”
http://www.sliceofscifi.com/index.php
I think that we can all agree that this, my friends, would be a very nice boat to climb on!
(If you can't afford cable don't worry: new episodes will land up on the net anyway).
To sum up:
- they are growing (so we could safely stay over there for years if we can get onboard)
- few other networks at NBC do (so NBC must like them for it, logically...)
- the reason why they are growing is that they are getting more female viewers. So they
want more, and Moonlight's viewers are predominantly female.
- they specialise in genre shows (like our Moonlight).
- their target demographic is 25-54, hence less restrictive than CW's (18-34), which befits
much better our diverse community. From the perspective of what we can do, it means that
if only we can as many as possible of our CBS viewers to come watch Moonlight over at Sci-
Fi, most of them will like what they find there and stick around for the other programs too
(which should I think be crucial from Sci Fi's standpoint)
Clearly we can see why these people actually want us. Now I don't know for sure, but it's all
probably a question of bucks, so it is crucial that we the fans make the VERY BEST possible
impression on these people. We have to tell them loud and clear that in taking Moonlight
on the network, it is not just Moonlight that they are buying, but us together with it, and
our ardent desire to make this marriage work, AND our ability to do so.
Hence mass e-mailing and mailing them like crazy with a nice message...
Note too that they are planning on going international in a big way, very soon... the Internet's where
we live of fans lives is international... (we have fans from all over coming to hang around with us on
MySpace and FaceBook). We could perhaps use that to help Sci Fi take off over there, if Sci Fi can
figure out what we can do for them...
Remember, this is the plan:
TV SCI FI Channel Growing, Looks to Expand
Posted by Sam on Friday, 23 May 2008 7 Comments so far... Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF
Assistant Editor)
Over the years, we’ve had a lot of fun pointing out the fact that some of what ends up on the SCI FI
Channel isn’t necessarily science-fiction, or fantasy, or horror. Wrestling anyone?
But based on recent ratings results and audience figures that move seems to be paying dividends for
the SCI FI Channel. The network is one of the few owned by parent-company NBC/Universal
that has shown growth in the past few quarters. This led SCI FI being rated the sixth
overall cable network for the month of April.
Part of that is the demographics for SCI FI viewers are slowly starting to change. Once
thought of as a predominantly male-viewership network, the latest figures show that the cable outlet is
picking up lots more female viewers. Growth in female viewers outpaced that in men and 43
percent of SCI FI’s viewers are female, reports the New York Times.
The network is riding high on the ratings from original programming as well as repeats of
favorite genre shows. Two of the biggest ratings winners are “Battlestar Galactica” and “Ghost
Hunters,” both of which have promos that downplay their science-fiction elements to entice female
viewers.
Both shows are number one in the coveted 25-to-54 demographic during their timeslots. This may
explain why SCI FI is eager to sign on for three new “Battlestar Galactica” movies as we reported at
our website. And the new attempt to reach a female demographic might be the reason that SCI FI
inked the deal to syndicate repeats of the Jennifer Love Hewitt hit series “Ghost Whisperer” and has,
so far, declined the chance to pick up a third season of “Jericho.”
“There were a lot of mis-perceptions that SCI FI was [just] for men, that it was for young men
and that it was for geeky young men,” said Bonnie Hammer, the president of NBC Universal Cable
Entertainment, which ultimately oversees SCI FI. “We had to broaden the channel to change the
misconceptions of the genre.”
“It’s not just aliens, spaceships and the future,” said SCI FI president Dave Howe. “It’s about asking
that simple question, ‘What if?’ ”
A frequent discussion at NBC Universal is whether to water it down even more and do away with the
“SCI FI” name altogether. Among the new names that have been considered are “SCF” and “The
Imagination Channel.” However, Howe has nixed any idea of changing the name.
“We always come back to, we are not going to change the name because with the fragmentation of
media, there’s a real advantage of having that signpost,” said Howe. “We just have to manage the
downside.”
The growth of SCI-FI in the United States has led NBC Universal to begin plans for
expanding the network internationally. A Russian version of the network is planned for later this
year and NBC/Universal is looking to expand into up 25 more channels in international
markets by the end of 2009.
“For an international standpoint, we really have two global brands,” said Jeffrey Zucker, the chief
executive of NBC Universal. “We have CNBC, which is in 400 million homes worldwide. And SCI FI.
Business is universal. And science fiction is such a well-known global genre.”
Each outlet would be tailored for its market and included shows dubbed into the local language. First
targets for SCI FI’s expansion could include Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Portugal and South Africa.
“We are now what MTV was 10 years ago, or what ESPN was 10 years ago,” said Howe, who joined
the SCI FI Channel six years ago after 15 years at the BBC. “We can own sci-fi as a category
globally.”
http://www.sliceofscifi.com/index.php
I think that we can all agree that this, my friends, would be a very nice boat to climb on!
(If you can't afford cable don't worry: new episodes will land up on the net anyway).
To sum up:
- they are growing (so we could safely stay over there for years if we can get onboard)
- few other networks at NBC do (so NBC must like them for it, logically...)
- the reason why they are growing is that they are getting more female viewers. So they
want more, and Moonlight's viewers are predominantly female.
- they specialise in genre shows (like our Moonlight).
- their target demographic is 25-54, hence less restrictive than CW's (18-34), which befits
much better our diverse community. From the perspective of what we can do, it means that
if only we can as many as possible of our CBS viewers to come watch Moonlight over at Sci-
Fi, most of them will like what they find there and stick around for the other programs too
(which should I think be crucial from Sci Fi's standpoint)
Clearly we can see why these people actually want us. Now I don't know for sure, but it's all
probably a question of bucks, so it is crucial that we the fans make the VERY BEST possible
impression on these people. We have to tell them loud and clear that in taking Moonlight
on the network, it is not just Moonlight that they are buying, but us together with it, and
our ardent desire to make this marriage work, AND our ability to do so.
Hence mass e-mailing and mailing them like crazy with a nice message...
Note too that they are planning on going international in a big way, very soon... the Internet's where
we live of fans lives is international... (we have fans from all over coming to hang around with us on
MySpace and FaceBook). We could perhaps use that to help Sci Fi take off over there, if Sci Fi can
figure out what we can do for them...
Remember, this is the plan:
