Sci Fi Wire, long the source of entertainment news related to the sci fi, fantasy and horror genres, has seen its traffic grow by more than 50% over the first half of 2010. Now, the site is boldly going into new frontiers – coverage of all things genre as “a daily curated smorgasbord of news, features, images, popular science, videos and guest bloggers.” Today’s announcement came from Craig Engler, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Syfy Digital.
Details from the press release follow the jump.
“Blastr.com is the next step in the evolution of Sci Fi Wire, which has grown from a site solely about news to a daily curated experience about all things related to science fiction, fantasy, horror and the imagination,” Engler said. “We’ve been testing new features and ideas, crowd-sourcing concepts with our readers and lining up some fantastic guest writers, all of which will culminate with the launch of Blastr.com on July 15.”
The new Blastr line-up will include:
- A series of guest writers starting with fan favorite actor Jewel Staite from Firefly and Stargate: Atlantis, and another Atlantis alum, actor and director David Hewlett
- A regular guest blog by well-known astronomer and Discover Magazine writer Phil Plait, who will write about the intersection of popular science and science fiction
- A regular feature where Syfy executive Craig Engler tells viewers who Syfy works behind-the-scenes and answers their questions
- A series of in-depth looks at popular trends, such as a “remake tracker” that keeps tabs on 135+ sci-fi, fantasy and horror TV and film remakes that are in the works, and the definitive list of “101 sci-fi things you have to do before you die”
- New social networking tie-ins that let Blastr visitors read and share stories on sites like Facebook and Twitter, and on devices like Android phones and iPhones.
The launch of Blastr will continue the momentum of record-setting growth Sci Fi Wire has enjoyed in the first half of 2010. In May, Sci Fi Wire capped three months of increases by reaching one million unique visitors for the first time in history. Then in June, Sci Fi Wire shattered that record by growing another 40% to reach 1.4 million unique visitors, along with a 31% increase in page views.