On Syfy: “It just adds a layer of translation…”

New York Magazine ponders the Sci Fi Channel’s recent relaunch as “Syfy”:

[L]et’s say you see an ad for the network on a bus shelter, and puzzle it out. Your thought process goes like this: “Seefy? What’s Seefy? Oh wait… sigh … fi… I get it. Like science fiction.” All you do is translate the new name into the old one. This is not rebranding. It changes no association in the consumer’s mind. It just adds a layer of translation to trying to figure out what the hell that word is…

…An association with science fiction, because of its geeky connotations, may limit the network’s ability to branch out. But frankly, that is not a problem that can be addressed by misspelling the name. If you want to get out of the science-fiction genre ghetto, guys, you’re really going to have to stop making series like Battlestar Galactica and showing Star Trek reruns.

Regarding that last point, you could argue that the Sci Fi Channel — sorry, I just can’t bring myself to use something as asinine as “Syfy,” not yet anyways — has been slowly doing that already, with shows like Cha$e, Destination Truth, Estate of Panic, Ghost Hunters, and Scare Tactics.