ABC Family to Change Its Name to Freeform

They still want that teenage audience, but they also want young adults to watch the network without associating it with kiddie programming. “Pretty Little Liars”, “The Fosters”, “Baby Daddy”, and “Young & Hungry” all return in 2016 along with the series premieres of “Shadowhunters” and “Recovery Road”.

Freeform refers to both the lifestyle and non-linear media habits of young viewers still in the process of becoming adults, as opposed to the aging generation of millennials, according to Tom Ascheim, president of ABC Family. This one tested by far the best.

“To recruit new customers we faced a perception problem”, Mr. Ascheim said.

The name change followed a poll conducted by the network to gauge viewer reception of the network.

“Rebrands have been a mixed bag”. It’s worth noting that under the old millennial-aimed system, the channel earned about $451 million in advertising revenue past year.

What do you think of the name change?

The evolution of ABC Family continues. Disney bought the network from them in 1991, and dubbed it ABC Family.

“Freeform, which was announced on Tuesday, does not yet have a logo, but early marketing materials veer sharply away from the restrained imagery that ABC Family has long used”, the story reports.

The Family name has been in the cable listings since 1988. For awhile it changed to The Family Channel, then to Fox Family Channel, and then in 2001 became ABC Family Channel. The programming is a combination of network-defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. “We wanted to harmonize our content and out brand”, he said. And Freeform, ultimately, was a name that simply generated a positve emotion. This audience, he added, are “becomers”, people in high school, college and the decade after that. “The becomers are between their first kiss and their first kid, we like to say”.

The danger comes with regular viewers missing the connection, but Adgate said he expects ABC Family to heavily promote the switch. The network is also the destination for annual holiday events with “13 Nights of Halloween” and “25 Days of Christmas”.

Disney Publishing Worldwide will also create multiple book formats under the Freeform imprint.

“ABC Family has had a lot of success, and it feels really good”, says Ascheim.