ABC Family announced Tuesday that it will be changing its name to Freeform in 2016.
With the new name, the Disney-owned network hopes to gain more younger viewers and to attract its target audience of 14 to 34 year olds, called “becomers.”
“Our core viewers know what to expect from our content,” Tom Ascheim, president of the network, said. “But among nonviewers, there’s a very different perception of our brand. We over-indexed on two adjectives: one was family-friendly and the other was wholesome. It led us to believe that the huge perception gap is based on our name.”
The network’s new name marks the first time in twenty-seven years in will not have the word “family” in it. The channel launched back in 1977 by Pat Robertson and eventually became known as CBN Family Channel. Over the years, the name has changed to The FamilyChannel, Fox Family and then ABC Family.
“ABC Family made a big shift about a dozen years ago to really target millennials — and it’s done very well for us,” Ascheim added. “But millennials are getting older, and we needed to do something about that. We decided we needed to focus on a life stage. This is an age group experiencing a lot of firsts — job, love, heartbreak — and are figuring out who they are becoming.”
“Freeform evokes the spirit and adventure of our audience,” Ascheim also stated. “Freeform will deliver new, exciting original content as well as all the favorite shows our viewers already love on ABC Family.”
The network’s current lineup, which includes Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, and Baby Daddy, will still air on the channel. Over the next four years, the cable channel plans to double its original programming.
Watch the announcement video below:
Exciting news! @ABCFamily is changing its name to #Freeform this January. New name, same awesome shows! https://t.co/TFV7wmFR2y
— ABC Family (@ABCFamily) October 6, 2015
