ABC Family Targets Younger Audiences With FreeForm Rebrand

ABC Family will dramatically increase original programming under the new name.

However, rebranding as a network called Freeform, while operating under the auspices of the Disney Corp.is laughable, given that its parent company is not generally known for being particularly freewheeling.

The new demographic will allow the network to focus on telling stories that would adequately capture “first” experiences that the new age-range would likely encounter such as the “first vehicle, first apartment, first job, first love, first heartbreak-all the firsts that exist between who they are and who they want to become”. “This allowed us to create a holy trinity between the three, and “Family” didn’t seem like the easiest way to get that across”. Eleven years ago, ABC Family was ahead of the curve when it began super-serving Millennials to become their entertainment staple. Becomers are 69 million strong in the U.S., with an estimated spending power in the trillions. “Freeform personifies this fluidity and will deliver ideas, forms of content and ways of interacting with the brand”, the network release says.

According to the network, Becomers are in high school and college and “represent a life stage rather than a generation”, which sounds like something Ted Mosby would say, or something a hipster at your nearest coffee house or independent bookstore might think was really insightful but was actually just stupid. The name ABC Family misrepresents the network as one for young children, which isn’t the case, as anyone who’s watched Pretty Little Liars or The Fosters can attest (especially considering how creepy the men of Rosewood are on a routine basis).

While much of the programming on Freeform will remain the same as it is on ABC Family, there will be more of it. As announced last spring, ABC Family/Freeform is looking to double its scripted originals over the next four years. New series pick-ups and series returns will also be announced later this month.

Prior to adopting the ABC Family monkier in 2001, the network – which is part of the Disney-ABC Television Group – operated as The Family Channel (1990 – 1998) and then the Fox Family Channel (1998 – 2001). Recent research conducted by the network had core viewers rewarding the net for many great attributes across the board, he reports, while non-viewers identified the net as “family-friendly” and “wholesome” and gave “pretty lousy marks on everything else”. “Freeform evokes the spirit and adventure of our audience”, he said. And Freeform, ultimately, was a name that simply generated a positve emotion. And I only tune into your network for 25 Days of Christmas.