MANILA, Philippines?A popular US cable TV channel specializing on science fiction, fantasy, the occult and paranormal makes its debut broadcast in the Philippines.
Fans of ?Heroes,? ?Battlestar Galactica,? ?Star Trek: The Next Generation,? ?Smallville,? ?Blade: The Series,? ?Mu tant X,? and ?Andromeda? are in for a big treat with the entry of Sci Fi Channel on cable television programming.
Solar Entertainment Corp. has inked a deal with Sci Fi Channel?s parent company NBC Universal to bring the hit channel to local cable TV. Solar has also carried several popular NBC TV public affairs, entertainment and late night shows in its cable and free TV platforms through the years.
?I?m sure that anything that is a hit in the US will create the same level of interest in the Philippine market,? Solar president Wilson Tieng said in an interview with the Inquirer during the Sci Fi Channel trade and press launch at the A-Venue Hall in Makati City on Friday. ?We?ve carved out this channel, in partnership with NBC Universal, for all our sci fi features.?
Tieng said the Sci Fi Channel will also carry other science fiction titles from Solar?s other channels. The first of Sci Fi Channel?s hit original series to be shown in the Philippines, ?Sanctuary,? will premiere today.
Solar had aired several science fiction titles on its free TV channel CS/9 and ?CS Origins? on cable, which Tieng described as more ?male-skewed.? The Sci Fi Channel, he said, would cater to a larger audience, particularly females.
Going mainstream
?Strangely, sci fi also has a huge female following. They love complex and intellectually challenging plots,? Tieng said.
Solar officials are confident that the local Sci Fi Channel will follow the international channel?s success because, they said, the genre has gone mainstream.
?Sci fi as a genre is really cutting across all age groups and capturing the imagination of a lot of people,? Solar chief operating officer Peter Chan Leong noted.
Sci Fi is currently seen on Destiny Cable Channel 90 and Cablelink Channel 50. Solar is currently in talks with other cable service providers to offer the channel in their respective lineups, Tieng said.
