List of Syfy TV channels explained

Syfy (in some countries named Sci Fi) is a family of pay television channels that broadcast programming owned or licensed by entertainment NBCUniversal around the world using the Syfy brand which is focused on science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural and paranormal programming. The first such channel was launched in the United States on September 24, 1992. It was originally named "Sci-Fi Channel". In 1995 it kicked off in the United Kingdom, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium in 1996.

The name Syfy was officially adopted on July 7, 2009, and most were renamed Syfy Universal during the early 2010s years. Exceptions to this renaming scheme included Syfy Channels in USA, Germany, France, Latin America, Spain, Portugal and future Syfy Channels in Canada, Cyprus, Israel, Nordic countries, South Africa, Türkiye and now defunct and replaced SF Australia (formerly Sci Fi Channel Australia) and Syfy UK, where the channel is simply called Syfy. Sci Fi Channels in Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and future Sci Fi Channels in Greece, Malta and now defunct Sci Fi Channel in Romania, became Sci Fi Universal due to syfy having a profane meaning in Polish. In 2017 the channel got rebranded and the Universal suffix was already dropped.^[1]

The list of Syfy or Sci Fi channels around the world

Channel	Country or region	Launch date
Syfy	United States	1992
Syfy (German TV channel)	Germany and Switzerland	September 1, 2003
Syfy (French TV channel)	France	December 16, 2005
Syfy (Spanish TV channel)	Spain and Andorra	June 1, 2006
Sci Fi (Polish TV channel)	Poland	December 1, 2007
Syfy (Portuguese TV channel)	Portugal	December 6, 2008
Sci Fi (Balkans TV channel)	Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro	October 1, 2009[2]

Former channels

Channel	Country or region	Launch year	Shutdown year
Syfy (British and Irish TV channel)	United Kingdom and Ireland	October 1, 1995	July 26, 2022 (Channel rebrands as Sky Sci-fi)
Syfy (Dutch TV channel)	Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)	October 1, 1996 – 1998 as Sci-Fi Channel, re-launched on March 30, 2007	July 1, 2016
SF (Australian TV channel) (part ownership)	Australia	December 1, 2006[3]	December 31, 2013, replaced by Syfy in 2014
Syfy (Latin American TV channel)	Latin America	July 1999 (block on USA Network)	November 2001 (block on USA Network)
		April 1, 2007	October 1, 2023 (replaced by USA Network (second era))
Syfy (Italy) (as a block on Steel)	Italy	January 19, 2008	January 1, 2013
Sci Fi (Japan)	Japan	April 1, 2008	March 31, 2010
Sci Fi (Romanian TV channel)	Romania	April 18, 2008[4]	December 31, 2011
Syfy (Russian TV channel)	Russia	May 30, 2008	February 28, 2013
Syfy (Asian TV channel)	Asia	July 1, 2008	July 1, 2017
Syfy (Australian TV channel) (wholly owned)	Australia	January 1, 2014, replaced SF	December 31, 2019 (replaced by Fox Sci-Fi)[5]
Syfy (MENA)	Middle East and North Africa	July 6, 2016[6]	2019

See also

• CTV Sci-Fi Channel, a Canadian television channel that shows most of Sci-Fi Channel/Syfy's programming

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Syfy channel is rebooting with a new focus on science fiction fandom. The Verge. Andrew Liptak. March 11, 2017.
2. Web site: 2010-09-23 . Digital TV Europe.net - Sci Fi Channel to launch in Balkans . 2023-05-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100923105753/http://www.digitaltveurope.net/news_articles/sep_09/16_sep_09/sci_fi_channel_to_launch_in_balkans . September 23, 2010 .
3. Web site: October 18, 2006 . Australia To Get Its Own SciFi Channel . November 23, 2022 . Slice of SciFi . en-US.
4. Web site: Două canale NBC Universal la noi: SCI FI și Universal Channel – Comanescu.ro . 2023-09-05 . www.comanescu.ro.
5. Web site: Team . The IF . November 7, 2019 . Foxtel to launch murder-mystery, sci-fi channels as part of entertainment refresh . November 23, 2022 . IF Magazine . en-AU.
6. Web site: 2016-06-09 . SyFy channel for MENA . 2023-08-21 . en-GB.