Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ask Slashdot: Is It Time For SyFy To Go Premium?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the toss-some-cash-in-the-hat dept.

Cutriss writes "Now that Caprica is gone and SG:U has concluded, I see new shows coming in their place such as Alphas and the Red Faction series, and I find myself asking if the fate of Atlantis and SG:U might have gone differently if SyFy had been a paid cable network. I know the Slashdot audience would probably trade a few dollars a month if it meant replacing wrestling and ghost-chasing shows with relicensed classics and more appropriate treatment of original content. Plus, with a paying audience, the ad space would become much more lucrative and SyFy could lose some of the seedier ads it has been saddled with lately, and better fund new original content."

15 of 607 comments (clear)

  1. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Time for it to go away.

    1. Re:Nope by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No. It's not a "tiny niche market". There's sci-fi everywhere on all of the other channels. That's why "SciFi" itself is so worthless. The sum total of the other channels are more interesting when it comes to the content that should be SciFi Channel's Forte.

      A "Sci Fi" wishlist is a very illuminating thing.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Nope by Kelbear · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, let's think about this for a moment: What is the appeal of Sci-fi for you?

      As a layman, I'm more interested in the stories being told rather than technobabble about the setting. My only criteria for their technology is that the rules of their universe remain consistent enough so that they don't draw attention to themselves.

      Beyond that, I'm just interested in the human story that is laid out over the framework established by the futuristic setting. I'll freely admit that Star Trek is full of camp, but it also engaged viewers to look at how we treat those that are different from us, what is to be human, how to behave ethically in the face of uncertainty, and many other interesting quandries. While the settings may be fantastic, and may involve a myriad of strange and unfamiliar races and creatures, I find that my favorite science fiction are fundamentally human stories; stories about humans as individuals or our society as a whole. When sci-fi removes the familiar trappings of the world that we know, we can take a closer look at humanity in a new context, and perhaps learning about ourself in the abstract.

      I also appreciate the general sense of optimism in the franchise. It's something that has been lost in the cynicism of the times. As technology allows us to get closer to the news and revealing the horrible acts that we commit against each other, we're left with a pretty low opinion of our species as a whole. I like that Star Trek presents a relatively progressive humanity. The Federation has plenty of room for improvement, but even the idea of having resolved so many of our deepseated problems and conflicts gives the franchise a sense of hope. BSG for example, takes the opposite approach of showing our terrible inclinations through the future and into what appear to be humanity's last hours. Perhaps BSG resonated so well with audiences because that is the kind of future we expect.

      I wonder if a "Section 31" series is the best route for a new star trek. It would be able to adopt the dark and gritty atmosphere of shows like BSG and 24, and may be better suited for today's audiences and their expectations of how people would really behave in dire circumstances.

  2. Sure, why not? by Rennt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I just download the good stuff anyway.

  3. The audience you want don't want cable by Albanach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who wants to pay a few more bucks a month for another channel? I think most folk want to pay fewer bucks per month and have a smaller number of higher quality channels. Cable has no interest in delivering that, so folk are moving away in droves. The audience that reads sites like /. are likely to be amongst the first switchers.

    It could just be the economy, but subscriber numbers for cable declined in Q2, Q3 and Q4 of 2010. Personally I think it's a trend and one that will continue for quite some time.

    Broadcast television is so 20th century. If you want access to quality older issues, your best hope is from Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.

  4. Just start a new sci fi network by syousef · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sci-fi not Sy-phy-lis, like the current one. There's nothing to salvage after what they've done.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  5. The content is out there by softWare3ngineer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    if they constantly replayed Star Trek, Firefly, BSG, and Dr Who I'd be down. there is more than enough good scifi content out there to fill the air time. i just cost $ that the network doesn't have.

    1. Re:The content is out there by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Here's a hint: everything has a license fee, even stuff they produced themselves because they have to pay the actors per credit. They moved away from science fiction for pro-wrestling because intellectuals are too diverse and critical an audience to reduce to a simple demographic to advertise to. If there were a premium package from my cable company that focused on real documentaries, non-action oriented science fiction, and absolutely no ads that belittle my intelligence, I'd pay 3-5 times as much as people pay for their sports packages. I get miffed because absolutely every single television channel assumes I'm a blubbering moron or blubbering moron compatible.

      The following were good, but are now blubbering moron bait:
      Discovery Channel(trucks driving on ice? REALLY?)
      History Channel(we're 100% certain that this piece of rock was portal to alien jesus, here's an "expert")
      Sci Fi(Covered in depth here, but REALLY bad. Hasn't touched the ideas of real speculative fiction in a decade)
      Animal Planet(Nature documentaries? Screw that, pet reality shows!!!)
      TLC(babies are all anyone ever wants to see!!!! We're SURE!!!)

      The following still make some attempt an any real depth
      BBC America
      PBS

      I don't inherently loathe television as a medium, I loath spoonfed bullshit supportded by psychologically manipulative bullshit.

  6. Not sure you understand supply and demand by Hydian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If nobody wanted to watch those shows for free, I don't see how charging people to watch them would have improved the audience. It isn't like SyFy is Apple or something.

  7. Re:There is no hope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually, Stargate should have ended... um... as the movie.

  8. Why is this on Ask Slashdot? by misof · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why is this on Ask Slashdot? The question does not contain *any* indication that SyFy actually considers this, so at the moment it's just one person's speculation, nothing more. And anyway, (almost?) nobody here has the data or experience to make a qualified answer to the question in the post title.

    Ask Slashdot should IMHO be limited to questions where our collective *experience* can actually help.

  9. Re:Seriously? by ImprovOmega · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They jumped the shark when their named change to "SyFy" it was the final confirmation that they'd abandoned anything to do with real science fiction.

  10. Re:Remember when (elitist post) by The+Moof · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Saying "I watch anime" is like saying "I watch television" - it's a medium, not genre.

  11. Are there any fans of Syfy left anywhere? by spun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously, I thought they had driven off all their more intelligent fans when they started catering to the developmentally challenged. I found this turn of events very disappointing until I realized, the Syfy channel isn't just for the learning disabled, it is run by the learning disabled as well. I mean look at them, they sent a marketing bot to slashdot to do some market research and try to find out why real geeks don't watch Syfy anymore.

    Wll, Mr. Retarded Marketing Bot, please take this back to your superiors: premium channels require premium content first, not last. You don't get to create literally the dumbest channel on television anywhere in the world and then complain that you could make it better if only you had some more money. You don't have money because you are doing it all wrong. You won't get more money until you start doing it right. You don't get to skip over the "getting it right" part. We are not a captive audience. We have other choices.

    Until I realized that Syfy is actually a retard employment program, the idea of having to explain any of this to grown adults would have blown my mind.

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  12. What do you mean by a few dollars? by gravis777 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have been saying for years that I would like to get my channels al la carte. If I can get channels for between $2-$5 each, and not have to get a stupid package, yeah, sure, I would pay for SyFy. Lets see,
    1) SyFy
    2) BBC America
    3) History
    4) History Channel International
    5) Discovery
    6) HDNet
    7) TLC
    8) Travel
    9) Science channel
    10) HDNet Movies

    Multiply by, oh, a few bucks, say, $3 a channel, and, wow, look at that, $30! Add in Taxes and box rental, I am at $50. That is half of what I am paying now, and those are the only channels I watch. Yeah, I would pay a few bucks a month for these.