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Freeform (TV channel)

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For the U.S. broadcast television network currently using Freeform's former 1990–98 name, see The Family Channel (U.S. TV network).
Freeform
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersBurbank, California
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerDisney–ABC Television Group
(The Walt Disney Company, via ABC Family Worldwide)

Freeform is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Freeform Worldwide, a subsidiary of the Disney–ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The channel primarily features series and movies aimed at teenagers and young adults – with some programming skewing towards young women – between the ages of 14 and 34, a target demographic designated by the channel as "becomers"; some programming featured on Freeform (primarily consisting of movies) is secondarily aimed at a family audience. Its programming includes contemporary off-network syndicated reruns and original series, feature films and made-for-TV original movies, and some religious programming.

Since the network was launched in April 1977, Freeform has underwent various changes to its on-air identity – having changed its name seven different times, the most of any American television network – and programming over the course of its history. The network was founded as the CBN Satellite Service, an extension of televangelist Pat Robertson's Christian television ministry; it evolved into a family-focused entertainment network in 1981, eventually becoming known as The Family Channel by 1990.

In 1997, it was sold to News Corporation-owned Fox Kids Worldwide Inc. and renamed the Fox Family Channel in August 1998.[1][2] On October 24, 2001, Fox Family Channel and Fox Family Worldwide came under the ownership of The Walt Disney Company, in a sale that also included Saban Entertainment; the channel altered its name to ABC Family one month later on November 10.[3][4] On October 6, 2015, Disney–ABC Television Group announced that the network would rebrand as Freeform, officially adopting that name on January 12, 2016.[5][6][7]

History

For a detailed history of the channel under its current and past identities, see History of Freeform (TV channel).

Early history (1977–98)

The channel traces its origins to the launch of the CBN Satellite Service, an arm of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), on April 29, 1977. Focusing mainly on religious programming, the channel was notable for being one of the first cable channels to distribute its signal nationally through satellite transmission (the third overall, as the method had been first pioneered by HBO in September 1975) as well as the first national basic cable-originated network (TBS – which became the second cable channel in the U.S. to begin transmitting via satellite in December 1976 – originated as a feed of broadcast television station WTCG (now WPCH-TV) in Atlanta, Georgia). The channel changed its name to the CBN Cable Network on September 1, 1981, and adopted a more secular programming format featuring a mix of recent and classic family-oriented series and films, while retaining some religious programs from various televangelists (mirroring the format used by CBN's independent television stations of that time). By this point, its carriage grew to 10.9 million homes with a cable television subscription.

On August 1, 1988, the word "Family" was incorporated into the channel's name to better reflect its programming format, rebranding as The CBN Family Channel. By 1990, the network had grown too profitable to remain under the Christian Broadcasting Network umbrella without endangering the ministry's non-profit status. On January 8 of that year, CBN spun it off to a new company called International Family Entertainment (IFE). Managed by Pat Robertson's eldest son Timothy, IFE was co-owned by the Robertsons, with a minority interest held by Liberty Media and TCI owner John C. Malone.[8][9] Following the spin-off, the channel's name was subsequently modified to simply The Family Channel on September 15, 1990 (although this name was used in on-air promotions while the channel was still under CBN ownership).

As The Family Channel, it attracted a slightly older (and religious) audience that is not sought by advertisers; only about one-third of homes with television viewers that watched the network included children or youths among its audience. The Family Channel started airing programs aired at preschool children, pre-teens, and teenagers to target all members of the family.[10] As a stipulation included as part of the spin-out from CBN to International Family Entertainment, The Family Channel was required to continue its daily airings of CBN's flagship program, The 700 Club.[11] During this time, from 1994 to 1997, The Family Channel sponsored NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Ted Musgrave in the #16 Ford Thunderbird for Roush Racing.[12][13][14][15]

Fox Family (1998–2001)

In 1997, after International Family Entertainment put The Family Channel up for sale, News Corporation made an offer to acquire the channel. The company wanted to use The Family Channel to serve as a cable outlet for the library of children's programs it owned and broadcast as part of the Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids lineup, then owned by a joint venture of News Corporation and television production company Saban Entertainment, so it could compete against established children's cable channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. News Corporation then entered into discussions to purchase a stake in the channel with IFE as a partner.[16][17] After competing bids were submitted by Nickelodeon parent Viacom and The Walt Disney Company (parent of fellow competitor Disney Channel) to acquire IFE as a whole, News Corporation placed its own bid to buy the company for $1.8 billion.[18] On June 11, 1997, International Family Entertainment was acquired by the Fox/Saban consortium, Fox Kids Worldwide, for $1.9 billion; the company itself was in turn renamed Fox Family Worldwide.[19][20] The Family Channel was officially renamed Fox Family Channel on August 15, 1998.[1][2] With the change in ownership, Fox Family's operations were also migrated from Virginia Beach, Virginia (where the Christian Broadcasting Network's headquarters are based) and integrated with the operations of some of News Corporation's other U.S. cable television properties in Los Angeles.[citation needed]

Following the sale to Fox/Saban, airings of Pat Robertson's syndicated talk show The 700 Club were scaled back to two per day (though the sale agreement required the channel to air it three times daily,[21] once each in the morning, late evening and overnight hours), with the evening broadcast being moved out of prime time and pushed an hour later to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time (from 10:00 p.m.). More cartoons were added to the channel's lineup, many of which were culled from the Fox Kids program library (such as Bobby's World, Eek! The Cat and Life with Louie), with about eight hours of cartoons airing each day. However, Fox Family also became a cornerstone for syndicating foreign live-action and animated television series (primarily those produced in English-speaking countries), such as Miami 7 (retitled S Club 7 in Miami for its U.S. telecasts), a sitcom serving as a starring vehicle for British pop group S Club 7, which became the flagship series for the channel until the early 2000s. The channel also syndicated many Canadian series including Angela Anaconda, Big Wolf on Campus, Edgemont, I Was a Sixth Grade Alien, and, briefly, The Zack Files. The channel also aired cartoons and anime programs based on video games (such as Donkey Kong Country, Megaman and Monster Rancher), with most airing as part of the channel's morning lineup; Fox Family added some recent family sitcoms as well, as part of its early and late evening schedules. The new schedule also included reruns of Pee-wee's Playhouse, which had not been seen on television since 1991, when CBS pulled reruns of the series from its Saturday morning lineup following star Paul Reubens' arrest for indecent exposure at a pornographic movie theater in Sarasota, Florida.

When Fox Family Worldwide bought the channel, the management team assigned to the network (headed by newly appointed president and chief executive officer Rich Cronin) sought to re-program it towards a new dual audience – kids in daytime, families at night.[22] However, Fox Family's youth-oriented programming strategy – which resulted in the removal of the older programming in the channel's inventory, especially western reruns (which made up the bulk of The Family Channel's weekday and weekend schedule dating back to its existence as CBN Cable Network) – alienated the network's core demographic of older viewers. The channel experienced a decline in viewership,[22] falling in the Nielsen ratings from 10th to 17th place in overall cable network viewership, and a 35% drop in its prime time viewership.[22][23] In 1999, Fox spun off two digital cable channels from Fox Family, the Boyz Channel and the Girlz Channel, which both contained programming content targeted at the respective genders, creating some controversy over the gender-segregated format of the channels; both networks shut down after one year of operation due to a lack of demand by cable providers – each only had 100,000 subscribers – and News Corporation's desire to invest more heavily in Fox Family.[24]

Sale to Disney and rebranding as ABC Family (2001–06)

After News Corporation and Saban Entertainment were unable to reach a deal for the former to sell its stake in the venture to Saban,[23] on October 24, 2001, the joint venture sold Fox Family Worldwide to The Walt Disney Company for $2.9 billion in cash plus the assumption of $2.3 billion in debt, giving Disney control of the Fox Family Channel, the Saban Entertainment library and the international Fox Kids cable networks controlled by Fox Family Worldwide, among other assets.[25] On November 10, 2001, the network was officially renamed ABC Family, co-branding it with the company's flagship television property ABC (which Disney had purchased as part of its February 1996 acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.).[3][4][23] Analysts felt that Disney's purchase of Fox Family Worldwide was influenced by the ongoing consolidation occurring in the media industry, such as the then-recently completed merger of AOL and Time Warner, and a desire to acquire a new television outlet that had heavy viewer penetration – at the time of the purchase, the network was seen in 83 million homes.[22][23]

Disney originally planned to use the channel to show reruns of ABC programming, although this strategy was hindered by the fact that ABC only held syndication rights to series that were produced by its Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television divisions – whose distribution rights were held by Buena Vista Television – requiring it to reach agreements with other studios to allow the channel to carry programs seen on the broadcast network that were not produced by Disney.[26] Disney-ABC then developed a programming strategy to turn ABC Family into a "broad-appeal programming network with its own identity", picking up same-season encores of ABC series such as Alias, Less Than Perfect and Life with Bonnie; adding a weeknight sitcom block; and continuing to emphasize movies – having already reached a ten-year agreement for the cable rights to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. To reduce programming redundancies with fellow family-oriented sister network Disney Channel, which began shifting its target audience towards children and younger teenagers when it transitioned into a basic cable channel in April 1997, ABC Family also heavily reduced its children's programming lineup to a two-hour block on weekday mornings. The network also announced plans to develop new original series, though several series that originated on the channel under the Fox Family identity were canceled (such as the 1960s-set period dramedy State of Grace), and the channel scaled back its made-for-cable movie output.[22]

Second and final logo as ABC Family, used from January 1, 2003 to January 11, 2016.

The next major plan was to re-position the channel to market it toward college students, young women, or at a more hip audience under the name "XYZ," a reverse reference to ABC. Disney-ABC chose not to move forward with the "XYZ" rebranding, allegedly due to a stipulation thought to have been put in place by Pat Robertson in International Family Entertainment's original sale agreement to News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group division, that mandated that the word "Family" must be contained in the name of the channel for the entirety of its existence, regardless as to who owns it (the "XYZ" branding was used by the channel in 2003, for a program block featuring live-action series and movies aimed at the aforementioned groups).[27][28] The network was also used as a buffer to burn off failed ABC series, such as the reality competition series All American Girl, which featured Spice Girl Geri Halliwell. The network's strength was also increased through the production of original series and films.[29]

Disney continued to be subject to stipulations requiring CBN programming, requiring that The 700 Club be aired twice daily on the network[21] (although this is the set requirement, Freeform carries The 700 Club three times each weekday; once in the morning, twice at night), along with the half-hour CBN talk show Living the Life (which has since been replaced by The 700 Club Interactive), and that a day-long CBN telethon (which airs the week before the Super Bowl each year) be broadcast annually. On August 29, 2005, Disney began distancing itself further from Robertson following his controversial remarks suggesting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez should be assassinated, as well as comments regarding homosexuals, feminists, Muslims, abortion and many other social issues. An ABC Family spokesperson stated that it had no editorial control over The 700 Club and that it "strongly rejects the views expressed by Pat Robertson."[30] Following the incident, the disclamiers aired before CBN programs aired on ABC Family were also amended with a more explicit statement indicating that the views expressed during the programs do not reflect those of the channel. In addition, the channel does not promote The 700 Club on-air (having not done so since the sale to News Corporation), and its website does not link to CBN's 700 Club webpage.[31][32]

"A New Kind of Family" (2006–16)

On August 31, 2006, ABC Family introduced a new slogan ("A New Kind of Family") and imaging campaign, with a custom typeface based on that used in the ABC logo created for its promotional graphics as part of the motif. The rebranding coincided with a new original programming strategy for the network that targeted the teen and millennial demographics;[33] following the rebranding, ABC Family began to introduce more original teen dramas onto its lineup, along with series incorporating more diverse portrayals of family life.[33][34] In addition, ABC Family discontinued Jetix, an action-oriented morning children's block that debuted on the network in 2002, relegating the block exclusive to sister channel Toon Disney. Repeats of acquired off-network programs currently air in Jetix's former time slot from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the morning airing of the 700 Club/Living the Life block being pushed back a half-hour further to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time[35] and sitcom reruns airing during the 9:00 a.m. Eastern half-hour (the former two-hour slot was occpuied entirely by sitcoms until 2015, when it switched to incorporating a mix of comedy and drama series in that period and the succeeding half-hour). Following the removal of Jetix, ABC Family did not air any programming targeted at pre-teen audiences; those programs now air on Disney Channel (incidentally just prior to the Fox purchase, ABC Family – as The Family Channel – did not carry any children's programming on its schedule; much of it was not readded until shortly before the rebrand to Fox Family).

New original series, such as the fantasy drama Kyle XY, college-set dramedy Greek and drama series The Secret Life of the American Teenager proved popular for the network, with the premieres of Kyle XY and Secret Life setting viewership records for the channel.[33][36] In July 2009, the network earned its best-ever ratings for the month of July in prime time and in total viewership, credited to the strength of returning series The Secret Life of the American Teenager and new series Make It or Break It, 10 Things I Hate About You and Ruby & The Rockits, along with extended features from the Harry Potter film franchise and the television premiere of Labor Pains.[37]

The teen drama Pretty Little Liars – based on the series of young adult mystery novels by Sara Shepard – ascended to become the ABC Family's flagship series, following its premiere on June 8, 2010. Beginning with its debut episode, the series frequently broke ratings records for ABC Family;[33][38] in 2014, Pretty Little Liars ranked among the five most-watched scripted series on basic cable among multiple female age demographics, and was the second-highest rated cable series among females 12–34. Throughout the year, ABC Family as a whole experienced its highest year-to-year prime time viewership among viewers in the 12-34 and 18-34 demographics.[39] The family drama Switched at Birth also broke viewership records when it premiered on June 6, 2011 to an audience of 3.3 million viewers. Owing to his success at ABC Family, The Walt Disney Company promoted network president Paul Lee to become president of the ABC Entertainment Group in July 2010, a role in which he remained until Lee resigned from the company in February 2016.[36]

Freeform (2016–present)

In a December 3, 2014 article, Variety reported that ABC Family executives were proposing a relaunch of the network that would occur as early as 2015, including the expansion of programming appealing more toward a millennial-skewing audience (as opposed to families or teenagers), as well as adopting new branding (including a new name), among the options being considered.[40] During the channel's 2015–16 upfront presentation on April 14, 2015, ABC Family executives announced that it would establish a focus on "becomers," a group termed by network representatives to refer to teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 and 34, which are normally identified as "millennials". ABC Family president Tom Ascheim explained in describing this demographic, "The most important question that young people ask themselves as they're going from high school to their thirties is, 'Who am I becoming?' So we call the life stage 'becoming' and the people going through it Becomers".[5][41][42]

On October 6, 2015, Disney–ABC Television Group announced that ABC Family would be rebranded as Freeform, which Ascheim explained was intended to represent how "becomers" are in the "formation" of their lives, and would reflect a participatory experience for viewers across multiple platforms. An extensive campaign to promote the rebrand kicked off on the date of the announcement and encompassed the network's popular "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas" blocks during the fourth quarter of that year.[27][28] The new name – which was chosen among 3,000 proposals, with some initial consideration of retaining "ABC" in the name – was necessitated after an audience survey that sampled opinions of regular ABC Family viewers as well those who watched the channel on an infrequent basis, revealed that although regular viewers understood the network's youth-skewing concept, non-frequent viewers perceived the channel as being more of a "wholesome" family-oriented network.[5][43] At the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on January 9, 2016, in addressing the reasoning behind the name (which had been derided by some viewers on social media and news websites reporting on the pending rebrand), ABC Family president Tom Ascheim noted that while it does not mind the "wholesome" perception, it does "not necessarily represent" the network.[43] While it was rumored that the sale of the network from International Family Entertainment to Fox contained a stipulation that the channel must contain "Family" in its name in perpetuity, regardless of its owner (as supported by the failed proposal to relaunch the channel as "XYZ"), in initially announcing the channel's rebranding, Ascheim clarified that this was merely an urban legend as no such clause has been corroborated to have existed.[27][28]

The channel formally adopted the Freeform name on January 12, 2016 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the date of the changeover coinciding with the winter premiere of the second half of Pretty Little Liars's sixth season (which the network led into with a marathon of the first eight episodes of that same season) and the series premiere of the fantasy series Shadowhunters, adapted from The Mortal Instruments series of young adult novels by Cassandra Clare.[7] As Freeform, the channel plans to double the amount of original programming on its schedule through 2020; however, despite firmly focusing on its specified target audience, Freeform will continue to carry much of the existing programming it aired beforehand under the ABC Family brand (making the rebranding cosmetic on the outset), including family-oriented series and films, its weekday airings of The 700 Club as well as the seasonal "25 Days of Christmas" and "13 Days of Halloween" blocks.[27][28][43] Although the programs conflict with the culturally progressive/adult content of some of the channel's secular programming, Freeform also retained The 700 Club and The 700 Club Interactive, as network executives were not able to reach an agreement with Pat Robertson to buy out CBN's time-buy contract with the channel (Disney–ABC offered to pay $42 million – roughly the same amount that the ministry earned in revenue during 2015 from syndication fees for The 700 Club and various related productions – to terminate the agreement with the Christian Broadcasting Network, though Robertson stipulated a higher payout that Ascheim deemed "astronomical" in comparison to its actual value).[33][44][45][46]

On April 7, 2016, Freeform ordered a series based on Marvel's Cloak and Dagger comic book series, marking the first work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have been developed for the network.[47]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Freeform

Outside of prime time, Freeform currently offers a slate of mostly reruns of contemporary comedy and drama series, such as Reba, The Middle, Last Man Standing and Gilmore Girls. The channel previously aired its off-network series in set daily time slots until November 2015, before adopting a scheduling format in which its acquired programs are aired in two to three-hour blocks on select weekdays during the daytime hours in January 2016.

The channel also produces some original programming, which (as of April 2016) currently include shows such as Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Switched at Birth, Stitchers, Shadowhunters, Young & Hungry and Baby Daddy. Until the debuts of Melissa & Joey (which ran from 2010 to 2015), and Baby Daddy (which premiered in 2012), Freeform (as ABC Family) had long faced minimal success with its original sitcoms, with its drama series often outlasting its comedies.

Freeform airs its original drama series on Monday and/or Tuesday nights, and since 2011 (beginning under the former ABC Family brand), has aired its comedy series on Wednesdays. The channel airs first-run episodes of its original series mainly between January and August, with films generally airing in their place during prime time on the aforementioned nights from September to December (the only exception since 2010, have been annual Halloween episodes of Pretty Little Liars that air as part of the "13 Nights of Halloween" in October as well as the debut of the first third of season one of Ravenswood in October 2013); the first ten episodes (or as few as eight for new series) of each season of its original programs air consecutively, the season's remaining episodes are broadcast following a hiatus of four to six months. Dating back to its existence as ABC Family, Freeform typically only reruns episodes of its original series in a marathon that airs prior to a season premiere, mid-season or season finale, or other special occasion, though the channel does air encore presentations of its shows that typically preempt programs that normally air at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time during the rest of the week on these nights (with the previous week's episode airing in the former time slot prior to the newest episode and a same-night encore of the newest episode on the evening of an episode premiere in the latter time slot).

Between 2000 and 2015, the network has aired several sitcoms that have previously aired on ABC's former TGIF block, including the Miller-Boyett produced Step by Step (one of the longest-running shows on the channel, running from 2001 to 2010), Family Matters (which ran from 2003 to 2008), Two of a Kind (which ran from 1999 to 2005), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (which ran from 2006 to 2011), 8 Simple Rules (which ran from 2007 to 2014), Full House (which ran from 2003 to 2013) and Boy Meets World (which ran from 2006 to 2008 and again from 2010 to 2015).

The channel also airs religious programming, a remnant from the network's CBN ownership, including daily broadcasts of The 700 Club and The 700 Club Interactive, as well as ministry programs from Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, James Robison, Joseph Prince, Doug Batchelor, David Jeremiah and Zola Levitt; aside from the 700 Club and 700 Club Interactive airings, most of the religious programs carried by Freeform generally air weekdays between 5:00 to 7:00 a.m., and Sundays from 5:30 to 7:00 and 12:00 to 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Freeform is one of only two Disney-owned cable channels in the U.S. (ESPN Classic being the other) that airs infomercials within its programming schedule and one of the only cable channels which air informercials before 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time; paid programming airs on the channel from 2:00 to 7:00 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 12:00 to 7:00 a.m. on Sundays (all times Eastern). The paid programming time includes the aforementioned religious programs, whose time slots were paid for by the ministries which produce the programs.

Movies

Main article: List of Freeform Original Movies

Freeform airs movies in prime time on Thursday and Friday nights (and if no original series are scheduled, Mondays, Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays as well), along with a day-long schedule of films on weekends from as early as 7:00 a.m. (sometimes later, such as around 7:30 or 8:00 a.m.) to as late as 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays and 12:00 a.m. Eastern on Sundays. Movies airing on the channel are targeted at various audiences – from pre-teens, to families, to teenagers and adults – with a large amount of films airing on Freeform being distributed by corporate sister Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 20th Century Fox (owned by 21st Century Fox, which was created through the split of the channel's former parent company News Corporation on June 28, 2013) and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Freeform has also purchased the cable television rights to many film series, such as the Harry Potter series (which ABC and Disney Channel also hold rights to), 2004's A Cinderella Story (and its made-for-DVD spinoffs Another Cinderella Story and A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song) and most recently the Legally Blonde film series (after securing rights to the 2009 made-for-DVD release Legally Blondes). From 1998 (as Fox Family) to 2002 (as ABC Family), the channel also secured cable rights to several films starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (coinciding with the period that it aired reruns of their short-lived ABC sitcom Two of a Kind as well as their Fox Family original series So Little Time, but just prior to carrying Full House).

The channel also produces its own original made-for-TV movies (targeting a slightly older audience than those aired by sister network Disney Channel); some of Freeform's most popular original movies include Night of the Twisters (the channel's first original movie, which premiered in 1996 during its existence as The Family Channel), Holiday in Handcuffs, the Au Pair trilogy, My Fake Fiance, and Cyberbully (which premiered on the channel under either the Fox Family or ABC Family identities). As ABC Family, the channel has also recently been generating high levels of viewers with its weekend movie events; the "Harry Potter Weekend" block in July 2009 generated some of the highest levels of viewers for its weekend events for the year to date. ABC Family's airing of The Hunger Games on October 10, 2014 was one of the channel's most watched telecasts for a single film, being seen by nearly 1.9 million viewers.

Freeform is also becoming known for airing previews of upcoming movies, as it has done for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hairspray and Stardust.[48]

The channel has also aired select Disney Channel Original Movies in recent years, including the 2008 movie Camp Rock and the 2011 films Lemonade Mouth and Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, which are also three of only four Disney Channel movies to air domestically on a non-Disney Channel branded network (Cadet Kelly is the other, having aired on The Wonderful World of Disney in 2002. This has become somewhat more prevalent since the channel's January 2016 rebranding to Freeform, which has also seen the channel air such popular Disney Channel films as High School Musical.

Sports

See also: Fox Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball on ESPN, and Major League Baseball on TBS

From 2000 to 2001, Fox Family aired a weekly Major League Baseball game on Thursday nights during the league's regular season (a game that had previously aired nationwide on Fox Sports Net from 1997 to 1999), as well as select Division Series games. As part of its purchase of Fox Family, in addition to that game, Disney acquired the MLB cable television rights that were also held by Fox Family's then-sister channel FX. ESPN assumed the production responsibilities for the two game packages beginning with the 2002 MLB season, although the game telecasts remained on ABC Family for one additional year, before ESPN struck a deal to move those playoff games to its flagship network starting the the following year season (although the games aired on Disney-owned networks, Fox kept the exclusive negotiation to renew the contract after the 2006 season; Fox chose not to renew their rights to the Division Series, which went to TBS as part of its new baseball contract). Per Major League Baseball broadcasting rules, Division Series games aired by Fox Family/ABC Family were also simulcast on local broadcast television stations in the home markets of the participating teams.[49]

Programming blocks

Current programming blocks

  • Funday – Launched in 2014, "Funday" is the network's block of feature films on Sundays (the running time of the block varies depending on the day's film schedule), with a principal focus on films aimed at teenagers, young adults and family audiences.

Seasonal programming blocks

  • 25 Days of Christmas – The channel has been known for airing many Christmas specials, such as the Rankin-Bass programs The Little Drummer Boy and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. It has since expanded this holiday programming, adding made-for-television and theatrically-released movies, a litany of Rankin-Bass sequels (this was complicated somewhat because the broadcast rights of some of the original specials, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, were still owned by CBS), and other original programming to create "The 25 Days of Christmas". This program block airs in prime time on weekdays and from noon through prime time on weekends from December 1 to 25th each year, and has existed since 1996 under Freeform's previous brand as The Family Channel. The block has aired some movies that are not necessarily holiday-related; in 2006, for example, movies from the Harry Potter film series were shown along with Mary Poppins (the 2004 Enhanced Home Theater Mix version with redubbed sound effects was broadcast until 2013 during its existence as ABC Family, when the master was updated) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Also that year, Dr. Seuss on the Loose and The Cat in the Hat were added, however, not with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. However, Freeform does remove some portions of these specials due to time constraints or song clearance issues, including the "Peppermint Mine" scene in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the "I'm Kubla Kraus" song number in Jack Frost. The "25 Days of Christmas" also features special Christmas episodes of the channel's original series (with seven different shows airing Christmas specials in 2014, including "The Fosters", "Pretty Little Liars", "Chasing Life", "Baby Daddy", "Switched at Birth" and "Melissa and Joey").
  • 13 Nights of Halloween – The success of "25 Days of Christmas" led to this Halloween-themed spin-off, which airs from October 19 to October 31 each year. The block was created in 1998 during the Fox Family era, as the "13 Days of Halloween," which was subsequently renamed to the current "13 Nights of Halloween" in 2002 following Disney/ABC's purchase of the channel and rebranding as ABC Family. The programming block became one of the biggest successes for the network; however, it was not broadcast in 2003 as the channel's new programming executives simply decided not to air the block for reasons that remain unclear. The "13 Nights of Halloween" returned in 2004, which included reruns of Scariest Places on Earth (which debuted as part of the original block during the Fox Family era) and the premiere of the original made-for-TV movie The Hollow. The 2005 schedule provided a return to more traditional Halloween programming and scary movies. It has been steadily growing ever since, but has not received the same attention as it had in the Fox Family era. Halloween-themed films, thrillers and horror films are commonly aired during the "13 Nights of Halloween" (such as Hocus Pocus, The Sixth Sense, Corpse Bride, Scooby Doo, and occasionally Stephen King's It and Nightworld: Lost Souls). The "13 Nights of Halloween" also features Halloween specials of the channel's original series (including Pretty Little Liars, which has had three Halloween-centered episodes during the drama's six-season run to date).

Past programming blocks

  • Cable Health Club – In 1994, as The Family Channel, the channel ran programming from sister channel, the Cable Health Club, as part of a daytime block on Monday through Friday mornings, featuring the fitness instruction programs Tamilee Webb and Body by Jake.[50][51]
  • The Game Channel – Premiering on June 7, 1993, The Family Channel debuted a 2½-hour game show block in preparation for the planned launch of the cable channel of roughly the same name (which never launched), featuring reruns of Let's Make a Deal and Name That Tune, as well as two first-run shows based on the board game Trivial Pursuit (both hosted by Wink Martindale).[52] By August of that year, the block was expanded to three hours.[53]
  • The Positive Place – Running from 1991 to 1994 as The Family Channel, "The Positive Place" was a weekly block that aired Sunday early-evenings (from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time) featuring first-run episodes and reruns of original and acquired programs (including Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop, Maniac Mansion, Big Brother Jake and Zorro).[citation needed]
  • The Basement - Running from 1998 to 2000, this block aired in the late afternoons from 3 to 6PM, and incorporated various interstitial segments, including human hosts, puppetry, and animation, around reruns of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and Eek!Stravaganza, as well as The Three Friends and Jerry, Walter Melon and several other series. The block was modeled after The Zone on Canada's YTV network.
  • Toon-A Casserole - Running from 1998 to 2000, airing 1 to 3PM on weekdays and weekends, this block featured various cartoons, including The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper. Bobby's World, The Mouse And The Monster, and The Real Ghostbusters.
  • Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House - Running from 1998 to 2000, airing from 11AM to 1PM, this block featured Saban's 1997 revival of Captain Kangaroo, with new hosting segments featuring the Captain; also in the block was Mister Moose's Fun Time (a spinoff featuring Mr. Moose), Storytime with Thomas and Magic Adventures of Mumfie (which had been run on Fox Kids from 1994 to 1996 as part of their lineup).
  • ABC Family Action Block / Jetix – The "ABC Family Action Block" debuted on the network in March 2002 (as part of a reduction of its children's programming), featuring various live action and (primarily) animated children's programs such as Medabots, Beyblade, Digimon: Digital Monsters, Daigunder and Get Ed. The block was rebranded as "Jetix" in February 2004, at the same time that Toon Disney launched its own action-oriented block of the same name. Of its long list of programs, the Power Rangers series was its most successful.[54] ABC Family's Jetix block was discontinued in September 2006, at the same time the companion Toon Disney block was expanded (taking over more than half of that channel's schedule); sitcom repeats currently air on ABC Family in Jetix's former timeslot from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Most of Jetix's programming had previously aired on Fox Kids and Fox Family. The Jetix brand remained in use by Toon Disney until that channel was relaunched as Disney XD on February 13, 2009, effectively discontinuing the Jetix brand in the United States outright.
Seasonal blocks
  • Summer Crush – From 2010 to 2014 as ABC Family, the channel aired a ten-day event featuring teen-oriented and romance films from July 29 to August 7 (scheduled during the final week of school-designated summer breaks in some locations). Originally known as "Campus Crush," the block was renamed "Summer Crush" in 2013. Movies featured in the lineup have included Prom, The Princess Diaries, The Last Song, So Undercover, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hairspray, Legally Blonde and Billy Madison. During this period, ABC Family also aired special prom- or romance-themed episodes of its original series.
  • Spring Crush – From 2013 to 2014 as ABC Family, the channel ran "Spring Crush," an Easter weekend offshoot of "Campus/Summer Crush," as a four-day event that debuted in the former year and ran from April 18 to April 21 (Easter Sunday); it was expanded to five days in 2014 (running that year from April 16 to 20). The block features a mix of teen-oriented and prom-themed movies (such as Tangled, Hop, the Cinderella Story movie series, The Little Mermaid, and Fame). In 2013, ABC Family debuted an original musical-comedy film, Lovestruck: The Musical, as part of this lineup.
Service Description
Freeform HD Freeform HD is a high definition simulcast feed of Freeform that broadcasts in the 720p format (the preferred HD resolution for The Walt Disney Company's television properties); it was launched as ABC Family HD in early 2008.[55] All of the network's original series and made-for-TV films, and many of its acquired programs are currently produced in high definition, which are presented in a letterboxed format on the standard definition channel; films airing on the channel are also broadcast in HD whenever possible. Freeform HD is carried on select cable and satellite providers such as Comcast Xfinity, Time Warner Cable,[56] Cox Communications,[57] Cable One, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, Charter Communications, DirecTV[58] and Dish Network.
Freeform On Demand Freeform On Demand is the channel's video-on-demand service, offering recent episodes of the channel's original series and select made-for-TV movies to digital cable and IPTV providers. Freeform On Demand's rotating program selection incorporates select new titles that are added the day after a program's original episode airdate (or every two weeks for its original movie selections), alongside existing program titles held over from the previous two weeks.
WATCH Freeform WATCH Freeform is a website for desktop and laptop computers, as well as an application for smartphones and tablet computers that allows subscribers of participating cable and satellite providers (such as Comcast Xfinity, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications) to watch live streams of Freeform's programming on computers and mobile devices via their TV Everywhere login provided by their cable provider; the service is also available through Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy devices. It was launched on January 7, 2014 as WATCH ABC Family, replacing the original ABC Family app on mobile devices.[59] Individual episodes of the channel's series, along with additional content such as behind-the-scenes features are also available. Episodes of the network's series are also available through Hulu, which also requires a television provider login to access episode content (prior to the app's relaunch, no restrictions based on a user's subscription to a pay television service were placed on the streaming of ABC Family/Freeform's original programs via the channel's website or through Hulu, which is part-owned by network parent The Walt Disney Company).[60]

International versions

ABC Spark (Canada)

Main article: ABC Spark

On October 26, 2011, The Walt Disney Company and Toronto-based media company Corus Entertainment entered into a partnership to launch a Canadian version of ABC Family, ABC Spark, which launched on March 23, 2012.[61] The channel, which is licensed by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission as a Category B specialty channel (which under CRTC rules, allows Canadian digital cable and direct-broadcast satellite providers to optionally choose to carry the channel), is aimed at teenagers and young adults between 15 and 34 years of age.[62] The ABC Spark name was purposefully chosen to avoid conflicts with DHX Media-owned premium service Family Channel – which, until the exclusive Canadian television rights to their programming transferred to Corus in January 2016 (through a broader deal struck in April 2015 that involved the launches of domestic versions of the three channels as sisters to ABC Spark), maintained a licensing agreement with Disney Channels Worldwide that gave it territorial rights to the programming libraries of Disney Channel, and sister channels Disney Junior and Disney XD (Allarcom and First Choice first proposed the "Family Channel" name for the Canadian service in 1987, and jointly launched it in September 1988, one month after the American channel changed its name to The CBN Family Channel).[63][64][65][66]

With the announcement that ABC Family would rebrand as Freeform, it is unknown whether Corus Entertainment will license the new name and branding implemented on the U.S. channel for the Canadian service (the "ABC Spark" name remains in use in the interim, following the U.S. channel's rebranding as Freeform).

The Family Channel/Challenge (U.K.)

Main article: Challenge (TV channel)

In 1993, International Family Entertainment, in partnership with Flextech, launched an international version of The Family Channel in the United Kingdom,[67][68] featuring a mix of original family-oriented programming, reruns of American series and programming from the MTM Enterprises/TVS library. In April 1996, International Family Entertainment sold its 61% controlling interest to Flextech,[69] giving that company full control of the channel.[70] The channel was relaunched on February 3, 1997 as Challenge TV, an outgrowth of the U.K. Family Channel's weekend block of game shows that launched in October 1996 under the brand "Family Challenge Weekend".

Criticism

With the 2006 introduction of new shows to the network by Disney, many parents have reacted negatively to ABC Family's programming, feeling that the network has gone from family friendly to "too risqué," and that content in shows such as Greek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Fosters and Becoming Us is far too racy for family viewing. Critics feel that ABC Family executives are only after attracting viewers, without concern about showing young people in questionable scenarios in its series and films. Mostly, the main focus of the criticism is on teenage pregnancy, underage drinking and LGBT-related issues.[71] It should be noted that the channel's programming content standards had changed several years earlier after the sale of the channel by Pat Robertson and International Family Entertainment, and the channel had even aired some acquired series and movies that contain profanity, violence and sexual content or dialogue after the sale to News Corporation, only running them somewhat more so since being purchased by The Walt Disney Company as it chose to refocus the channel more towards a teen and young adult audience to reduce programming redundancy with its existing family-oriented cable network Disney Channel (parental advisory tags had aired at the beginning of some TV-14 rated programs aired on the channel in recent years, such as That '70s Show and some episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Pretty Little Liars, Twisted and The Fosters).

The persistent insistence was though that the channel was contractually required to keep the word "Family" in its name (a situation that would have required any of its succeeding owners to negotiate out of such a clause or create an entirely new network over Fox/ABC Family's channel space, effectively cancelling all of the channel's existing carriage contracts, without any obligation by cable and satellite providers to put the replacement service in the channel slot vacated by Fox Family); in fact, it is the perception based on its name alone in audience testing conducted by the network that revealed some infrequent viewers thought the channel was aimed specifically at families was what resulted in Disney–ABC's decision to rebrand ABC Family as Freeform, with network president Ascheim refuting the longstanding claim regarding the inclusion of "Family" in the name and acknowledging the network's shift away from a strictly family-oriented focus in the years leading up to the name change.[27][28][43]

Network slogans

  • "Stay with Us, We're CBN" (1977–1985; as CBN Satellite Service and CBN Cable Network)[72]
  • "Just Watch Us" (1985–1988; as CBN Cable Network)[73]
  • "Families are Moving to CBN" (1986; as CBN Cable Network; used concurrently with "Just Watch Us")[74]
  • "Together, We're Family" (1988–1991; as The CBN Family Channel and The Family Channel)[75]
  • "The Greatest in the Family" (1991–1995; as The Family Channel)
  • "There's Nothing Stronger" (1995–1996)[76]
  • "Just Watch Us Now" (1996–1998)[77]
  • "You Belong" (1998–2000; as Fox Family)
  • "It's Electric" (2000–2001; as Fox Family)
  • "It's All About You!" (2001–2003; as ABC Family)
  • "Everything You Want to Know from A to Z" (2003–2006; as ABC Family)
  • "A New Kind of Family" (2006–2016; as ABC Family)
  • "Become With Us" (2016–present)

References

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  2. ^ a b Richard Katz (July 10, 1998). "Fox Family squeezes 'Club' in youthful sked". Variety. Cahners Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". Saban Entertainment. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Carl DiOrio (October 24, 2001). "Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Elizabeth Wagmeister (October 6, 2015). "ABC Family to Rebrand Network 'Freeform' in January". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  6. ^ David Bauder (October 6, 2015). "ABC Family Changing Name To Freeform". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Associated Press. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
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