a retro SCIFI channel?

[AviTrek]

SyFy has the rights to a bunch of these shows already. They run Twighlight Zone marathons. They used to show Star Trek, but I'm not sure if they still have that license. I can't imagine the licenses for most of these shows are that expensive.

Personally, I'd like more shows from the 80s/90s. Seaquest, Sliders, Earth 2, etc... But that's just what I grew up with.

What is SyFy showing outside of their Friday night original programming, Saturday night movies, and wrestling? I have to imagine they have space in their programming.

 

[Harvey]

They show a lot of paid programming late at night. And there are a LOT of original and unoriginal movies on the weekends. During the week, though? A lot of Ghosthunters, and various re-runs.

 

[cylkoth]

They had the old Invaders show marathoned a few weeks ago-they even promoted it too, which was a shock, as they never bother running promos for a daytime marathon outside of holidays (except for the ENT and TNG blocks this week, to ride the publicity of the Trek Online game).

 

[RobertScorpio]

I liked the SCIFI channel best when it showed old scifi shows; Six Million Dollar Man, The Hulk, Dr.Whos, but now its nothing but cheap made for scifi stuff (Caprica not included, I like this show). But would you watch a scifi-retro show that only showed scifi TV/Movies from, oh, 1980 going backward from there? Meaning no Stargates, or modern Trek shows, but old scifi? Hell, I guess you could include the 80s, but thats as modern as I would go...

Rob

I'm with you 100%. The last time I liked the Sci-Fi channel was in the early to mid-ninties when they were playing the old shows that you mentioned. Once they started making their own cheap programming I completely lost interest. I'd definitely watch the channel you described.

Thanks Ward...unless it was for nuBSG or Caprica, I don't think I would have see anything on scifi in the past 10 years...

Rob

 

[RobertScorpio]

I'd definitely watch such programming. "Land of the Giants", "Fantastic Voyage", "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "The Time Tunnel", all of those old sci-fi movies that nobody shows anymore.....

I wonder, as others have alluded, if SyFy could spin off a channel like this, in the same manner as Cartoon Network has with Boomerang, or Nickelodeon with TV-Land.

Yep...and I love your list. Someone should get all though old scifi shows you just mentioned and put them all together...just like Boomerang, as others have mentioned. There has to be enough old shows out there to carry a retro-scifi channel...

Rob

 

[jefferiestubes8]

if SyFy could spin off a channel like this, in the same manner as Cartoon Network has with Boomerang, or Nickelodeon with TV-Land.

It really doesn't matter what parent company spins it off or owns it. It would be a niche cable television channel.

Do we really need a seperate channel - about Syfy and Space just slotted in some of the older programs?

The older shows are black and white, or faded colors with monaural sound.

Audiences these days want crisp colors and stereo sound, at a minimum. In these days of HDTV, are the old really going to be interesting to modern audiences.

Marc I think Vendikarr answered your question. a retro SciFi channel would be appealing to the over 40 and over 50 crowd so basically the Nielsen demographic of 50 and up in reality. Not the 35-49 age group.
Standard definition and as-is video quality from video masters of 10 and 15 years ago. No I don't think they would pay for Star Trek license and possibly not Twilight Zone. a retro SciFi channel would be a lower tier channel due to the audience not being the prized Nielsen demographic groups of ages 18-49. I'm only being realistic about it.

A separate channel would be 'needed' as modern audiences expect an HD channel to have modern looking programming or at least all HD all the time. So you have a channel like SyFy owned by the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal with deeper pockets and a bigger marketing and ad campaign budget for their original films shot in Bulgaria or Eastern Europe somewhere. Regardless of NBC being sold to Comcast it will have a certain brand status and old scifi shows from 1950s-1980s just are not going to cut it on that network with very few exceptions.

So until a video-on-demand SciFi channel comes up on Comcast or most major cable/Internet service providers (or subscription-based Youtube or Hulu) you have all these niche channels that have another 5 years or maybe 10 years before the 12 hour or 24 hour linear programming of always-on niche cable channels will disappear.

 

[RobertScorpio]

if SyFy could spin off a channel like this, in the same manner as Cartoon Network has with Boomerang, or Nickelodeon with TV-Land.

It really doesn't matter what parent company spins it off or owns it. It would be a niche cable television channel.

Do we really need a seperate channel - about Syfy and Space just slotted in some of the older programs?

The older shows are black and white, or faded colors with monaural sound.

Audiences these days want crisp colors and stereo sound, at a minimum. In these days of HDTV, are the old really going to be interesting to modern audiences.

Marc I think Vendikarr answered your question. a retro SciFi channel would be appealing to the over 40 and over 50 crowd so basically the Nielsen demographic of 50 and up in reality. Not the 35-49 age group.
Standard definition and as-is video quality from video masters of 10 and 15 years ago. No I don't think they would pay for Star Trek license and possibly not Twilight Zone. a retro SciFi channel would be a lower tier channel due to the audience not being the prized Nielsen demographic groups of ages 18-49. I'm only being realistic about it.

A separate channel would be 'needed' as modern audiences expect an HD channel to have modern looking programming or at least all HD all the time. So you have a channel like SyFy owned by the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal with deeper pockets and a bigger marketing and ad campaign budget for their original films shot in Bulgaria or Eastern Europe somewhere. Regardless of NBC being sold to Comcast it will have a certain brand status and old scifi shows from 1950s-1980s just are not going to cut it on that network with very few exceptions.

So until a video-on-demand SciFi channel comes up on Comcast or most major cable/Internet service providers (or subscription-based Youtube or Hulu) you have all these niche channels that have another 5 years or maybe 10 years before the 12 hour or 24 hour linear programming of always-on niche cable channels will disappear.

I wouldn't mind suffering through Erectile dysfunction commercials or Depend undergarment salesmen if I got a retro-scifi channel. DVRs make commercials less intrusive.

Rob

 

[C.E. Evans]

In some markets, there's a network called RTV--Retro Television Network (or something like that)--and among the shows they feature on Saturday nights are Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, generally followed by a 70's horror anthology series (I forget which right now) and an old campy sci-fi or horror movie to round out the night.

SyFy would never do anything like this because it wouldn't fit their "Imagine Greater" or whatever "hip and kewl" corporate image they're putting out these days...

 

[RobertScorpio]

In some markets, there's a network called RTV--Retro Television Network (or something like that)--and among the shows they feature on Saturday nights are Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, generally followed by a 70's horror anthology series (I forget which right now) and an old campy sci-fi or horror movie to round out the night.

SyFy would never do anything like this because it wouldn't fit their "Imagine Greater" or whatever "hip and kewl" corporate image they're putting out these days...

Oh, I agree. But I guess things have changed. I think I read somewhere that CAPRICA got 3 million viewers for its first episode. 3 million? Back in the day that would get you axed in twenty-four hours. 3 Million these days, with all the choices, is good I guess.

Rob

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ half those numbers actually

 

[RobertScorpio]

^^ half those numbers actually

Yike...and that's considered a success? Thats worse than Enterprise...

Rob

 

[jefferiestubes8]

^^ half those numbers actually

Yike...and that's considered a success? Thats worse than Enterprise...

Enterprise ended in 2005.
That was before Youtube and the proliferation of what in America is called "Broadband Internet connections" that allow streaming video to be watched from the Networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS) and also Hulu.

the United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as of 2009, defines "Basic Broadband" as data transmission speeds exceeding 768 kilobits per second (Kbps)

according to Wikipedia which enables fairly smooth 30fps video streaming at a visual quality less than standard definition cable & satellite TV delivery.

The TV viewing audience is so fragmented in 2010 due to people being able to stream ad-sponsered shows via Hulu and ABC & CBS' websites.
The ratings numbers on a scifi series on cable for Nielsen just aren't going to be what they used to be in 2005.

In the next 10 years the USA television market is going to change so much (with video-on-demand and video streaming) that all the old cable TV & broadcast TV business models aren't going to work.

 

[RobertScorpio]

^^ half those numbers actually

Yike...and that's considered a success? Thats worse than Enterprise...

Enterprise ended in 2005.
That was before Youtube and the proliferation of what in America is called "Broadband Internet connections" that allow streaming video to be watched from the Networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS) and also Hulu.

the United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as of 2009, defines "Basic Broadband" as data transmission speeds exceeding 768 kilobits per second (Kbps)

according to Wikipedia which enables fairly smooth 30fps video streaming at a visual quality less than standard definition cable & satellite TV delivery.

The TV viewing audience is so fragmented in 2010 due to people being able to stream ad-sponsered shows via Hulu and ABC & CBS' websites.
The ratings numbers on a scifi series on cable for Nielsen just aren't going to be what they used to be in 2005.

In the next 10 years the USA television market is going to change so much (with video-on-demand and video streaming) that all the old cable TV & broadcast TV business models aren't going to work.

Jeffery, if you were to take all the different ways someone could have seen Caprica into account (DVRS..STREAMING..TV..ect) how many do you think watched the first episode? Im only asking because I have no idea. Are we talking 10 million when everything is factored in???

Rob

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ half those numbers actually

Yike...and that's considered a success? Thats worse than Enterprise...

Rob

I'm not sure it has been considered a success.

 

[Greg Cox]

It's a cute idea, but, honestly, I can't see people watching it on a regular basis. I'd probably sample a few old shows for nostalgia's sake, then go back to watching LOST or CHUCK instead.

I'm not sure there's really a big audience for "Land of the Giants" anymore . . .

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Jeffery, if you were to take all the different ways someone could have seen Caprica into account (DVRS..STREAMING..TV..ect) how many do you think watched the first episode?

Considering Caprica 2-hour pilot premiered on DVD and Digital Download on April 21, 2009 and it's been a couple weeks since the January TV premiere I'm sure the estimates are available. I can't give you an estimated figure but can assure you that SyFy television executives have had that answer for a couple weeks now.

Syfy says they are aware that their could be risk that less people will watch the pilot when it airs as a result. But that was a risk as soon as they released the DVD months in advance.

14 December 2009
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/12/14/watch-extended-cut-of-caprica-pilot/36219



Caprica pilot draws 1.6 million viewers

the premiere numbers for Caprica will increase once Nielsen Live+7 ratings are computed.

January 26, 2010
http://www.capricahub.com/2010/01/26/capric-pilot-draws-viewers/

after the pilot

Caprica's first regular episode post-pilot averaged a 0.5 rating with adults 18-49 and 1.411 million viewers.

http://tweetmeme.com/story/51642478...ngs-television-show-ratings-tvbythenumberscom

Without this thread turning into a ratings thread about the Caprica pilot/and series we should just stop there.
Anyone can achieve the quotes too I got in 5 minutes from Google searches.

With television they are still dependent on Nielsen ratings in the 3 major groups for broadcast & cable:
Live
Live+3
Live+7

If you want to really compare a scifi TV series take a classic series (1960s-1980s) that is not syndicated but some sort of single American rebroadcast license from 1980s or before to be relevant to this thread.

a retro SciFi channel would get low ratings as nothing would be original and new. It would be a niche small audience channel, period.

 

[AviTrek]

Yike...and that's considered a success? Thats worse than Enterprise...

Enterprise ended in 2005.
That was before Youtube and the proliferation of what in America is called "Broadband Internet connections" that allow streaming video to be watched from the Networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS) and also Hulu.

the United States (US) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as of 2009, defines "Basic Broadband" as data transmission speeds exceeding 768 kilobits per second (Kbps)

according to Wikipedia which enables fairly smooth 30fps video streaming at a visual quality less than standard definition cable & satellite TV delivery.

The TV viewing audience is so fragmented in 2010 due to people being able to stream ad-sponsered shows via Hulu and ABC & CBS' websites.
The ratings numbers on a scifi series on cable for Nielsen just aren't going to be what they used to be in 2005.

In the next 10 years the USA television market is going to change so much (with video-on-demand and video streaming) that all the old cable TV & broadcast TV business models aren't going to work.

Jeffery, if you were to take all the different ways someone could have seen Caprica into account (DVRS..STREAMING..TV..ect) how many do you think watched the first episode? Im only asking because I have no idea. Are we talking 10 million when everything is factored in???

Rob

All forms of streaming are still a rounding error as far as the networks are concerned. The networks view streaming as a way for viewers to catch up and then watch live on TV going forward as opposed to viewers watching every episode online. Sure some people on this board watch everything online, but the numbers are too small to matter. The only significant effect on ratings outside of increased competition is DVR usage.

On demand streaming may become a factor in the future, but only when it's easily available through a cable box onto a tv. Until then the vast majority of people aren't interested in watching TV on their computer.

 

[Caligula]

I'd just like to see reruns of series like Babylon 5 and Mystery Science Theater 3000 return to the airwaves where I live. If a retro Sci-Fi Channel is what gets them there, I'm all for it.

 

[Greg Cox]

I wouldn't be surprised if the proliferation of boxed DVD sets has also cut into the market for old sf reruns. These days you can get everything from THE OUTER LIMITS to BABYLON 5 on DVD . . . .

 

[RobertScorpio]

I wouldn't be surprised if the proliferation of boxed DVD sets has also cut into the market for old sf reruns. These days you can get everything from THE OUTER LIMITS to BABYLON 5 on DVD . . . .

Good point...we old farts do have the money. They just need to release them faster!!!

Rob