I don't think a week goes by where I don't see someone complaining about the programming on Syfy. People constantly want to see the older shows they used to air. 'Why doesn't Syfy air {name of series} anymore?' Or 'They should be airing {name of series}?'

I really shouldn't fault people wanting to see shows they enjoyed when they were younger, but people are looking at things through fan-colored glasses, and should really try and look at the whole picture.

Syfy is a channel owned by the corporation NBC Universal. The goal of any corporation is to make a profit for its shareholders, not to please the fans of a particular channel. And as much as people may disagree with their choices (I know I do), they are making money.

I once read someone's complaint saying Syfy used to make money airing the old show. They are trying to use the new stuff to make more money. My response to that is 'Duh!'

When the SciFi Channel first premiered, it aired repeats of old series. That is what new cable channels tend to do. They get a foothold and build an audience. Then they can justify spending money on new programming.

Also, when the channel was launched, narrowcasting was the concept. Narrowcasting being the idea that you can have a niche channel going after a specific demographic, and it would be profitable.

The problem being the world of cable networks isn't what it was two decades ago. Cable networks were basically startup companies, owned by small corporations, or joint ventures owned by more than one corporation.

As time went on, these networks were gobbled up by large media corporations, which demanded more profit. Which meant becoming homogeneous. They moved from being niche channels to the cable version of broadcasting, as in reaching for the broadest possible audience.

It's where we are now, and it's not going to change.

A different take on the idea I've seen revolves around a new retro network, to air all the old sci-fi and fantasy series, like Nick at Night did with TV Land. While an interesting idea, I don't see it working. For one thing, TV Land isn't really TV Land anymore.

The network was originally founded to air old shows. But even they are now beginning to air new programming. And the old shows they used to air have been relegated to airing in off hours, while prime-time is filled with newer repeats.

And this illustrates my first point. Be it Syfy, or a new Retro channel, if the management of the station thought they could earn money showing those older shows, they would air them. It's as simple as that. I don't see millions of people flocking to their television sets to watch "Manimal."

Now let's say we are launching Retro, the home of old sci-fi and fantasy programming. You need to find programming. That means obtaining the rights for the older shows from the current holders. That is your first expense. And you would need a lot of shows to fill a 24 hour schedule made up of failed shows.

If you want to make a go of it, you need to run commercials. More commercials mean more revenue. Today, the average show takes up 42 minutes for a broadcast hour. If you are going to try and air shows like "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Time Tunnel," "Star Trek" or "Space: 1999," you will have to trim almost ten minutes of programming to make that 42 minutes. Yes, you can keep the show intact, but you are taking a hit in your revenue stream.

Using all these old programs, you are stuck with making Retro a standard definition station. Most of the older shows were either filmed in black and white, or are on color film faded due to the passage of time. And all of the show made prior to the mid-1980s will be monaural, not stereo.

With little chance of bringing in a profit, I don't see a studio investing in bringing these films up to the standards of current SD channels, let alone convert them to HD. The film, in its current state appears to be substandard to modern audiences.

Yes, I know, there is the thought that people think this way aren't giving the material a chance. But as I said above, if the management thought these shows could make them money, they'd be airing them. I don't see anyone upgrading 'Misfits of Science" anytime soon.

Now after all this, I agree that I would love to see the oldies again. But how?

Many series have been released on DVD, and I believe DVD has helped keep many of the newer "old" shows off the air. Why watch it on TV where the show has been edited for time, and deal with the interruptions of commercials when you can pop in a disk and see the show in its full length and without commercial interruption.

But there are plenty of shows out there people want to see that will never make it to DVD. Older shows, with a limited run, usually less than a season. The studios believe there is no market for these shows, and if they feel a show won't make a certain sales level, they are not going to invest in a DVD set.

MoD might be a help to some of these show, but who knows. MoD stands for "Manufacture on Demand." A couple of studios have started a program where they list old properties on a Web site, and you can order them. The studio doesn't do a mass run of the series, and all you will get is the show, no extras, and no effort put into cleaning up or upgrading the film. A take-it-or-leave-it purchase.

MoD isn't widespread, and the jury is still out on whether or not it will take off. But I am hopeful. How else am I going to get a legal copy of "Automan."

But given my choice, I'd like to see these old shows gravitate to the web. I would love to see a hulu-esque site set up where all these oldies can be made available. Viewing on the web is picture perfect for many of these shows. People have lower expectations toward programming on the Web, so there is little need to upgrade the shows.

But until that time, you can find many series on the Web already. Just check out Hulu, Fancast, TheWB.com and the various network Web sites. For example, you can find "Jericho," "The Twilight Zone" and "Star Trek" at CBS.com, under their classics link.

In the 21st century, the future of these old shows is not on TV, but on the Web.