The Sci Fi Channel undergoes brand reassignment surgery today to become Syfy (pronounced like Sci Fi), in an effort to attract new and different segments of the television audience, like, for instance, females of any age whatsoever. Let's be honest though - they could call Sci Fi the Robert Pattinson/Flattering Sweatsuits/Cupcake Diet Network, but the second I see Romulans and Klingons facing off over mineral rights, I'm switching back to The Bachelorette.
The network explains via press release that the phonetically identical name change facilitates trademarking a brand "that is portable across all non-linear digital platforms and beyond." So by switching out a few letters, they have created a spunky, not-so-genre-constrained identity that can also be slapped onto iPhone apps and video games.
On top of the Syfy facelift, the channel jazzes up its programming with tonight's Warehouse 13. The dramedy features a pair of opposite sex FBI agents sorting paranormal artifacts. Will their eventual romance melt the hearts of reluctant Sci fi fanboys? Syfy's digital executive Craig Engler might tweet the answer ("Fun! Great channel, great colleagues and the most amazing viewers ever").
No matter whether you're a diehard Battlestar fan or a woman, chances are that the Sci Fi to Syfy transition will not affect you. It's like when your cousin Terry went to Thailand and the next time you saw him, it was as cousin Terri. He looked a little different but your relationship stayed the same.