New Leadership for the SciFi Channel

To:  SciFi Network

We are dedicated science fiction fans from all backgrounds and walks of life. In the past few years, we have seen the SciFi Channel devolve into a channel that is barely worth watching.

Instead of promoting quality science fiction programming, SciFi's management seems intent on diluting the purpose and mission of the SciFi Channel by opting for cheap, poorly conceived filler shows instead of quality programming.

Here are a few requests and suggestions, with additional suggestions offered in individual comments:

1. Wrestling should not be on a SciFi Channel. We request that wrestling be immediately removed from SciFi.

2. Reality shows that aren't technically science fiction should not replace quality shows in the budget. We would prefer reruns of classic science fiction and fewer new good, quality shows, than a lot of bad reality shows and no new quality shows.

3. Promote your good shows and give them a chance to breathe. Don't just cancel a show after one brief season and barely any promotion. For example, The Dresden Files had a dedicated audience that was twice the audience of your reality shows. Yet, you put it in a bad time slot, never promoted it properly, and shafted it after 13 episodes. Now the DVD is one of the top-selling TV DVDs, proving there is an audience for the show. Give your good shows a chance to breathe.

4. Stop wasting your good time slots on bad television. While a cheesy creature feature is OK once in a while, the glut of oversized monster movies on Saturday nights has just gotten to be painful. Science fiction is broader than the tired cliché of the overgrown alligator, spider, or snake.

5. Start showing classic science fiction in reruns. We want to see shows like classic Doctor Who, Babylon 5, Farscape, Lost in Space, Star Trek, Space: 1999, the original Battlestar Galactica, and classic quality science fiction movies.

6. Bring your good science fiction shows over from the USA Network. The 4400 and The Dead Zone should both be on SciFi, not USA. Why are you competing against yourself?

7. Stop relying solely on Nielsen ratings for your statistics. Understand that DVR viewings also count, as well as DVD sales on the back-end.

8. Start streaming all your shows online - full episodes, not “highlights.”

9. Recognize that females do make up a sizable number of science fiction fans, as well as older people.

10. Start listening to your viewers and stop ignoring them. There was no excuse for your lack of response to The Dresden Files community when you sat on your cancellation announcement. People actually shut off their subscription to SciFi because of your lousy treatment of them. Respect your viewers and listen and communicate with them.

Furthermore, while Bonnie Hammer seems to do a good job with the USA Network, she has repeatedly shown a poor understanding of the science fiction audience. We immediately request her resignation and replacement with a visionary who understands and actually likes science fiction, someone who can pull this network out of its doldrums and give the fans what they want.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The New Leadership for the SciFi Channel Petition to SciFi Network was created by Closet Sci-Fi Geek and written by Aeryn Sun (geek@closetscifigeek.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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