Sci Fi Channel (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Sci Fi Channel is an Australian subscription channel that airs science fiction, fantasy and related programs. It is available on Foxtel
, Austar
and Optus Television
's subscription platforms. It is currently the only Sci Fi channel worldwide to keep the Saturn logo.
Medium
, Heroes
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed
. It has also had the first Australian run of shows such as Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
, Eureka
, Demons
, Stargate Universe
, and Ghost Hunters International
.
, Buffy, Charmed
, the original and reimagined Battlestar Galactica
series, Medium
, and the Star Trek
and Stargate
franchises.
Sci Fi switched broadcasting from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio
on 1 December 2008. Sci Fi +2 went to air on 15 November 2009.
The official launch party of the Sci Fi Channel was held on 16 November 2006 at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Guests included Jacqueline McKenzie
(from The 4400
), Gigi Edgley
and Matthew Newton
(from Farscape
).
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....
, Austar
Austar
Austar is an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity is Subscription Television but it is also involved with internet access and mobile phones...
and Optus Television
Optus Television
Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.-History:Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between, Optus and Continental Cablevision with small shareholdings by media companies Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and Seven...
's subscription platforms. It is currently the only Sci Fi channel worldwide to keep the Saturn logo.
Shows
Sci Fi currently airs re-runs such as:Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
, Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
. It has also had the first Australian run of shows such as Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? is a reality show hosted by Stan Lee. Contestants dress up as comic book superheroes of their own invention. Each week, Lee challenges the contestants to represent what "superheroes are all about." One or more of the superheroes deemed the least deserving is eliminated...
, Eureka
Eureka (TV series)
Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...
, Demons
Demons (TV series)
Demons is a pilot episode of a proposed drama series, initially competing to run as part of the CBS primetime schedule during Fall 2007. Demons was created by Barbara Hall, who also created Joan of Arcadia. The pilot starred Ron Eldard and Harold Perrineau. The pilot was not picked up by the network....
, Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way...
, and Ghost Hunters International
Ghost Hunters International
Ghost Hunters International is a spin-off series of Ghost Hunters that airs on Syfy. The series premiered on January 9, 2008...
.
History
Sci Fi went live at 6am on 1 December 2006. Sci Fi uses the same branding and packaging as the United States channel of the same name but has its own schedule and programming. It airs popular shows such as The X-FilesThe X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, Buffy, Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
, the original and reimagined Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
series, Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
, and the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
and Stargate
Stargate
Stargate is a adventure military science fiction franchise, initially conceived by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Stargate. It was originally released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, and became a hit, grossing nearly...
franchises.
Sci Fi switched broadcasting from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
on 1 December 2008. Sci Fi +2 went to air on 15 November 2009.
Press coverage
On 22 November 2006, the Adelaide Advertiser reported about the demand for a science-fiction–themed TV channel in Australia.The official launch party of the Sci Fi Channel was held on 16 November 2006 at the Australian Museum in Sydney. Guests included Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline McKenzie
Jacqueline Susan McKenzie is an Australian actress.McKenzie made her film debut in the 1987 film Wordplay and on stage in Child Dancing for Griffin Theatre Company. She made a strong impression in Romper Stomper , and over the next couple of years came to be regarded as one of Australia's most...
(from The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...
), Gigi Edgley
Gigi Edgley
Gigi Edgley is an Australian actress and recording artist. She is best known for her roles as Chiana on the series Farscape and Lara Knight in Rescue: Special Ops.-Early life:...
and Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton is an Australian stage and screen actor. Born in Melbourne, he is the son of television personalities, Bert and Patti Newton, brother of Lauren Newton, brother-in-law of Matt Welsh and uncle to Sam Albert and Eva Eunice Newton Welsh.-Acting:Newton has performed in Australia and...
(from Farscape
Farscape
Farscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
).