Syfy was an Australian
pay television channel dedicated to science fiction and
fantasy television shows and movies. The channel was launched on 1 January 2014, replacing
SF.[1][2]
On 31 December 2019, it was replaced with Fox Sci-Fi.
History
In August 2013, it was announced that
Foxtel had failed to complete negotiations with the TV1 General Entertainment Partnership (of which
NBCUniversal was a part member) for a new carriage deal for their channel
SF (an Australian science fiction channel), and would ultimately replace it with another science fiction dedicated channel once SF's carriage deal had expired.[3] It was announced in September that Syfy, wholly owned by NBCUniversal, would replace SF in early 2014.[1]
On 17 September 2017, the channel received a new logo alongside refreshed branding as part of an international overhaul of the brand by NBCUniversal.[5]
On 7 November 2019,
Foxtel announced that Syfy would be replaced by Fox Sci-Fi on 17 December 2019. Syfy finally closed down on
Australian IPTV provider
Fetch TV at midnight on 31 December 2019, after which the channel space created in 2006 by
SF ceased to exist.
Programming
Programming featured classic and new science fiction and fantasy television shows and movies.[6][7]
Syfy has come under criticism from Foxtel subscribers for a number of programming related issues, specifically regarding the high number of repeats and the low quality of the Syfy programming. Significantly, Syfy Australia did not hold the rights to any of the Star Trek franchise, while its
predecessor did.[25][26][27]
This has changed and Deep Space Nine,
Enterprise,
The Next Generation,
The Original Series and Voyager has made their way onto the channel.