ABC Family Cable Network Mulling Reboot [Archive] - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

HauntedThunderman94

12-03-2014, 05:14 PM

ABC Family might look for new graphics, new programs and even a new name in 2015 as part of a proposed reboot that would make it more appealing to its millenial audience, according to a person with knowledge of the Walt Disney property’s plans.

A network spokeswoman declined to offer specifics on what might be up for consideration or change. “We are looking at the network to determine what needs to be rebooted to make sure its in line with current millenial sensibilities,”said Jori Arancio, a spokeswoman for ABC Family.

The network is known for youth-skewing series like “The Fosters,” “Pretty Little Liars” and “Melissa & Joey.” Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, came to wider notice when he led ABC Family between 2004 and 2010, launching series like “Kyle XY,” “Greek” and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

Since Tom Ascheim took the reins of ABC Family in late 2013, the network has had a restructuring of sorts, with several new executives joining its ranks. Kate Juergens, the network’s longtime chief creative officer and executive vice president of original programming, left in July, as did Lynn Stepanian, who oversaw scheduling and acquisitions. Salaam Coleman Smith joined the network in July as its executive vice president of strategy and programming. Nigel Cox-Hagan joined as head of marketing and Karey Burke joined as executive vice president of programming and development in October.

In recent months, executives have suggested ABC Family ought to emphasize its appeal to young adults, rather than serve as a place where families with kids can watch together.

ABC Family has its roots in a network that was founded by evangelist Pat Robertson’s television ministry, and evolved into The Family Channel. Fox Kids bought the outlet in 1998 and renamed it the Fox Family Channel. Walt Disney bought the network in 2001.

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/disneys-abc-family-cable-network-mulling-reboot-1201370137/#respond

mets82

12-03-2014, 05:30 PM

ABC Family has to define what there going for. They call themselves ABC Family yet they've had That 70s Show and Pretty Little Liars which aren't exactly family friendly.

MrCleveland

12-03-2014, 06:32 PM

Have ABC Family be aimed toward Millenials! If I rearranged ABC Family, this is how I'd make the schedule!

Weekdays

7 a.m.-101 Dalmatians
7:30 a.m.-Gummi Bears
8 a.m.-Winnie the Pooh
8:30 a.m.-The Little Mermaid
9 a.m.-The 700 Club (This show is mandatory for this station, no matter what)!
10 a.m.-AFV (Bob Saget Version)
10:30 a.m.-America's Funniest People
11 a.m.-Life Goes On
12 p.m.-Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
1 p.m.-Thirtysomething
2 p.m.-DuckTales
2:30 p.m.-Chip and Dale
3 p.m.-Tail Spin
3:30 p.m.-Darkwing Duck
4 p.m.-Bonkers
4:30 p.m.-Goof Troop
5 p.m.-Full House
5:30 p.m.-Family Matters
6 p.m.-Perfect Strangers
6:30 p.m.-Boy Meets World
7 p.m.-Step by Step
7:30 p.m.-Mr. Cooper
8 p.m.-ABC Family Originals
10 p.m.-Whose Line is it Anyway?
11 p.m.-The 700 Club
12 a.m.-Mr. Belvedere
12:30 a.m.-Head of the Class
1 a.m.-Coach
1:30 a.m.-Who's the Boss?
2 a.m.-Home Improvement
2:30 a.m.-Drew Carey Show
3 a.m.-Joyce Meyer
3:30 a.m.-Joel Olsteen
4 a.m.-In Touch with Charles Stanley
5 a.m.-Paid Program

Saturday

6 a.m.-Aladdin
6:30 a.m.-Quack Pack
7 a.m.-Doug (Disney Version)
7:30 a.m.-Recess
8 a.m.-Pepper Ann
8:30 a.m.-Jungle Cubs
9 a.m.-Sonic SatAM
9:30 a.m.-Garfield and Friends (Only because it was once on FOX Family)
10 a.m.-Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show
10:30 a.m.-The Real Ghost Busters
11 a.m.-Schoolhouse Rock!
11:30 a.m.-ABC Weekend Special
12 p.m.-Show of the week (original)
2 p.m.-Show of the week (classic)
4 p.m.-Movie
6 p.m.-Movie
8 p.m.-Movie
10 p.m.-Movie
12 a.m.-Same as Weekday until 6 a.m.

Sunday

6 a.m.-The 700 Club
7 a.m.-In Touch
8 a.m.-Joyce Meyer
8:30 a.m.-Joel Olsteen
9 a.m.-Paid Program
12 p.m.-Show of the week (original)
2 p.m.-Show of the week (classic)
4 p.m.-Classic Disney Shows
5 p.m.-Walt Disney Presents
6 p.m.-Disney Movie (Wonderful World of Disney)
8 p.m.-Toon Time (This is an hour of a cartoon special)
9 p.m.-AFV (Tom Bergeron version)
10 p.m.-Whose Line is it Anyway?
11 p.m.-Same as weekdays

What I'm trying to reenact with this list is shows that were on ABC or Disney. If I'm missing any good ABC/Disney Shows that would fit ABC Family...tell me.

SitcomsOffline

12-03-2014, 08:00 PM

noveel

12-04-2014, 01:04 AM

The have to keep "family" in the name and air the 700 Club until Jesus comes back, they're contractually obligated to, where else can Pat Robertson beg the unemployed to send their cash to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHBx8-K83mU

James28

12-04-2014, 01:28 AM

If ABC family wants to get a new name, then they may end up backing themselves into a corner regarding their contractual obligation that the cable channel has to keep the word "family" in its name no matter what. If the cable channel wants to drop the word "family" and completely change its name, then they may end up somehow force out Pat Robertson and his "The 700 Club" and his television ministry. But a move like that (I meant the name change) would be at the cost of the cable channel getting sued.

Personally, this "ABC Family" name issue is one of the many reasons why I stay way from organized religion.

noveel

12-04-2014, 04:57 AM

SitcomsOffline

12-04-2014, 10:29 AM

SitcomsOffline

12-04-2014, 10:31 AM

the HD feed of ABC Family may actually be a legally separate channel and can they might be able to kick Pat Robertson off by shutting down the SD feed

The problem is, at least with Comcast, customers can't get the HD channels without paying an additional fee...

noveel

12-04-2014, 12:27 PM

The problem is, at least with Comcast, customers can't get the HD channels without paying an additional fee...

eventually cable systems will stop offering SD channels and shut down analog channels

MrCleveland

12-04-2014, 01:32 PM

the HD feed of ABC Family may actually be a legally separate channel and can they might be able to kick Pat Robertson off by shutting down the SD feed

Looks like it'll be over Pat Robertson's dead body! Which will be when Cleveland wins a Championship!

eng51squad51

12-04-2014, 03:07 PM

for them to change name that would have to cancel all carriage contracts and then start a new network and then go through get carriage with cable company's and satellite company's. as they try to rename the channel before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_Family

noveel

12-04-2014, 06:43 PM

Patty Duke

12-04-2014, 10:32 PM

ABC Family has to define what there going for. They call themselves ABC Family yet they've had That 70s Show and Pretty Little Liars which aren't exactly family friendly.

I have to agree with you on this. My brother won't let his kids watch it anymore.

mets82

12-05-2014, 05:44 PM

Tubehead

12-06-2014, 04:17 AM

I quite watching abc family when they started showing pretty little lairs and half the movies that they show are not aimed toward family viewing. I no longer watch abc family i do watch when ever is 8 simple rules is on i own the complete collection of boy meets world I think they should be called abc network or abc 2 I enjoyed it when it was fox family.

i wont put up my scheduled if i were abc family i would show:
comedies :
alf
step by step
the wonder years
family matters
family ties
mamms family
California Dreams
saved by the bell

cartoons :
goof troop
duck tales
Doug animated series
Ben 10 animated series
ben 10 : Alien force animated series
The Flintstones
the jetons
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 1980's or the 2002 one that was on cartoon network
teange mutant ninja turtles 1980's animated series
batman the Animated series
batman beyond animated series
justice league animated TV series
justice league unlimited animated series
super man animated series
static shock animated series
the specular spider-man animated series
spider-man 1994 animated series
X-men 1994 Animated SERIES
wolverine and the x-men animated series
x-men evolution animated series

not cartoons but kids series
are you afraid of the dark ?
Goosebumps
mighty morphing power rangers
pee wee play house

scif shows:
seven days
Quantum leap
Early edition
now & aging
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

kung fu
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

action shows :
the A-team
MacGyver
Magnum, P.I.
Diagnosis Murder

factsoflife

12-06-2014, 04:20 AM

I think most likely they will just alter the title of the network a little bit or change up its graphics. I know they've wanted to go after a more general audience then in the past.

MrCleveland

12-08-2014, 02:04 PM

Its an ok schedule. I wouldn't watch much of it since I'm not a kid. But the programming schedule is aimed towards kids. I agree about only showing one Boy Meets World. That show is on way too much. Same goes for Full House. I'd like to see TNBC's lineup on there. Saved by the Bell, The New Class, Hang Time, USA High, California Dreams and City Guys.

I was trying to aim it toward a family station, but that's why I'd like to make the station for a family if I had the say so with ABC Family shows...I could use some help here.

TMC

10-06-2015, 01:17 PM

http://deadline.com/2015/10/abc-family-freeform-new-name-1201567915/

ABC Family To Be Renamed As Freeform
by Nellie Andreeva

ABC Family is changing its name.

Starting in January 2016, the Disney-owned TV network targeting younger viewers will be known as Freeform.

The network will begin promoting the new branding right away, while the new logo will be unveiled in a few months.

ABC Family's decision to go for a new name was triggered by a gap in perception, said ABC Family President Tom Ascheim, noting that, according to research, core viewers understand the younger, social-media active brand while non-viewers associate it with wholesome and family-friendly programming.

TVSCREEN2015

10-06-2015, 02:37 PM

Worst name ever! What the hell is a Freeform? Sounds like a feminine hygiene product.

gidgetgrape

10-06-2015, 02:52 PM

Freeform? Blech. It sounds like an extra credit art project or a poetry meeting.

mets82

10-06-2015, 03:18 PM

Well, at least there not hiding the fact that there not a family network and hadnt been one in a long time. Yes, the name is lousy.

TMC

10-06-2015, 04:04 PM

Well, at least there not hiding the fact that there not a family network and hadnt been one in a long time. Yes, the name is lousy.

And yet, The 700 Club is staying! :confused: At this point, why hasn't (assuming that they haven't tried already) Disney paid off Pat Robertson in order to rid him and his show from their channel for good!?

retrofan05

10-06-2015, 07:41 PM

factsoflife

10-06-2015, 08:20 PM

I thought they had to keep the name "family" in the network title as per an agreement with Pat Robertson. I agree though, they could have come up with a much better name. Freeform sounds really stupid.

I thought so too... Perhaps that clause has expired or they paid a fee to removed Family from the name.

retrofan05

10-06-2015, 09:34 PM

I thought so too... Perhaps that clause has expired or they paid a fee to removed Family from the name.

If only Pat Robertson could expire from the channel as well. :crazy:

MrCleveland

10-07-2015, 07:45 AM

If only Pat Robertson could expire from the channel as well. :crazy:

He's getting-up there in age...he hasn't got much time. How old is Pat Robertson...90?

But Freeform...sounds dumb! If they do what Nickelodeon is doing...have a two-hour block of NickRewind shows...it may have some saving grace!

But even now, Disney films are seen on Turner Classic Movies...more so than The "Disney" Channel!

It's as logical as Donald Duck putting a towel around his waist after taking a bath/shower...since he NEVER wears pants in the first place!

retrofan05

10-07-2015, 09:39 AM

I would have gone with something like ABCYou. It keeps the ABC name in there and makes it like a play on YouTube, which is very popular with the demographic they are targeting.

tvfan25

10-07-2015, 01:06 PM

The only thing I watched on there recently was Melissa & Joey. The rest of the shows, not at all. I just hope they keep the 25 Days of Christmas and 13 Nights of Halloween!

MrCleveland

10-07-2015, 03:38 PM

I would have gone with something like ABCYou. It keeps the ABC name in there and makes it like a play on YouTube, which is very popular with the demographic they are targeting.

Originally, the station was to be called XYZ...ABC should've done that!

factsoflife

10-07-2015, 07:11 PM

I totally understand why they are doing this. ABC Family doesn't fit the programming they have and gives the impression the programs are more sanitized than they really are; more wholesome than they are. It doesn't really even fit the demo they are targeting.

king of comedy

10-07-2015, 07:19 PM

They are losing viewers by changing all the time.

factsoflife

10-07-2015, 08:07 PM

They are losing viewers by changing all the time.

No they aren't. The are the highest rated network in their desired demographic and routinely pull in impressive numbers. On top of that, Pretty Little Liars is among the most watched programs on cable.

mets82

10-08-2015, 04:49 PM

Calling it ABC Family and showing some of the shows they did on there obviously meant that they needed to change the name. The name they changed it too. :rolleyes:

Mr. Television

10-08-2015, 06:52 PM

Melissa & Joey was the only show on this network I ever watched.

ruballo12

10-13-2015, 10:56 AM

So are they still going to have the 13 nights of halloween and 25 days of christmas since they are changing the name?? Asking cause haven't seen the schedules out yet and they normally are out by this time.

tvfan25

10-13-2015, 12:47 PM

The 13 Nights of Halloween schedule is up here http://www.examiner.com/article/abc-family-s-13-nights-of-halloween-2015-lineup-announced.

This came from Wikipedia:
ABC Family will release the 25 Days of Christmas schedule on October 16, 2015.

TMC

01-05-2016, 02:12 AM

And yet, The 700 Club is staying! :confused: At this point, why hasn't (assuming that they haven't tried already) Disney paid off Pat Robertson in order to rid him and his show from their channel for good!?

http://www.tvinsider.com/article/62330/as-abc-family-becomes-freeform-heres-why-its-still-stuck-with-the-700-club/

The long-running Christian show is contractually obligated to be part of the cable channel.

MrCleveland

01-05-2016, 08:22 AM

http://www.tvinsider.com/article/62330/as-abc-family-becomes-freeform-heres-why-its-still-stuck-with-the-700-club/

The long-running Christian show is contractually obligated to be part of the cable channel.

Even when Pat Robertson dies, his son will take over The 700 Club...and it will stay on Freeform or whatever when Cleveland wins a Championship!

Tubehead

01-05-2016, 08:52 AM

i quite watching it cause pretty little lairs had girls kissing other girls. but i don't care to watch abc family!! they don't show any classic shows any more!! i got all the series to boy meets world on dvd!! i don't care for reba some times i watch t he middle and last man standing!! but other then that i don't watch abc family!! i quite watching when they added secret life of american teanger i never heard them use the word sex in every sentenced until i watch secret life of an amrican teeanger!! I'm kind of glade that their changing their name cause some of the tv series shoot some of the movies are not family friendly!! plus they show like sleeping with an enemy and pretty women these are not family movies!!

TMC

01-10-2016, 03:05 AM

http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/abc-family-president-defends-name-change.html

ABC Family (soon to be Freeform) president Tom Ascheim spoke at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Saturday, defending the channel's name change. Earlier press releases said the channel was targeting "Becomers," a kind of vague, made-up moniker that "represent a life stage rather than a generation." (Maybe "Millennial" has been overused?) Ascheim expounded, saying the name "Freeform," at which they arrived after focus group studies (though the participants weren't asked how they felt about the name replacing "ABC Family," which seems kinda important), was intended to evoke a sense of freedom, the coming-of-age demographic that he described as the age range “between your first kiss and your first kid.” He said the name encapsulates the "moment in our media heritage we’re all experience where content is coming in shape, size and format on every screen. [Freeform] seems to promise to deliver on that expectation that our young audience is having.” The name change will happen January 12, and will not affect the upcoming season of Pretty Little Liars, so don't worry.

king of comedy

01-10-2016, 08:44 AM

They should have just left the original title alone.

noveel

01-11-2016, 01:25 PM

why didn't they rename the channel years ago if there was nothing stopping them from doing it now?

factsoflife

01-11-2016, 06:08 PM

why didn't they rename the channel years ago if there was nothing stopping them from doing it now?

At that point they had contractual issues with trying to rename it. Those clauses have since lapsed. Also their programming has dramatically changed in the last 5-6 years, reflecting a need to change their name.

Mr. Television

01-11-2016, 11:11 PM

It's a stupid name.

TMC

01-13-2016, 04:56 AM

They should have just left the original title alone.

What ABC Family renaming itself "Freeform" really means (http://www.vox.com/2015/10/8/9476135/abc-family-freeform-rebrand)

Edward216

01-13-2016, 05:14 AM

To me, it doesn't matter what they call the channel anymore. Besides the 700 Club it's all garbage and even though I have the channel (I'm a DirecTV subscriber) I never watch it anyways.

Ed.

mets82

01-13-2016, 03:48 PM

Its still a lousy name. And I dont see a difference with the new name. I mean the same shows are on.

TheLogoMan94

01-13-2016, 05:07 PM

TVSCREEN2015

01-15-2016, 02:58 PM

FreeForm is such a stupid name. I don't watch anything on that network anyway.

icecream

01-15-2016, 03:56 PM

Their abbreviation on my guide now says FREE.

mets82

01-15-2016, 03:59 PM

I guess that means we are FREE from watching this crap.

HauntedThunderman94

02-18-2016, 06:27 PM

Welp, looks like the name change was a terrible idea, the ratings for their shows have drastically dropped hard.

tlc38tlc38

02-18-2016, 10:40 PM

I guess that means we are FREE from watching this crap.
:yeahthat

Mario500

02-21-2016, 03:21 PM

Personally, I quit watching ABC Family (besides a few Christmas movies here and there) many years ago. When they stopped airing "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" was around the time I quit watching them. I'll still refer to them as ABC Family, though. I do not like their new name.

I would still think of their programming service as the Family Channel and refer to it by that name since that was its name around the time I first saw its programming and since it does not suggest its ownership like the name ABC Family or any of its other previous names (the FOX Family Channel, the CBN Family Channel, the CBN Cable Network, the CBN Satellite Network, and the CBN Satellite Service).