| Syfy | |
| Founder: | Mitchell Rubenstein Laurie Silvers |
| Picture Format: | 1080p HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Owner: | Versant |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Headquarters: | 229 West 43rd Street, New York City, New York |
| Area: | Nationwide |
| Webcast: | (American pay-TV subscribers only) |
| Online Serv 1: | Affiliated streaming service |
| Online Chan 1: | Peacock |
| Online Serv 2: | Livestream services |
| Online Chan 2: | DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, YouTube TV |
| Online Chan 3: |
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Syfy (a paraphrased neology of former name Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY in all caps since 2017) is an American cable television channel owned by Versant, a former subsidiary of Comcast prior to its spin-off to their shareholders in 2026. Launched on September 24, 1992, the channel broadcasts programming relating to the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres., Syfy is available in approximately 69 million pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 99 million households.[1]
In 1989 in Boca Raton, Florida, communications attorneys and cable television entrepreneurs, Mitchell Rubenstein and his business-partner wife Laurie Silvers, devised the concept for the Sci-Fi Channel and signed up eight of the top ten cable television operators. They additionally licensed exclusive rights to the British television series Doctor Who (which shifted over from PBS), Dark Shadows, and the cult series The Prisoner.
In 1992, Rubenstein and Silvers sold the channel to USA Networks, then a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures.[2] [3] Rubenstein and Silvers became vice-chairs of USA Networks. The channel was seen as a natural fit with the classic films and television series that both studios had in their vaults, including Universal's Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Rod Serling television series Night Gallery, along with Paramount's Star Trek television series.
Star Treks creator Gene Roddenberry and author Isaac Asimov were recruited by Rubenstein and Silvers to serve on the initial advisory board,[4] but both Roddenberry and Asimov had died by the time the channel finally launched on September 24, 1992. Rubenstein recalled: "The first thing that was on the screen was 'Dedicated to the memories of Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry'."[5] Leonard Nimoy was master of ceremonies at the channel's launch party, held at the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan. Asimov's widow Janet and Roddenberry's widow Majel Barrett were both in attendance. The first program aired on the network was the film Star Wars.[6]
In 1994, Paramount was sold to Viacom, followed by Seagram's purchase of a controlling stake in MCA (of which Universal was a subsidiary) from the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company in 1995.[7] In 1997, Viacom sold its stake in USA Networks to Universal, who spun off all its television assets to Barry Diller the next year into the new company Studios USA. Three years later, Diller would sell Studios USA back to Universal, by then a subsidiary of Vivendi SA (at the time known as Vivendi Universal). Vivendi's film and television production and cable television assets were then merged with General Electric's NBC to form NBC Universal in 2004. In 2009, the channel's parent company, NBCUniversal, purchased the brand name of the SyFy Portal website (which rebranded itself as Airlock Alpha),[8] and the Sci Fi Channel changed its own name to Syfy (also changing its website to syfy.com).[9] In 2010 Comcast purchased NBCUniversal; Comcast was one of the original cable TV operators to carry the channel.
A high-definition version of the channel launched on October 3, 2007, on DirecTV.[10]
In 2013, Syfy was given the James Randi Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award for what was described as questionable reality programming involving paranormal subjects.[11]
Comcast then announced plans in November 2024 to place Syfy and other cable properties into a spinoff company. The move comes amid declines in linear television accelerated by cord-cutting.[12] On May 6, 2025, the spinoff company was named as called Versant.[13]
From 1992 to 1999, the network's first logo consisted of a planet with a ring, made to look like Saturn, with "SCI-FI CHANNEL" written on it. The network's second logo, which was used from 1999 to 2002, dropped the hyphen and the word "CHANNEL".[14] The network's third and final "ringed planet" logo ran from 2002 to 2009, and was designed by Lambie-Nairn. The logo made its debut on December 2, 2002, with the launch of the Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken. The network also launched a new image campaign with the tagline "If", which expresses the limitless possibilities of the imagination. Identification bumps depicted surreal situations such as a baby breathing fire, as well as a woman in a stately sitting room kissing a bug-eyed, big-eared animal.[15] [16]
