Rediscovered Billboard in Detroit is Full of Early 90s Nostalgia

Drivers though the interchange of Michigan's two largest interstate highways have been treated to a 90s nostalgia blast for several months thanks to a recently uncovered billboard from the era.

The billboard is at the junction of I-75 and I-94 in Detroit and is seen by drivers on northbound 75. Located on top of a building on Piquette Avenue, the advertisement is for the then-new Sci-Fi Channel.

The image was posted recently to the Michigan's Abandoned Structures and Places Facebook group with the OP saying,

At the 94/75 interchange in Detroit, there is a billboard that had the current ad taken down, and behind it is an early 90s advertisement for the then-new Sci-Fi Channel. Been up for a couple months now. Love the early 90s aesthetic and haven’t seen the old channel logo in years

A look at other Google Street View images in the area show that as of late 2022 a billboard for MGM Grand was in that location.

With that campaign over, the billboard company clearly removed the campaign and allowed the nostalgia to flow through. The Sci-Fi Channel logo can easily be seen in the lower right-hand of this zoomed-in image.

That Sci-Fi Channel logo was in use from 1992-1999 meaning the ghost billboard is anywhere from 24 to 31 years old, although context clues will lead you to believe it's on the older side of that range.

Syfy was originally launched as the Sci-Fi Channel on September 24, 1992. Its original visual identity borrowed heavily from classic films and cliches of the genre.

Reading the text on the board, it appears to ask, "what on earth is happening to television?" which would be an appropriate message for the launch of the new Sci-Fi Channel.

The TV network is, of course, still going strong, today known as SyFy.

While you're here, check out some more Detroit nostalgia including a fully decorated ice cream parlor hidden in this boarded-up building: