02/01/2009

Licensing the Future: Sci Fi Ventures

When most people think of the science-fiction genre, they imagine space ships, aliens, and laser battles. While this is certainly not an incorrect image of the genre, to Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, it is only a portion of what the genre really represents. “The category embraces everything, from space operas to fantasy to superheroes to the supernatural,” Howe says. The encompassing and diverse nature of the genre means that the Sci Fi Channel’s programming follows suit, with everything from classic space opera series to paranormal reality shows. With a wide audience and the growing popularity of the genre, Sci Fi has partnered with Brand Sense Partners (BSP) to create Sci Fi Ventures, a brand that will capitalize on the Sci Fi Channel’s position within the genre.

The demographic for the Sci Fi Channel, as described by Howe, is “22-55-year-old adults, with a 50/50 gender balance.” These fans are also the main demographic for Sci Fi Ventures. While this is the group with the most interest in the genre, that doesn’t necessarily make them an easy sell. “The demographic of Sci Fi fans is a pretty tough group in terms of expectations,” says Ramez Toubassy, president of BSP. Toubassy believes that the Sci Fi Ventures brand will be a success because of the credibility of the Sci Fi Channel. “The channel delivers high quality product consistently to a very discerning audience,” Toubassy says.

Because of this credibility, BSP intends to position the Sci Fi brand as a “curator” of content and quality. Rather than focusing on individual shows and properties, the Sci Fi brand will be an umbrella brand that can guarantee quality and authenticity on licensed products. “We want to be a brand where as soon as you see our logo on a product, you know that product, you know that product is a state-of-the-art cutting-edge product,” Howe says. By banking on the channel’s relevancy and reliability as a provider of quality content, BSP and Sci Fi hope to make the Sci Fi brand a symbol of quality products as well.

However, the licensing program actually goes beyond the idea of a simple product-only partnerships. Sci Fi is also hoping to use the Sci Fi Ventures property to create entirely new content and properties that will segue more easily into platforms outside of the small screen. “We will partner them with the best-in-class providers to create new content where the Sci Fi Channel logo itself and the platform behind it can bring the audience to them,” Toubassy says. Sci Fi will be creating content that can work not only when licensed to product, but also when licensed to other mediums of entertainment. Toubassy points out that many television properties do not do well when the property is moved to a new format, and vice versa. At Sci Fi, “they’ve determined that the reasoning for this is that those properties are solely television properties, or solely publishing properties,” says Toubassy. Working with BSP and with its licensees, Sci Fi will create new properties that feature content that can span multiple entertainment mediums. It will build these new properties with that cross-channel goal in mind.

Sci Fi Ventures will be focusing on a number of key categories. An obvious connection for the brand is gaming. Video games, online games, and casual games are areas of significant interest for the brand and will help expand its reach, especially among younger children. Games from Sci Fi could feature current IPs related to the channel’s properties, or entirely new ones. Sci Fi is already working with Trion Worldwide to produce a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) based on a fresh property. Publishing , especially comic books, also plays into the company’s interest and Sci Fi is working on a new property with Liquid Comics (formerly Virgin Comics) that will be built both as a comic book and television property. Toys are also key category for the channel, where it will act as a seal of approval rather than just a provider of licensed characters.

The Sci Fi Ventures program is a different take on a standard licensing program. BSP believes that this is the type of program that will be most beneficial for all television networks interested in licensing. “Sending out the logo and waiting for the royalties simply doesn’t work anymore,” says Toubassy. “This is the future of the TV network business.” And while it may not be a laser rifle or a flying car, it is a future to keep an eye on.