Ascheim says that the network’s current viewers were fine with the ABC Family name, but that it turned off non-viewers, who perceived the channel as offering family-friendly and wholesome fare. “WATCH ABC Family” (also to be renamed Freeform in January 2016) is an authenticated service which allows viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on-demand access to such popular series at home and on-the-go via a wide array of devices.
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For what its worth, the Times notes that ABC Family sees becomers “not as a generation but as a life stage”, which is kind of like when that asshole stoner who lived down the hall from you in college said his self-recorded EP was “not music but a state of mind”.
Of course, though it may have given them a snazzy new name, ABC Family didn’t invent the concept of going after a younger, hipper audience.
Of the new name, Ascheim tells THR, “It really spoke to these three core parts of our essence: the audience, this idea of becoming a Becomer…”
Freeform also will continue the ABCF programming push announced this April to double the network’s original programing over the next four years. with more series pickups and renewals expected later this week. The name change “will harmonize the sense between what our content’s about, what our audience is about and what our name signifies”, he says.
By the way, networks change their names periodically, usually resulting in derision (via Twitter), then acceptance.
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The announcement was made Tuesday by ABC Family President Tom Ascheim. But we believe we can be a bridge inside the Walt Disney company into the family brands of Disney and the more adult brands of ABC and ESPN. They look and sound like they mean something, sure, but I assure you, they do not. And Freeform, ultimately, was a name that simply generated a positve emotion. It’s even better that in catering to this same audience that ABC Family often finds great and diverse programming that wouldn’t fit anywhere else, like “The Fosters” and “Switched at Birth“. The network is also the destination for annual holiday events with “13 Nights of Halloween” and “25 Days of Christmas”.
