My Feelings are changing about SciFiChannel

Tom

An Old Friend
For a while there I was boycotting the SciFiChannel. Promos, Commercials and stupid bad acting was irritating me. So I came up with an Idea based on how the Discovery network is set up. Here's the idea from an old post on another board.
 
Hardley any response but the little I did get was positive...I let it go because sci-fi channel started getting A LITTLE bit better.
Network consists of 3 to 5 channels
Channel 1= Full length uncut movies- like pay movie channels but with fewer repeats (can you say TiVo) Classic night, new release night, cult night....
Channel 2= dedicated to sci-fi TV series- uncut blocks of 5 one-hour/10 half hour shows, miniseries, specials(the day after)
Channel 3= DvD explorer with narration and weblinks, Movie series back/back,
Channel 4= Sci-fi propaganda television */* Reviews, commercials, director talk shows, featured authors talkshows, website review show, the cutting room floor, Greatest movie mistakes show, Concept movie designs, upcommin movie explorer, Credits explorer show....
Channel 5= Hard sci-fi , soft sci-fi , candy sci-fi, sci-fi parody zone.
ABSOLUTELY NO INFOMERCIALS! (unless someone is selling a flux capacitor or star drive or something like that) {it would go on channel 4 anyway)

I'd pay a special premium for such a package.

Channel One:
First show? {The network premier- what movie best says "SCIENCE FICTION"}
Forbidden Planet?

Network Spokesperson? [Who makes you think "SCIENCE FICTION"]
Spielberg?
Asimov?
Lem?

Network Logo? (Sorry but I'm not a graphics artist anymore)
Idea: Supergiant(bright) implosion(colorful) to a blackhole that fades the screen to black and starts the movie/sound of low decible sustained explosion in reverse.
Graphic Idea: Static colorful wormhole (black in center with yellow flame network title inside)

Network Mascot? This IS Sci-fi (real world creature with sci-fi features)
Viperfish?
Rhino Beetle?

Channel One Content: Original/Remake <back2back>
The Thing/John Carpenters The Thing
The Blob/The Blob
...

Are you as insulted as I by the thing called the sci-fi channel?

Channel Two Premier: {The Sci-Fi definnative Television Show}
Taken?
X-Files?
ST TOS?
Werewolf the series?
Buffy?
Voyage to the bottom of the SEA?

First miniseries:
VEE the final battle?
King's The Stand?

First Special:
The day after?
War of the worlds?

Channel Two Graphic:
Buckyballs and carbon nanotubes with chrome assemblers
83 channel spin stops on network graphic
Pressing network graphic button creates Random TV setting for button pusher
Nanites form network graphic and disolve

Spokesperson:
gellar?
robby?
HAL?
king?
ducovney?

HELP ME OUT HERE....


Just think how many people now think the sci-fi channel represents SCIENCE FICTION

Channel Four- commercial paid free cable
Sorta kinda set up like techTV/g4. Network made shows where WE control the content.
Teaching SCIENCE FICTION to the masses.

COMMERCIALS/ADVERTISEMENTS POLICY
Only science and science fiction related commercials. Strict guidelines about content, frequency of showing(max 1 per 1 hour, max of 3 hours then 6 hour break)
run duration time limits(expires in 1 week){new content required after run duration expires} Archival regeneration, Commercial-viewer voteoff at channel website (insultingly stupid commercials voted off channel by the registered viewers), High cost spots to promote high quality commercials

Promotional graphic overlays on the commercials only

Advertisement graphic overlays on commercials

6 hour programming schedule transparent ticker during commercials

max 2 30 sec spots per half hour on the half hour and the hour
...

DirectorTalk & AuthorTalk shows
Live
recorded
archives
posthumas profile exploration

NewMovie & NewShow Review Shows
Trailers
Clips
Critics views
paraphanilia
tidbits of production
news

WebSite Reviewer Show
1 to 5 sites reviewed per show
Check back on previously reviewed sites
popularity polls
SiteBuilding tips

CuttingRoom Floor Show
Deleted scenes
alternate endings
outtakes/bloopers
random cut
polls/votes- best, worst, funniest, most obscure....

MovieMistakes Show
Inconsistancies
props in frame
bad astronomy
bad physics
bad science
polls/votes
viewer submits- rated...maybe prizes, awards, appearances

Concept Movies
Talk about movies in development turmoil
proposed movies on record
viewer submission- ideas, concepts, requests
Viewer submission polls
Writing sci-fi tips

UpcommingMovie Show
progress on movies in production
news
funding challenges
production challenges
Casting
Speculation Discussions by phone/webcam

CreditsExplorer show
In the life of...
Star
Foley artist
ILM
Editor
director
Take new release dvd/video and findout about the credits-in depth

SOL3 The state of Sci-fi on planet Earth
Trivia
numbers
money
books
...

Imagine a sci-fi network set up like discovery network but controlled by the subscribers through phone and web polls.,Sub-Networks...Fantasy, Horror, Magic, Adventure...

I want to know what you all think.
I miss my netflix!
So What would you add, after all, It's a network that the viewers would create and control.

I guess it would need to be based in a corporation. When you buy into the network it would be buying into its share as a stock. Each subscriber would have a say in its development and control.

When you subscribe to the network you would recieve a newsletter{email or reg mail}and a polling phone number/web account to vote on network issues which would be determined by surveys to the subscribers.

The network would need a staff {Polling Committee}, All the crew required for creating shows and brodcasting them, Staff to develop and maintain a dynamic realtime website...

What else...?
 
this is scifi channel USA?

we have a scifi channel in the UK, different programming, but the same parent company. it went downhill so much i stopped subscribing to it with our local cable provider and have never got it back since all i hear is poor about it's films made inhouse.

i'm going to mention something now that a few people have noticed once i pointed it out about cable channel providers in the UK.

we have stations around our country that beam the programming to certain areas, if a station goes down, that area has no tv, but the rest of the country is fine. even in our small country, the logistics of the lines mean we have this setup. satellite providers (well, the one, SkyTV) broadcasts from one satellite to the whole country and their programming packages are a bit cheaper, but don't traditionally offer telephone packages to go with it

the cable companies are squirting programming down the lines to their stations ahead of broadcasting, using very powerful lines, then playing them off their computers. the cable companies were suffering huge losses, losing customers, then had to arrange a partial buyout and selling off some of their subsiduaries

we have noticed the quality of the actual feeds was going down and pulled the cable company up about it in our area. i had a friend, a senior technician for the area, that just smiled at me and said there was nothing wrong with the feed, but i knew there was something wrong.

some of us believe that in order to save money they were playing with the programs compression in the same way you can convert an Mpeg2 dvd into a Divx/Xvid movie 1/11th of it's size. you see bleached/moving patches in dark areas, fast character movement or camera panning can cause blurring. this can only suggest the cable companies are reducing the quality of the programming, to save money, work within their budget. they refute this, will not get into discussions with customers even when you have their technicians in the room and switch channels and ask them when they see it with their own eyes, why certain channels are lower quality than others. it started with the scifi channel and has moved onto other channels.


here you talk about creating multiple channels, but in the UK this wouldn't work, the cable companies haven't got the "bandwidth" to do something like this in my opinion with international programming. either the cost is going to go onto the consumer, or they might not physically have the lines in place anymore without massive expansion. the feed for my city comes from a large city 25 miles away, we don't have our own station. they aren't going to upgrade the line between us to cope with more channels, especially for a genre that is still considered gimmicky over here. plus nobody is going to subscribe to a scifi channel package, it will never be seperated from the multi channel packages that are offered here. they usually stick Sky One in one package and Scifi channel in another, then unfortunately you get the modern tv series like ST/SG1/BSG on sky one and the films and interesting scifi programming on scifi channel

but at least i don't live in Denmark like a friend of mine does. when her son got older and found the P2P networks, he showed his mother how to reach out on the net and obtain the programming we take for granted. she is now able to get hold of the scifi series we cant do without, she is working her way from the first episodes of each series she has missed out on! where 20 years ago Roleplayers were considered wierd people who "met in dark basements to do wierd stuff", the scifi scene over in her country is non-existent. 99% of the country does not believe in little green men and considers scifi fans in the same category as the UK public treated roleplayers 20 years ago!

in the UK we have to carefully watch the US and Canadian programming schedules to see whats out there, then cross our fingers and seemingly wait forever to see if those shows surface over here. at the end of the day you haven't got it that bad but i can understand your points. when have the networks ever listened to the fan base though? they make mistifying decisions then fob off groups that pull them up on it !!!
 
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