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194-466: Since the network was launched on April 29, 1977, it has undergone various changes to its programming format and naming under 4 different owners. The network was originally founded as a religious channel, the CBN Satellite Service —an extension of televangelist Pat Robertson 's Christian Broadcasting Network . It evolved into a family-focused entertainment network in 1981. It was spun off into

388-468: A Christian audience . The offerings on the CBN Satellite Service during its early years included CBN's flagship news/talk show, The 700 Club (which aired three times per day every Monday through Friday in the late-morning and at night), along with programs from many notable and lesser-known television evangelists . As a result, a few televangelists began to produce stripped programs to air on

582-515: A joint venture between the Robertson family and John C. Malone , owner of Denver -based cable television provider Tele-Communications Inc. and multimedia firm Liberty Media ) for $ 250 million in convertible securities . The Robertsons paid $ 150,000 to acquire 4.5 million shares and a controlling ownership interest in IFE, with Pat and Tim subsequently purchasing an additional 1.5 million shares. As

776-494: A "wholesome" family-oriented network. 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"

970-516: A 10-year agreement for the cable rights to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone . 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. The next major plan was to reposition

1164-701: A Kind , received frequent airplay by the channel. Fox Family also planned to premiere a new original sitcom starring the twins, So Little Time , in June 2001. Airings of The 700 Club were scaled back to three per day. However, this youth-oriented programming strategy alienated the network's core audience of older viewers; there was a 35% drop in prime time viewership, and Fox Family fell from 10th to 17th place in overall Nielsen cable network viewership numbers. In October 1999, two spin-off cable networks, named Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel launched on select cable operators. Both networks contained programming content targeted at

1358-546: A clause including "Family" as a required part of the name was incorporated into previous carriage agreements for the channel with cable and satellite providers). By 1989, the channel was seen in 47.3 million households, with its distribution jumping to 54 million homes (or 92% of all U.S. households with a cable television subscription) by 1992. At that point, the 1950s sitcoms and westerns that had long been featured on its lineup were scaled back, in favor of more recent drama series as well as cartoons and later, game shows (with

1552-494: A combination of very limited national carriage by cable providers (Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel were each carried in some 100,000 homes in an era when digital cable television was in its infancy) and the controversy that developed over the gender-segregated channels. In April 2000 , Fox Family began airing Major League Baseball (MLB) games in prime time on most weeks during the league's regular season, on an alternating basis with sister network FX . The network – which acquired

1746-486: A conservative Jewish-American family and her boisterous best friend, raised by a free-wheeling divorced mother) and a programming block for teens, Fox Family's Summer High School Countdown (which introduced the Swedish pop group Play to American audiences). However, the idea was unsuccessful, as a year later, Fox Family was sold to The Walt Disney Company, and State of Grace was only renewed for one more season before it

1940-554: A custom typeface based on that used in the ABC logo for its promotional graphics. The network's programming became focused upon original drama and comedy series primarily aimed at teenagers and young adults, acquired sitcoms and drama series from the 1990s onward, and movies aimed at its new demographic focus; even still, it continued to include programs catering to families in the form of feature films aired as part of its prime time and weekend movie blocks, and holiday specials featured as part of

2134-636: A demographic it began gravitating toward when it transitioned into a basic cable channel in April 1997). The network also relocated its operations to The Walt Disney Company's headquarters in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank , California . Production responsibilities for the network's baseball playoff coverage that originated during its run as Fox Family were assumed by another of ABC Family's new sister networks, ESPN . While Division Series games remained on ABC Family for one additional year due to contractual issues,

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2328-509: A desire to acquire a new pay-TV outlet that had significant carriage – at the time of the purchase, the network was seen in 83 million homes. On November 11, 2001, it was announced that the network would be renamed ABC Family in January 2002, co-branding it with the company's flagship television property, ABC (which Disney has owned since 1996). Disney planned to perform layoffs at the network in order to reduce redundancy. Disney planned to maintain

2522-462: A family-oriented format, the network began to feature some original and acquired programming aimed at adults during the early evening and in prime time. At that time, Fox Family purchased the syndication rights to the CBS series Early Edition , and two ABC series: My So-Called Life and Step by Step (the latter of which aired on the channel until March 2010 as ABC Family). The channel also acquired

2716-544: 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 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). Around this time,

2910-514: A finance unit similar to GE Capital , which could start new cable or Internet services. TCI had already planned digital cable set-top boxes . On September 28, 1998, Liberty Media announced the formation of Liberty Interactive, a company which would take advantage of new technologies such as set-top boxes to develop interactive programming. The company would own 86% of TCI Music Inc. ( NASDAQ symbol: TUNE/TUNEP). As of January 1, 1999, E! Entertainment President and CEO Lee Masters would become

3104-563: A focus on "becomers," a group termed by network representatives to refer to what 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". On October 6, 2015, Disney–ABC Television Group announced that ABC Family would be rebranded as Freeform. Ascheim explained that "Freeform"

3298-475: A for-profit company known as International Family Entertainment (IFE) in 1990, eventually becoming known as The Family Channel . As a condition of the spin-off, the channel was contractually required to maintain airings of The 700 Club and an annual telethon the last Sunday in January; these conditions have applied to all future owners of the channel. In 1997, IFE and the Family Channel were acquired by

3492-790: A four-year period from 1994 to 1997, it served as the primary sponsor of Ted Musgrave 's #16 Ford Thunderbird in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series . In early 1997, Rupert Murdoch -owned News Corporation entered into discussions to purchase a stake in The Family Channel with International Family Entertainment as a partner, seeking to bring it under its Fox Kids joint venture with Haim Saban . On June 11, 1997, News Corporation purchased International Family Entertainment for $ 1.9 billion. The latter company's assets were split within News Corporation's portfolio: The Family Channel

3686-542: A girl dealing with becoming a teenage mother, and the romantic lives of her friends and family) in 2008. In July 2009, the network earned its best-ever ratings for that calendar month in prime time and in total viewership due to strong viewership posted by The Secret Life of the American Teenager for its sophomore season and the debuts of three new series: the gymnastics -centered freshman drama Make It or Break It , and sitcoms 10 Things I Hate About You (based on

3880-534: A half-hour companion talk show serving as The 700 Club ' s weekday morning lead-in, Living the Life (which was replaced in 2010 by The 700 Club Interactive ), as well as occasional weekend-long CBN telethons (which it continues to do as ABC Family/Freeform, with the latter now airing in the week before the Super Bowl each year). As of December 2011 , The 700 Club airs three times per day Monday through Fridays, with

4074-411: A higher payout that Ascheim deemed "astronomical" in comparison to its actual value). The network airs disclaimers before and after the show airs, mentioning that the network did not produce the programming, and are often delivered in a sardonic tone similar to the bumpers on Adult Swim . The disclaimers range from apologizing for carrying the program, suggesting viewers change the channel, and referencing

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4268-570: A joint venture between News Corporation and Haim Saban . This resulted in its rebranding as the Fox Family Channel a year later. The new owners wanted to reposition the network toward younger viewers as a companion for the unpopular Fox Kids Network . The venture was sold to Disney in October 2001 after the network began to struggle as a result of their changes. The channel altered its name to ABC Family one month later on November 10. The network

4462-410: A made-for-cable movie about a hockey player who is reborn as a female synchronized skater, as well as the thriller Don't Look Behind You . Fox Family also aired a wide array of Saban Entertainment-produced movies as well as many direct-to-video films from 20th Century Fox (including Richie Rich's Christmas Wish , Casper: A Spirited Beginning and Like Father, Like Santa ). In August 1999,

4656-622: A majority ownership of the new company. On May 4, 2009, The DirecTV Group Inc. said it would become a part of Liberty's entertainment unit, part of which would then be spun off as a separate company called DirecTV. The new company would also acquire Liberty's 100% interests in the three FSN networks and its 50% interest in GSN . The rest of the unit would be traded as Liberty Starz. Liberty would increase its share of DirecTV from 48 to 54%, with Malone and his family owning 24%. On May 4, 2009, Liberty announced that it would split off Liberty Entertainment, Inc.,

4850-421: 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

5044-635: A mix of animated and live action films from film divisions Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , 20th Century Studios , Searchlight Pictures , Touchstone Pictures , Hollywood Pictures , and Blue Sky Studios . Freeform also shows sub-runs (runs of films that have already received broadcast or syndicated television airings) of theatrical films from other studios such as Sony Pictures , Universal Pictures , Paramount Pictures (barring Nickelodeon Movies titles), Warner Bros. Pictures , New Line Cinema , HiT Entertainment , Lionsgate , and DreamWorks Pictures . Freeform has purchased

5238-527: A mix of both original programs like Trivial Pursuit and Shop 'til You Drop , and reruns of older game shows such as the Jim Lange version of Name That Tune and Let's Make a Deal ). In fact, the channel's weekday afternoon game show block consisted of the aforementioned programs along with the later episodes of Split Second and other shows specifically produced for the channel (such as Shopping Spree , Small Talk , Wait 'til You Have Kids and

5432-538: A more explicit statement indicating that the views expressed during the programs did not reflect those of the channel. On August 7, 2006, ABC Family introduced a new slogan and imaging campaign, "A New Kind of Family". The rebranding coincided with a new original programming strategy, which targeted the teen and young adult demographics with series incorporating diverse portrayals of family lives, as well as teen dramas . At this time, ABC Family discontinued Jetix , an action-oriented morning children's block that debuted on

5626-478: A more inclusive world on and off screen." The network also unveiled upcoming series in development, such as Scott Stewart 's Augs , as well as a new trailer and June 7, 2018 premiere date for Marvel's Cloak and Dagger . On November 26, 2018, Freeform's president Karey Burke was promoted to president of the ABC Entertainment Group to replace the outgoing Channing Dungey. Burke's replacement at Freeform

5820-448: A new late-night talk show produced by The Daily Show alumni Jennifer Flanz and Elise Terrel, an untitled late-night talk show starring Iliza Shlesinger , and Snapshots —a series of pop culture-oriented documentaries co-produced by ESPN Films . Shlesinger's new show, Truth & Iliza , premiered on May 2, 2017. On December 14, 2017, in a historic deal valued at over $ 52 billion, The Walt Disney Company announced it will buy

6014-479: A new late-night talk show produced by The Daily Show alumni Jennifer Flanz and Elise Terrel, an untitled late-night talk show starring Iliza Shlesinger , and Snapshots —a series of pop culture-oriented documentaries co-produced by ESPN Films . Shlesinger's new show, Truth & Iliza , premiered on May 2, 2017. In October 2017, the channel indicated that it would go to four nights of original programming starting in 2018. On January 18, 2018, Freeform unveiled

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6208-429: A new company named DirecTV. On February 17, 2009, Liberty announced that it would invest up to $ 530 million into the struggling Sirius XM Radio Inc. , in a structured deal that would help the satellite radio provider avoid filing bankruptcy protection by meeting its obligations. The deal provided two board seats for Liberty Media, and provided cash for operations and development, with a maturity date of December 2012 for

6402-574: A new logo and slogan, "A Little Forward", which officially debuted on March 6, 2018. The new slogan reflects refinements to the network's programming direction, with a larger focus on "forward-looking" series (such as The Bold Type and the Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish ). President Tom Ascheim explained that with the rebranding, Freeform was "purposefully and passionately moving our brand forward by defying expectations and dismantling conventions; busting stereotypes of theme, cast and culture in service to

6596-444: A new trailer and June 7, 2018, premiere date for Marvel's Cloak and Dagger . On November 26, 2018, Freeform's president Karey Burke was promoted to president of the ABC Entertainment Group to replace the outgoing Channing Dungey. Burke's replacement at Freeform will be determined at a later date. On March 27, 2019, Freeform announced that the channel was placing two animated series into development, Betches and Woman World ,

6790-420: A relationship that lasted until December 2008, when the network discontinued its remaining Saturday morning block, 4Kids TV ). The sale was completed on October 24, 2001. On November 10, 2001, the channel was renamed ABC Family ; the on-air look that it adopted in its final year under Murdoch/Saban ownership as Fox Family was modified for the newly rebranded network in the meantime (including its logo, which

6984-419: A relaunch of the network that would occur as early as 2015, including the expansion of programming appealing more toward young adults between the ages of 14 and 34 as opposed to families or teenagers, as well as adopting new branding (including a new name), among the options being considered. During the channel's 2015–16 upfront presentation on April 14, 2015, ABC Family executives announced that it would establish

7178-535: A renewed carriage agreement, which allowed Spectrum TV customers to resume watching the Disney content that were originally promised in their subscription package. However, several "lower-priority" TV networks were permanently dropped in the renewed agreement, In addition to Freeform, other networks affected included BabyTV , FXX , FXM , Nat Geo Wild , Nat Geo Mundo , Disney Junior , and Disney XD . Though Disney emphasized that there would be no change to its commitment to

7372-520: A revival of It Takes Two , hosted by Dick Clark ). The Family Channel also began airing more recent scripted series – among them Big Brother Jake , The Adventures of the Black Stallion , Bordertown , Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop , Maniac Mansion and The New Zorro , as well as the family-friendly music video series Videosyncrasy – many of which aired as part of "The Positive Place",

7566-450: A second rebranding initiated by Duncan and designed by Collins, which launched alongside the premiere of The Come Up. The logo consists of a wordmark in modified Neue Haas Grotesk Text with curved cut-outs in its "F" lettering, intended to create illusory motions ; Freeform's senior vice president of content marketing Joe Ortiz explained that the designs were intended to reflect "the ability to change and an openness to change", and "[create]

7760-570: A sense we are never static and always growing." On September 1, 2023, the carriage agreement between Disney and Charter expired due to the latter's request that Disney provide free access to Disney+ and ESPN+ for all of Charter's subscribers. Disney requested that Charter maintain temporary carriage of their TV networks during the negotiation period, but Charter declined. This resulted in a dark period that lasted 11 days, during which 15 million Spectrum TV customers lost access to Disney's TV networks. On September 11, 2023, Charter and Disney agreed to

7954-471: A separate publicly traded company. The spin-off of Starz Inc. was completed on January 15, 2013. The company agreed in March 2013 to pay $ 2.62 billion for 27.3% of Charter Communications from Apollo Global Management, Oaktree Capital Management and Crestview Partners with the provision that Liberty would not increase its stake past 35% until after January 2016 but no more than 39.99%. By May 1, Liberty completed

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8148-496: A series from ABC Signature and Marvel Television based on the comic book series Cloak and Dagger , marking the first work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have been developed for the network. Marvel Television had a Cloak and Dagger and Mockingbird-based series in development for the network as early as 2011. Freeform also announced several new non-scripted productions in development, including Later Bitches ,

8342-601: 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, Ice Angel , and Cyberbully (which premiered on the channel under either the Fox Family or ABC Family identities). As Freeform,

8536-504: A stake in the channel, with IFE as a partner. 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. On June 11, 1997, International Family Entertainment was acquired by the Fox/Saban consortium, renamed Fox Family Worldwide, for $ 1.9 billion. The Family Channel

8730-489: A staple of the lineup being Christmas-themed specials from the Rankin-Bass library (among them, The Little Drummer Boy and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town ), although it also features mostly holiday-themed theatrically-released and original made-for-TV movies, and other original programming. The "25 Days of Christmas" continued to air on the rebranded ABC Family following the sale to Disney in 2001, and expanded into include

8924-443: A starring vehicle for the eponymous British pop group , and Big Wolf on Campus . The New York Times classified both series as being among a larger wave of television programming catered towards children aged 9 through 14—also referred to as tweens . Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were also a prominent fixture of Fox Family's schedule: The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley and reruns of their short-lived ABC sitcom Two of

9118-416: A stipulation of the sale to International Family Entertainment, the channel was required to continue to carry The 700 Club (a stipulation that Pat Robertson also imposed when the channel was sold to Fox Family Worldwide in 1997 and then to The Walt Disney Company in 2001). This time-buy clause (which also mandates that the program air at suitable time slots that would allow it to attract decent viewership)

9312-527: A sub-block that runs during late November, "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas", beginning in 2007. On May 15, 2018, Freeform renamed the Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas block to Kickoff to Christmas, meaning that the block now starts on November 1 and lasts throughout the whole month of November. On September 1, 2000, Fox Family adopted a new visual style, as part of an attempt to refocus its programming to attract an older audience. While in essence, it maintained

9506-455: A subsidiary owning the three Fox Sports Net (FSN) channels (now Root Sports) acquired under the swap with News Corp. and Liberty's 65% interest in GSN , into a separate company that would merge with The DirecTV Group, reducing Liberty owner John Malone 's stake in DirecTV to 24%. The merger was completed on November 19, 2009, with The DirecTV Group and Liberty Entertainment becoming subsidiaries of

9700-464: A successful comedy series, with many of the sitcoms that debuted from 2008 to 2012 (including Roommates , State of Georgia and Ruby and the Rockits ) not lasting more than one season and 10 Things I Hate About You being one of the only comedies among that crop to even be renewed for a second season. 2010 saw the debut of its most successful original series, the drama Pretty Little Liars , which

9894-453: A third of its daily schedule. Entertainment programming that aired on the channel during this period included various classic television series (consisting of classic sitcoms from the 1950s and westerns from the 1950s and 1960s such as My Little Margie , Wagon Train , The Virginian and Bachelor Father ), reruns of game shows , older movies, and some family-oriented drama series. CBN Cable also produced its first original series with

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10088-460: A weekend game show block that debuted on the channel in October 1996), following IFE's sale of its 61% controlling interest to Flextech in April 1996. In addition, in the United States, The Family Channel attempted to launch a spin-off network with a very similar format to that which the U.K. Family Channel evolved into; The Game Channel was intended as an interactive game show-oriented channel that

10282-540: A weekly block on Sunday early-evenings that ran from 1991 to 1994. On September 11, 1989, the CBN Family Channel launched "Fun Town", a daily children's program block featuring content from DIC Enterprises . Under its programming deal with the company, DIC would produce four specials per quarter that would air on the channel, including holiday specials and a film version of the animated series The New Archies , although those plans would not occur. In March 1992,

10476-419: A younger demographic. Rich Cronin , who was appointed as the network's president and CEO , said regarding the channel's audience refocusing, "our focus is on younger families, more suburban or urban, more plugged into pop culture ". Fox Family was obligated to continue airing The 700 Club as part of the sale, but the program's airings were scaled back to two times each day (though the sale agreement required

10670-484: Is also suggested that News Corporation hired more employees than were needed, and when Disney took ownership, as many as 500 people were laid off (this was also at a time when The Walt Disney Company itself was downsizing, as the company had laid off 400 other employees from its failed Go Network web portal). Fox Family also used many freelancers for certain aspects of the channel's operations and programming, such as its short-lived "block jocks" (which were on-air hosts that

10864-533: Is an American mass media company founded by John C. Malone in 1991. The company has three divisions, reflecting its ownership stakes in Formula One Group , Sirius XM , and Live Nation Entertainment . The Sirius XM Holdings segment operates two audio entertainment companies, Sirius XM and Pandora. Sirius XM offers channels and information and entertainment services. Pandora is a streaming platform for searching for music and podcasts. As of 2024, Liberty Media

11058-538: Is based on the series of young adult mystery novels by Sara Shepard ; the program successfully broke series premiere ratings records for ABC Family, across all major viewing demographics of women and young people, premiering to an audience of 3.1 million viewers on June 8 of that year. The show's success led to the development of two shorter-lived series based on Shepard's young adult novels, The Lying Game (which ran from 2011 to 2013) and Ravenswood (which aired for one season from 2013 to 2014). That summer also saw

11252-480: Is set to own three global motorsport businesses in the form of Formula One , Grand Prix motorcycle racing and World Superbikes . Liberty Media began in March 1991 as a spin-off of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a U.S. cable-television group. Peter Barton, hired by TCI's Malone, served as president until retiring in April 1997. The company took over TCI assets considered to have little value, but Barton completed "a deal every ten days for six years" and made

11446-419: The Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish ). Tom Ascheim explained that with the rebranding, Freeform was "purposefully and passionately moving our brand forward by defying expectations and dismantling conventions; busting stereotypes of theme, cast and culture in service to a more inclusive world on and off screen." The network also unveiled upcoming series in development, such as Scott Stewart 's Augs , as well as

11640-580: The three channels as sisters to ABC Spark), Family maintained a licensing agreement with Disney Channels Worldwide that gave it territorial rights to the programming libraries of Disney Channel, Disney Junior (as well as its predecessor preschool programming block, Playhouse Disney ), 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

11834-481: The 1998 film of the same name ) and Ruby & The Rockits (intended in part to serve as a starring vehicle for David Cassidy , whose brother, Shaun Cassidy , served as one of its executive producers ); the strong ratings were also buoyed by its broadcast of extended cuts of films from the Harry Potter franchise and the television premiere of Labor Pains . However, the channel continually struggled to launch

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12028-558: 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 following year (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 ). The Division Series games broadcast on

12222-476: The CBN Satellite Service (CBN Satellite Network), an arm of his television ministry, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). When the channel launched on April 29, 1977, it became the first basic cable channel to be transmitted via satellite from its launch and, effectively, the first national basic cable-originated network. Initially, the network offered only religious programs aimed at

12416-540: The Fox Kids program library. At launch, Fox Family had four themed kids daytime blocks: "Morning Scramble/Weekend Chill" (all ages), "Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House" (pre-schoolers), "Toon-A Casserole" (all-animation) and "The Basement" (a three-hour after-school block). Original series meant for family co-viewing were programmed from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. followed by a movie. Fox Family's original programming budget

12610-478: The MTM Enterprises / TVS library. In April 1996, International Family Entertainment sold its 61% controlling interest to Flextech, giving that company full control of the channel. On February 3, 1997, the network was relaunched as Challenge TV , which changed the network's primary focus to game shows . Television networks preceding Freeform American cable and satellite television network Freeform

12804-433: The "13 Nights of Halloween" in 2002, under Disney/ABC ownership – introduced the original comedy series The New Addams Family , the unscripted series Scariest Places on Earth (hosted by Exorcist star Linda Blair , focusing on places infamous for frightening urban legends ) and some new movies such as Casper Meets Wendy (the latter of which would become a staple of the block for several years, particularly during

12998-474: The "formation" of their lives, and to reflect a participatory experience for viewers across multiple platforms. This culminated in the Disney–ABC Television Group 's announcement on October 6, 2015, that the network would rebrand as Freeform . The move, which took effect on January 12, 2016 (coinciding with the winter premiere of the second half of Pretty Little Liars ' s sixth season and

13192-477: The #16 Ford Thunderbird for Roush Racing . In 1997, after International Family Entertainment put The Family Channel up for sale, News Corporation made an offer to acquire the channel. The company aimed to turn The Family Channel into a competitor to children's cable networks such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon , leveraging the library of Fox Kids Worldwide (which was a joint venture between Fox and Haim Saban ). News Corporation negotiated to purchase

13386-469: The 2008 movie Camp Rock the 2011 films Lemonade Mouth and Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension , and the 2017 movie Descendants 2 , which are also four of only five 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

13580-449: The 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time period formerly occupied by Jetix, 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 (the former two-hour slot was occupied entirely by sitcoms until 2015, when it switched to a mix of comedy and drama series in that period and the succeeding 9:00 a.m. Eastern half-hour, which had been occupied by sitcom reruns since

13774-574: The American channel changed its name to The CBN Family Channel). While ABC Spark did not follow the lead of its U.S. counterpart and change its name to Freeform, it did adopt similar branding elements. In 1993, International Family Entertainment, in partnership with Flextech , launched an international version of The Family Channel in the United Kingdom, featuring a mix of original family-oriented programming, reruns of American series and programming from

13968-529: The Atlanta Braves and its associated real estate development project, and create a new Liberty Live Group tracking stock to hold Liberty's 35% stake in Live Nation. Liberty Media acquired ticket distributor and hospitality group QuintEvents for $ 313 million in September 2023. In December 2023, Liberty Media and SiriusXM agreed to create a new public company, "New SiriusXM", which will continue to operate under

14162-608: The CBN Cable Network had grown from 28 million households in May 1985 to 35.8 million in May 1987. 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 . On January 8 of that year, CBN spun off The CBN Family Channel to International Family Entertainment Inc. (a newly formed company founded by Pat Robertson's eldest son and CBN Family network president, Timothy Robertson, and operated as

14356-411: The CBN Cable Network identity – in their effort to contemporize the channel, and never really replaced the core audience due to the absence of planning on how to retain that segment of the network's pre-acquisition viewer base, while simultaneously attracting new viewers. As a result, prime time viewership declined by 35% over the course of Fox Family's three-year tenure under Murdoch/Saban ownership. It

14550-567: The Christian Broadcasting Network sold its interest in International Family Entertainment, when the company announced plans to become publicly traded , selling 6.66 million shares valued at $ 100 million, at a price between $ 14 and $ 16 per share (however, Pat Robertson retained ownership of 3.6 million shares in IFE until the company's sale to News Corporation); IFE would also sell 3.33 million shares of stock to

14744-698: The Fox Kids programming library, ironically resulting in the Fox Broadcasting Company losing the rights to its own children's programming to the owner of one of its network competitors, ABC (which Disney had purchased in February 1996, through its acquisition of the network's corporate parent Capital Cities/ABC , which changed its corporate name to ABC, Inc. upon becoming a Disney subsidiary; Fox would subsequently enter into an outsourcing agreement with 4Kids Entertainment to produce its children's programming blocks,

14938-669: The Freeform brand, some analysts expressed doubt about it remaining as a linear channel in future provider negotiations. Outside of prime time, Freeform as of July 2024 offers a slate of mostly reruns of contemporary comedy series and animated sitcom series, such as The Simpsons , Black-ish , Boy Meets World , and Family Guy . The channel also produces some original programming, which as of July 2024 includes shows such as Chrissy & Dave Dine Out, Grand Cayman Secrets in Paradise, Royal Rules of Ohio, and Wayne Brady The Family Remix. Until

15132-624: The TV pilot sitcom Help Wanted; the channel also carried English-dubbed versions of Honey, Honey and Leo the Lion . Religious programming retained a sizeable portion of CBN Cable's schedule; in addition to continuing to run weekday airings of The 700 Club , non-CBN-produced ministry programs were relegated to Saturday and Sunday evenings, and Sunday mornings, encompassing only 22% of the network's programming lineup by 1990. The channel's decision to mix secular and religious programs within its schedule mirrored

15326-437: The ages of 14 and 34 as opposed to families or teenagers, as well as adopting new branding (including a new name). On April 14, 2015, ABC Family executives announced during the channel's 2015–16 upfront presentation, that it would establish a firm focus on teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 and 34 – a group representatives termed "becomers", instead of the standard " millennials ", to describe young people who are in

15520-465: The associated talk shows that have preceded it in its initial morning time slot since News Corporation acquired the channel years prior, either on-air or on its website. In August 2006, ABC Family shifted towards a dual audience once more with teenagers and young adults becoming the primary target demographic of its programming. As part of the shift, the channel introduced a new slogan ("A New Kind of Family") as part of an imaging package that incorporated

15714-503: The assumption of $ 2.3 billion in debt. The sale gave Disney control of the Fox Family Channel, Saban Entertainment , and the international Fox Kids cable networks controlled by Fox Family Worldwide, among other assets. Analysts felt that Disney's purchase of Fox Family was influenced by the ongoing consolidation occurring in the media industry, such as the then-recently completed merger of America Online (AOL) and Time Warner , and

15908-482: The assumption of existing indebtedness". IDT Entertainment's assets and Starz Entertainment Group 's line of premium television channels combined to produce content for all distribution platforms, and IDT Entertainment was later renamed as Starz Media. Liberty negotiated an asset swap with News Corp. and Time Warner that would give it control of DirecTV and the Atlanta Braves baseball team. On February 12, 2007,

16102-465: The biggest strategic errors made during the latter years of Michael Eisner 's tenure as president of the company. No one within ABC's management staff was consulted by Walt Disney Company executives about the company's plans to purchase Fox Family, with the acquisition being conducted by Disney's strategic planning department. The company's original plan for the channel was to use it for the primary purpose of showing reruns of ABC programming; however, this

16296-411: The block. Two years before the launch of its Halloween programming lineup, in 1996, what was then The Family Channel launched the " 25 Days of Christmas ", a four-week holiday-themed program block running annually during the month of December, formally starting on December 1 and continuing until Christmas Day on December 25. The block was carried over to Fox Family under News Corporation ownership, with

16490-631: 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 the direct to video sequels, Another Cinderella Story , A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song , and A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits ) and most recently the Legally Blonde film series (after securing rights to the 2009 made-for-DVD release Legally Blondes ). The channel also produces its own original made-for-TV movies (targeting

16684-476: The channel began airing a late night block of classic family oriented shows like You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx , I Married Joan , and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis . This block of programming is said by some to have inspired the 1985 debut of the Nick at Nite classic TV block on Nickelodeon . By this point, its carriage grew to 10.9 million homes with a cable television subscription. On January 1, 1988,

16878-421: The channel experienced its highest total viewership at that point in its history, with the premiere of the made-for-TV romantic/family comedy Au Pair . In October 1998, Fox Family introduced one of its most successful programming concepts, "The 13 Days of Halloween," a two-week-long block beginning each year on October 19, leading into Halloween on October 31. This block – which was subsequently rebranded as

17072-498: The channel for the entirety of its existence, regardless as to who owns it. 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 former Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell . The network's strength was also increased through the production of original series and films. Disney continued to be subject to stipulations requiring CBN programming, including that The 700 Club be aired thrice daily on

17266-467: The channel has had original movies such as Angry Angel , The Truth About Christmas , Life-Size 2 , No Sleep 'Til Christmas , Turkey Drop , and Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas . 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

17460-421: The channel hired to present its afternoon children's programs); most of the monikers for the network – including the slogans "You Belong" and "It's Electric" – were created by freelance artists. On July 23, 2001, News Corporation and Saban announced that Fox Family Worldwide Inc. would be sold to The Walt Disney Company for $ 2.9 billion; consequently, the unit would be renamed ABC Family Worldwide Inc. following

17654-498: The channel plans to increase the amount of original programming on its schedule through 2020. The retention of The 700 Club and The 700 Club Interactive on its lineup was particularly notable – even though the socially conservative views that have been expressed during the programs conflict with the culturally progressive /adult content of some of the channel's secular programming – as network executives were unable to reach an agreement with Pat Robertson and CBN to terminate

17848-415: The channel to air it three times daily, once each in the morning, late-evening and overnight hours), with the evening broadcast being moved out of prime time , and pushed one hour later to 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time (from 10:00 p.m.). Programming that appealed to children and teenagers was also greatly expanded on the channel. Fox Family added more animated series to the lineup, many of which came from

18042-404: 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, rumoredly due to a stipulation thought to have been put in place by Pat Robertson during the sale of the network to Fox, which rumoredly mandated that the word "Family" must be contained in the name of

18236-461: 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

18430-513: The channel's January 2016 rebranding to Freeform, which has also seen the channel air such popular Disney Channel films as High School Musical . Freeform aired the Olivia Rodrigo film Driving Home 2 U on May 14, 2022. It was the first time that a Disney+ original movie ever aired on Freeform (and thus, any linear television channel). From 2000 to 2001, Fox Family aired a weekly Major League Baseball (MLB) game on Thursday nights during

18624-412: The channel's agreement with the ministry, but could not agree to terms as Robertson wanted a higher payout that ABC Family president Ascheim deemed "astronomical" in comparison to its actual value. The distancing of the two entities extends further as the channel's management does not regularly discuss their programming strategy with CBN, nor has the channel actively promoted its airings of The 700 Club or

18818-430: The channel), is aimed at teenagers and young adults between 15 and 34 years of age. The ABC Spark name was purposefully chosen to avoid conflicts with premium service Family Channel . Before the exclusive Canadian television rights to their programming formally transferred to Corus in January 2016 (through a broader deal struck in April 2015 that involved the launches of domestic English and French language versions of

19012-425: The channel, Fox Family Films, which produced motion pictures targeted at different age groups, mainly towards children; the titles included Addams Family Reunion , which aired during Fox's inauguration of the channel under the initial format as Fox Family, and Digimon: The Movie , which was compiled from several Japanese Digimon short films. Aimed a more teenage audience, Fox Family Films created Ice Angel ,

19206-471: The company buy out his 49.5% interest in Fox Family Worldwide on December 21, 2000. Some observers believe that the network chased away some of its older viewers when, without notice, News Corporation/Saban removed all of the older programming that it aired as The Family Channel – especially western reruns, which made up the bulk of its weekday and weekend schedule, dating back to its existence under

19400-602: The company a big success. Liberty was merged back into TCI in the mid-1990s. In 1995, Liberty Media acquired a 49% ownership stake in the Faith & Values Channel (which would later be known as the Hallmark Channel ), and took over operational control of the network, adding more secular and family-oriented programming. It was rebranded as the Odyssey Network in 1996. On March 13, 1998, Liberty Media Group and TCI Group announced

19594-621: The company's common stock trades under nine individual stock symbols. Seven of the nine are listed on the Nasdaq stock market and two trade over the counter . Liberty Media has come under pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), thanks to GCI company, an Alaskan subsidiary of Liberty Broadband. GCI is a corporate sponsor of the Iditarod , an Alaskan dogsledding race that has lost multiple participants and sponsorships over

19788-416: The contractual rights to broadcast select CBN programs, as mandated by the ministry under International Family Entertainment's previous sale agreement with Fox. However, ABC Family would move to distance itself from The 700 Club out of concern over potential viewer blowback following a series of controversial remarks made by Robertson on the program in the years following the channel's purchase by Disney about

19982-555: The deal was completed with Time Warner wherein Liberty would receive the Atlanta Braves and a group of craft magazines, along with $ 1 billion in cash in exchange for 60 million shares of Time Warner stock (valued at $ 1.27 billion as of market close on February 12, 2007). The deal was approved by Major League Baseball and then completed on May 16, 2007. On February 20, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission approved

20176-461: The debut of its first comedy hit, Melissa & Joey (a domestic sitcom in the vein of Who's the Boss? that starred Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence , who previously co-starred in the 2009 ABC Family original movie Holiday in Handcuffs , as a city councilwoman raising her imprisoned brother's teenage children and the stockbroker she hired to serve as their housekeeper); the series would become

20370-416: The debut of the first third of season one (and the only season) 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

20564-456: The debuts of Melissa & Joey (which ran from 2010 to 2015), Baby Daddy (which ran from 2012 to 2017), Young and Hungry (which ran from 2014 to 2018) and Grown-ish (which ran from 2018 to 2024), 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

20758-506: The discovery of their accidental placement under different parents following their birth), which was watched by 3.3 million viewers. ABC Family followed the success it had with Melissa & Joey with the June 2012 debut of Baby Daddy . In January 2013, the Jennifer Lopez -produced alternative family drama The Fosters spurred audience interest, premiering to 3.1 million viewers; the series also saw critical acclaim for its portrayal of

20952-482: The exchange for Sprint PCS stock. Being independent increased their asset values, but the stock prices of both dropped, negating any benefits. In June 2002, Liberty Media acquired Wink Communications, a maker of set-top boxes founded by Brian P. Dougherty (of GEOS fame), for $ 100 million. Liberty Media subsequently spent $ 5 billion on nine German regional cable networks. Apart from television distribution it held major interests in other groups. For example, it

21146-556: The exchange of 16.3% of News Corp. for 38.4% of DirecTV, an $ 11 billion deal that also gave Liberty sports networks in Denver , Pittsburgh and Seattle plus $ 550 million in cash. In April 2007, Liberty completed a purchase of Green Bay , Wisconsin , television station WFRV-TV , and satellite station WJMN-TV in Escanaba , Michigan , which serves the Marquette , Michigan, market. The deal

21340-407: The existing 10:00 a.m. live telecast and 11:00 p.m. rebroadcast having been joined by an additional repeat at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time as part of the network's paid programming block, which runs from 2:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. A CBN spokesperson has stated “ The 700 Club will continue to air now and in perpetuity on the network, no matter what the name.” Fox created a film division for

21534-530: The existing programming it aired beforehand under the ABC Family brand, including family-oriented series and films, and its annual 25 Days of Christmas and 31 Nights of Halloween events. Although the socially conservative views expressed during 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 (along with CBN's day-long telethon on

21728-498: The first animated series since changing its name from ABC Family. On June 4, 2018, Freeform canceled Shadowhunters after three seasons. The two-part series finale aired on May 6, 2019. On September 27, 2019, Freeform canceled Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists after one season. On October 24, 2019, Freeform canceled Marvel's Cloak & Dagger after two seasons. Liberty Media Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty )

21922-403: The first original sitcom in the network's history to get a third season renewal and ended its run in May 2015 as the first original series in the channel's history to reach 100 episodes . On June 6, 2011, the channel broke total and demographic viewership records again with the series premiere of the drama Switched at Birth (centering on two teenagers whose families are brought together after

22116-627: The first round of the MLB playoffs, the Division Series , which did not air on Fox. Among the games that aired on Fox Family included one between the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros on October 4, 2001, in which Barry Bonds hit his 70th home run of the season, tying the all-time single season record that Mark McGwire had set only three years earlier (Bonds would break the record

22310-451: The five most-watched scripted series on basic cable among multiple female age demographics, and the second-highest rated cable series among females 12–34. Throughout the year, ABC Family as a whole experienced its highest year-to-year primetime viewership among viewers in the 12–34 and 18–34 demographics. With 4.9 million viewers across its first broadcast and an encore airing, the 2011 premiere of Switched at Birth surpassed Secret Life as

22504-419: The following night). As part of a stipulation negotiated into International Family Entertainment's sale agreement with Fox Entertainment Group by Pat Robertson, Fox Family aired The 700 Club twice every weekday: a live broadcast at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and a repeat at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. In addition, through other programming requirements stipulated by CBN through the deal, the network also aired

22698-445: 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

22892-434: The highest viewership in the network's history; that same year also saw another freshman series, the college-set dramedy Greek (centering on the relationships between groups of fraternity and sorority members), pull in strong ratings. The viewership record set by Kyle XY was later broken by the series premiere of the teen dramedy The Secret Life of the American Teenager (starring a then-unknown Shailene Woodley as

23086-493: The last Sunday in January), 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

23280-465: The launch of Jetix). As part of the rebranding, ABC Family restrategized to increase its viewership by ramping up production of its original movies and series. The channel began experiencing relative success in 2006, with the debuts of the drama series Wildfire and Lincoln Heights . Further success came in 2007, with the fantasy drama Kyle XY (centering on a humanoid taken in by a suburban family, who tries to discover his identity), which earned

23474-416: 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

23668-645: The loan. On March 6, the two companies approved the second part of the deal, with Sirius XM getting $ 250 million immediately and Liberty receiving 12.5 million shares of preferred stock convertible into a 40% ownership of Sirius XM common stock . On June 16, 2010, Malone exchanged his preferred stock in DirecTV with equivalent amounts of common stock , reducing his voting interest in the company from 24% to 3%, with Malone resigning as chairman and ending his managerial role at DirecTV. That same year, Liberty Media announced that it would spin off Liberty Starz and Liberty Capital and keep Liberty Interactive . The spinoff took

23862-426: The majority of 21st Century Fox , bringing Freeform reunited under common ownership with 20th Century Fox and FX Networks after 16 years. On January 18, 2018, Freeform unveiled a new logo and slogan, "A Little Forward", and officially rebranded on March 6, 2018. The new slogan reflects refinements to the network's programming direction, with a larger focus on "forward-looking" series (such as The Bold Type and

24056-635: The merger of Encore and STARZ! into a single company—Encore Media Group, owned by Liberty. Encore was taking advantage of the growth of digital cable , while TCI, which had previously owned twenty percent of Encore, was more interested in traditional cable. After U.S. Department of Justice approval that required TCI to sell its 23.5% interest in Sprint Corporation PSC , TCI was acquired by AT&T on March 9, 1999, for approximately $ 48 billion. Liberty Media merged with TCI Ventures Group LLC (TCIVA), TCI's telephone and Internet businesses, and

24250-510: The ministry's time-buy contract with the channel. While meeting to negotiate a buy out of the programming agreement prior to the rebranding announcement, Robertson had declined a $ 42-million termination offer by Disney–ABC (an amount roughly equivalent to the ministry's earnings from syndication fees for The 700 Club and various related productions during 2015) and stipulated a higher payout that Ascheim deemed "astronomical" in comparison to its actual value. On April 7, 2016, Freeform ordered

24444-607: The month of July in primetime and in total viewership, credited to the strength of Secret Life and new series Make It or Break It , 10 Things I Hate About You and Ruby & the Rockits , along with airings of the Harry Potter film franchise and the television premiere of Labor Pains . On June 8, 2010, ABC Family premiered Pretty Little Liars – a teen drama based on the series of young-adult mystery novels by Sara Shepard . Pretty Little Liars quickly became ABC Family's flagship program, frequently breaking ratings records; by 2014, Pretty Little Liars had ranked among

24638-518: The most successful programming blocks to date for the channel as ABC Family, and will be carried over under the Freeform brand. On May 15, 2018, Freeform renamed the block to 31 Nights of Halloween, meaning that the block now starts on October 1 and lasts throughout the whole month of October. With Disney's acquisition of Fox the following year, the channel, having already added the show itself, has also included marathons of The Simpsons ' long-running Halloween-centric sub-series Treehouse of Horror in

24832-464: The most-watched series premiere in network history. 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, adding the main ABC network and ABC Studios to his oversight. Lee resigned from the company in February 2016 and was replaced by Channing Dungey . In a December 3, 2014, article, Variety reported that ABC Family executives were proposing

25026-625: The name Liberty CapStarz, but renamed itself Liberty Media in 2011. On the Fortune 500 list 2011, Liberty Media was ranked 224, moving up from 2010 when they were ranked 227. In May 2011, Liberty announced it was in talks to buy the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain for $ 1.02 billion. It eventually bought a 16% stake in the form of preferred stock in Barnes & Noble for $ 204 million. On August 8, 2012, Liberty Media announced that it would spin off Starz into

25220-418: The name and brand SiriusXM. It gained simplified ownership structure and greater strategic flexibility. On April 1, 2024, Liberty Media announced its planned acquisition of 86% of Dorna Sports , which own MotoGP and WSBK . Liberty has issued tracking stocks for each of the three divisions, and each tracking stock is in three individual series (A, B and C) having individual voting rights, meaning that

25414-423: The name – which was chosen among 3,000 proposals, was derided by some viewers on social media and news websites reporting on the pending rebrand, prompting Ascheim to note at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on January 9, 2016, that while it does not mind the "wholesome" perception given by the "ABC Family" name, it does "not necessarily represent" the network. An extensive campaign to promote

25608-610: The network as just "Fox Family" – on August 15, 1998. With the change in ownership, Fox Family's operations were also migrated from the Christian Broadcasting Network's headquarters in Virginia Beach , Virginia , and integrated with the operations of some of News Corporation's other cable channels in Los Angeles at the Fox Network Center (located on the 20th Century Fox backlot in Century City ). The MTM Enterprises library

25802-408: The network each weekday. The CBN Satellite Service grew its subscriber base to 10.9 million households by May 1981. On September 1, 1981, the channel was relaunched as the CBN Cable Network . At that time of the name change, it was concurrently repositioned as an advertiser-supported "family-friendly" entertainment network, although the channel continued to offer religious programs that occupied about

25996-416: The network in 2004, relegating the block exclusive to sister channel Toon Disney . 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; the premieres of Kyle XY and Secret Life set viewership records for the channel. In July 2009, the network earned its best-ever ratings for

26190-402: The network were simulcast on local broadcast television stations in the home markets of the participating teams. For the 2020 NFL season , ESPN aired an alternate broadcast of its National Football League (NFL) wild card game on Freeform, alongside simulcasts on ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes; this marked the first live sports telecast of any kind on the channel since 2002 (when the channel

26384-523: The network's contractual obligation to carry the program. On April 7, 2016, Freeform ordered a series from ABC Signature and Marvel Television based on the comic book series Cloak and Dagger , marking the first work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have been developed for the network. Marvel Television had a Cloak and Dagger and Mockingbird-based series in development for the network as early as 2011. Freeform also announced several new non-scripted productions in development, including Later Bitches ,

26578-467: The network. On August 29, 2005, Disney began distancing itself further from Robertson following his controversial remarks suggesting that Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez should be assassinated. An ABC Family spokesperson stated that it had no editorial control over The 700 Club and that the company "strongly rejects the views expressed by Pat Robertson." Following the incident, the disclaimers aired before CBN programs on ABC Family were also amended with

26772-537: The network. 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. The rebranding as Freeform took effect on January 12, 2016, coinciding with

26966-688: The new company had a value of $ 1 billion, $ 650 million of that from the interactive unit of Liberty Media, which had also used the name Liberty Digital. Liberty Digital lost $ 244 million with revenue of $ 66 million in 1999, thanks to investments in struggling Internet businesses homegrocer.com, drugstore.com , TiVo and iVillage . In August 2000, the company bought a 50% stake in the Game Show Network because of its interactive features. On December 17, 1999, TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc. (TSAT), based in Englewood , Colorado , announced that Liberty Media

27160-729: The new company's CEO, and Bruce Ravenel would be chief technology officer . On June 2, 1999, Liberty announced that it would acquire the Associated Group for $ 2.8 billion. On September 10, 1999, Liberty Media Group renamed TCI Music to Liberty Digital Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: LDIG), with the new company trading on NASDAQ's National Market tier, after Liberty Media traded most of its Internet content, interactive television assets, and rights to provide AT&T's cable systems with interactive services, in addition to cash and notes valued at $ 150 million, for TCI Music stock. Masters, who became Liberty Digital's CEO, told The Wall Street Journal that

27354-488: The newest episode on the evening of an episode premiere in the latter time slot). 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 a.m. or 8:00 a.m.) to as late as 2:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays and Sundays. As of 2019, Freeform features

27548-413: The off-network ABC sitcoms Fox Family had acquired, and add reruns of ABC and Touchstone Television -distributed series such as According to Jim , My Wife and Kids and Whose Line Is It Anyway? . There were initially plans to create a version of ABC's TGIF block for the channel as well. Disney originally planned to use the channel to show reruns of current ABC programming, although this strategy

27742-464: The output of made-for-cable movies that were produced for the channel, which were among the few programs that Fox Family was doing well with. The changes cause ABC Family's ratings to tumble further as it became dependent on syndicated reruns, with no original programs on its schedule to back it up (with the exception of original wraparound segments that aired around repeats of The Bachelor , and children's programming). Another plan drafted by Disney

27936-424: The premiere of the second half of Pretty Little Liars ' sixth season , and the series premiere of Shadowhunters , a fantasy drama based on Cassandra Clare 's novel series The Mortal Instruments . As Freeform, the channel planned to double the amount of original programming on its schedule through 2020. However, despite firmly focusing on its specified target audience, Freeform continued to carry much of

28130-476: The programming format used by the independent television stations that CBN had owned (then based in six markets ) at the time of the rebrand. Additional programming that joined the CBN Cable lineup later in the decade included Hazel , Father Knows Best , The Big Valley , and Gunsmoke , plus foreign acquisitions The Campbells and Butterfly Island . Under the new format, the national distribution of

28324-497: The public. In January 1993, IFE purchased TVS Entertainment , a British broadcaster which owned MTM Enterprises , for $ 68.5 million. That year, International Family Entertainment and Flextech jointly launched an international version of The Family Channel in the United Kingdom ; on February 3, 1997, that channel eventually relaunched as the game show -dedicated network Challenge (an outgrowth of "Family Challenge Weekend",

28518-547: The rebrand began 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. Even so, the rebrand was mainly cosmetic in nature, as the network retained much of the programming it ran under its previous ABC Family identity, with those being carried over under the new brand including the 25 Days of Christmas and 13 Days of Halloween blocks, and religious programming (including its weekdaily airings of The 700 Club ); however,

28712-404: The regime of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez , as well as those regarding homosexuals , feminists , Muslims , abortion and many other social issues. On August 29, 2005, the disclaimers that appear before, during and after its broadcasts of The 700 Club were revised from "The following/preceding program is/was brought to you by CBN" to "The following/preceding CBN telecast does not reflect

28906-575: The regular season game telecasts migrated to ESPN outright beginning with the 2002 Major League Baseball season . A deal was later struck to move the playoff games to ESPN as well, starting with the 2003 season. Although the games aired on Disney-owned networks, Fox retained the exclusive right to negotiate a renewal of the contract after the 2006 season; Fox Sports chose not to renew the Division Series contract, with TBS acquiring those rights in 2007 as part of its new baseball contract . The channel's sale to Disney, however, would be considered one of

29100-414: The relaunch including a weekday-morning talk show, US a.m. and the faith-based soap opera Another Life . The network also aired – and was even involved in the production of a few of them – a handful of Christian or family-friendly animated series, including some anime – such as CBN's own co-productions with Japanese animation studio Tatsunoko Production , Superbook and The Flying House and

29294-490: The respective genders; both channels ceased operations after one year on the air in August 2000, due to a combination of very limited national carriage by cable providers (Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel were each carried in some 100,000 homes in an era when digital cable television was in its infancy) and the controversy that developed over the gender-segregated channels. In the wake of Fox Family's struggles, Saban offered to acquire

29488-501: The resulting company became part of AT&T, giving Liberty Media $ 5.5 billion to repurchase stock or buy other companies. AT&T bought the other TCI businesses— @Home Corp. , National Digital Television Center and Western Tele-Communications Inc.—for $ 2.5 billion in cash. TCI chairman Malone, who became head of the new company, said buyers would not want all of TCI, but they would be interested in Liberty Media. Malone wanted to start

29682-414: The rights from Fox Sports Net (FSN), which aired the weekly telecasts across its regional sports networks (except in markets where the nationally televised game conflicts with scheduled sporting events involving local teams on the individual FSN outlet) from 1997 to 1999 – usually ran the games on either Thursday or Saturday nights. Starting with the 2001 season , the network also carried games from

29876-464: The sale and integration into the company's Disney–ABC Cable Networks Group division. (The channel, as Freeform, would be reunited with three of its former sister cable channels under News Corporation ownership— FX , FX Movie Channel and National Geographic —through Disney's 2019 purchase of 21st Century Fox 's film and non-broadcast, entertainment-based television assets.) The sale to Disney included ownership of Saban Entertainment, including most of

30070-658: The seasonal "13 Nights of Halloween" and the "25 Days of Christmas" blocks. However, despite the network's refocusing towards the latter demographic, ABC Family/Freeform continues to air live and repeat broadcasts of The 700 Club every weekday. Jetix remained part of ABC Family's morning schedule until it was discontinued on August 31 of that year, with the block becoming exclusive to Toon Disney beginning on September 2, effectively removing children's programming from ABC Family altogether (programs targeted at that demographic have largely remained off of its lineup since that point). Repeats of acquired off-network programs began to fill

30264-409: The series premiere of Shadowhunters , a fantasy drama based on The Mortal Instruments series of novels by Cassandra Clare ), was motivated by audience testing that revealed that survey participants who watched ABC Family infrequently perceived it as being more family-oriented, in contrast to regular viewers who understood its focus towards the actual above-mentioned target demographic. However,

30458-406: The short-lived comedy-drama series Freaks and Geeks , including episodes of the show that had not previously aired as a result of its 2000 cancellation by NBC , and broadcast more " romantic comedy "-themed original movies. Keeping kids and families in mind, the channel introduced the original series State of Grace (a half-hour period dramedy set in the 1960s, centering around a pre-teen from

30652-401: The stake in the network held by News Corporation (which had also begun negotiations to acquire television provider DirecTV ), but was unable to agree to a proper valuation. A decision was made to sell the venture to a third-party. On July 23, 2001, it was announced that News Corporation and Saban had agreed to sell Fox Family Worldwide to The Walt Disney Company for $ 2.9 billion in cash, plus

30846-406: The struggles of an interracial lesbian couple with five adopted at-risk youths. The shift towards a more teen and young adult focus became more clear when Variety reported in a December 3, 2014, article, that ABC Family executives were proposing to relaunch the network as early as 2015, with options being considered including the expansion of programming appealing more toward young adults between

31040-520: The transaction and placed four directors on Charter's board. In 2014, Liberty Media spun off TruePosition and its holdings in Charter Communications into a new company, Liberty Broadband. In late 2016, Liberty Media agreed to buy the Formula One Group for US$ 4.4 billion (£3.3 billion). The deal was finalized in January 2017 for a total of US$ 4.6 billion (£3.44 billion). On November 17, 2022, Liberty Media announced that it would split off

31234-479: The views of ABC Family." Disney would later make attempts to reach an agreement with Pat Robertson to buy out CBN's time-buy contract for The 700 Club and The 700 Club Interactive . Months prior to the announcement of the Freeform rebranding in 2015, Disney–ABC offered CBN a payment of $ 42 million – the same amount that the ministry earned in revenue during that year from syndication fees for The 700 Club and various related productions – for Robertson to terminate

31428-506: The word "Family" in the network's name in perpetuity. When Disney announced on October 6, 2015, that it would rebrand the network as Freeform, ABC Family president Tom Ascheim noted that there was no record of such a clause ever having been in place (although some published sources – including a reference in James B. Stewart 's book on former chairman/CEO Michael Eisner 's tenure at eventual owner Disney, DisneyWar – have only stated insofar that

31622-409: The word "Family" must be contained in the name of the channel for the entirety of its existence, no matter the owner. The "XYZ" branding was revisited at one point in 2003, for a program block titled "The XYZ", which featured live-action series and movies aimed at teenagers and young adults, a demographic that the channel would eventually choose to market its programming towards. Disney also inherited

31816-495: 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 out the network into a new, for-profit corporation known as International Family Entertainment (IFE). Managed by Pat Robertson's eldest son Timothy, IFE

32010-551: 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 becoming known for airing previews of upcoming movies, as it has done for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Hairspray , and Stardust . The channel has also aired select Disney Channel Original Movies in recent years, including

32204-481: The years in which Hilary Duff , who made her acting debut in the film, starred in the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire ). The block was temporarily suspended in 2003, following an overhaul of the channel's programming management under Disney. But it returned in 2004. A few years later, the 2002 live-action film adaptation of Scooby-Doo became part of its annual Halloween lineup. This continues to be one of

32398-472: The years. More than a dozen companies, including ExxonMobil, Alaska Airlines, and Chrysler, have dropped their Iditarod sponsorships over the years, amidst campaign efforts from PETA showing the conditions endured by dogs during and between races. Animal advocates have made pleas to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei to end GCI’s Iditarod sponsorship. Maffei has not released a statement on GCI’s sponsorship. According to PETA, more than 150 dogs have died while running

32592-472: Was also set to launch in 1993. International Family Entertainment launched another cable channel, the Cable Health Club , on October 4, 1993, which was made available to cable providers without a carriage fee; the lineage of that network – which was later renamed FitTV – is traceable to the current-day Warner Bros. Discovery -owned network Discovery Life . The network gained more visibility when, for

32786-457: Was also used as a buffer to burn off series which failed to gain audiences during their runs on ABC, such as the reality competition series All American Girl , which featured Spice Girl Geri Halliwell . In trying to change the programming focus of ABC Family, Disney also canceled several original series that originated on the channel under its former identity as Fox Family (such as the 1960s-set period dramedy State of Grace ), and reduced

32980-419: Was altered to swap out the vertically aligned Fox wordmark placed on the left parenthetical fringe with ABC's legacy "circle" logo, and production music ), although it would begin using new continuity announcers. The network also revamped its programming lineup following the Disney acquisition. Partly to reduce competition with new sister network Disney Channel, which launched one year and nine months after what

33174-555: Was assumed by 20th Television . When Fox purchased the channel, programmers sought to reposition it to target a dual audience: children in daytime, families at night. Once the network became Fox Family, the new owners dropped nearly all of the programming that it aired under The Family Channel brand – which at that point included reruns of series such as Bonanza , The Rifleman , Carol Burnett and Friends , Hawaii Five-O , The High Chaparral , Rescue 911 and Diagnosis: Murder – and replaced them with shows that appealed to

33368-629: Was cancelled. Under the control of Murdoch and Saban, Fox Family saw its overall viewership slide from 10th to 17th place in the Nielsen cable ratings as a result of an increasingly competitive race for younger viewers (with the channel facing brisk competition from established children's cable networks Nickelodeon , Cartoon Network and eventual corporate sister Disney Channel ), and the bickering over ownership between News Corporation and Saban Entertainment founder and CEO Haim Saban , who eventually opted to exercise an option given by News Corporation to have

33562-407: 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 still being more of

33756-633: Was co-owned by the Robertsons, with a minority interest held by Liberty Media and Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) owner John C. Malone . Following the spin-off, the channel's name was officially shortened to The Family Channel on September 15, 1990. 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 . During this time, from 1994 to 1997, The Family Channel sponsored NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Ted Musgrave in

33950-554: Was conceptually impossible as ABC did not hold the syndication rights to the majority of its own programs, with the exception of those that were produced by its corporate parent's television production divisions, Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television , which had their distribution rights held by Buena Vista Television . During this time, the channel did air same-season repeats of then-current ABC shows Alias , Less than Perfect , and Life with Bonnie , almost all of which were produced by Touchstone Television. The network

34144-530: Was formed from Todd-AO and two other companies by Liberty Media, which provided audio and video post-production services. David Beddow of TCI became CEO. Liberty Media's Discovery Channel and QVC continued to do well, but the newer projects had problems and the company's stock price dropped by half. If AT&T agreed to spin off Liberty Media, new deals such as a possible News Corp. purchase of DirecTV would be easier because AT&T would no longer require federal approval to complete such deals. Liberty Media

34338-441: Was hindered by the fact that ABC did not hold syndication rights to all of its programming at the time. The company 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

34532-427: Was increased by $ 500 million, to be spent on 20 original movies and 680 episodes of original series. In 1998, the company announced the launch of two digital networks spun-off from Fox Family - Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel , and both launched in October 1999. Both networks contained programming content targeted at the respective genders; both channels ceased operations after one year on the air in August 2000, due to

34726-423: Was intended to represent how "becomers" are in the "formation" of their lives and that the brand 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 31 Nights of Halloween and 25 Days of Christmas blocks during the fourth quarter of that year. The new name – which

34920-577: Was known as ABC Family). 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. 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

35114-528: Was later rebranded as Freeform on January 12, 2016. As of September 2023, Freeform was available to more than 55 million households in the United States, according to Nielsen estimates. The network's president reports to the chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment . The channel traces its origins to the launch of the CBN Satellite Service (CBN Satellite Network), an arm of Pat Robertson 's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), on April 29, 1977. Focusing mainly on religious programming ,

35308-433: Was merged into Fox Kids Worldwide, a joint venture between majority owners News Corporation and Saban (which each owned a 49.5% share in the company), and media investment firm Allen & Company (which owned the remaining 1%), which was subsequently renamed Fox Family Worldwide following the completion of the acquisition. The Family Channel was renamed Fox Family Channel – though on-air promotions typically referred to

35502-463: Was officially renamed Fox Family Channel on August 15, 1998. 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. Notable programs aired during this era included S Club 7 in Miami —a sitcom serving as

35696-430: Was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes during its history. This article details the network's existence from its founding by the Christian Broadcasting Network to its current ownership by The Walt Disney Company , which renamed the network to Freeform on January 12, 2016. The network was founded by Pat Robertson as

35890-474: Was part of a swap of 7.59 million shares of common stock in CBS , the stations' owner, that was held by Liberty Media; in exchange for the stock, CBS gave Liberty the stations and $ 170 million in cash. Liberty announced plans in April 2011 to sell WFRV and WJMN to Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $ 20 million. On September 3, 2008, Liberty Media decided to initiate the process of spinning off Liberty Entertainment to Liberty Media shareholders, leaving Malone with

36084-519: Was renamed " Jetix " in February 2004) that aired on weekday mornings, shows aimed at a broader family audience as well as those aimed specifically at teenagers, adults or both audiences also replaced the more kid-oriented shows in afternoon timeslots (Disney Channel simultaneously underwent its own demographic shift, dropping its remaining family-oriented programming with the September 2002 removal of its nightly vintage programming block, Vault Disney, in order to focus firmly on children and younger teenagers,

36278-614: Was signed to an overall deal with sister streaming service Hulu in April 2020—became the new president of Freeform, replacing the departing Ascheim (who left to join Warner Bros. Kids, Young Adults and Classics ). In April 2022, the network began a larger expansion into non-scripted programming, announcing the projects Day to Night (later retitled The Come Up ), Dear Pony: Keep This Between Us —a documentary on child grooming in American high schools, and The Deep End —a documentary on Teal Swan . On September 12, 2022, Freeform underwent

36472-529: Was spun off from AT&T on August 10, 2001. This was one of three possible actions to ensure federal approval of AT&T's $ 54 billion acquisition of MediaOne Group —the others were selling its 25.5% share of Time Warner Entertainment and dropping 11.8 million cable customers. Also in 2001, Liberty Media acquired the remainder of Liberty Digital and Liberty Satellite & Technology (formerly TCI Satellite). Both companies were independent spinoffs of TCI, though Liberty already owned 90% of both companies after

36666-637: Was the largest shareholder in News Corporation (though the founding Murdoch family owns more voting shares ), and had a 4% stake in Time Warner. In June 2005, Liberty Media International combined with UnitedGlobalCom, creating Liberty Global . In May 2006, Time Warner acquired Liberty Media's 50% stake in Court TV , for $ 735 million. On May 16, 2006, IDT sold its IDT Entertainment division to Liberty Media "for all of Liberty Media's interests in IDT, $ 186 million in cash and

36860-415: Was the only requirement that Robertson included in sales terms for the network to its subsequent owners. However, public assumption had conflated for many years that this sole existing stipulation was one of two that he included following the sale of the network by CBN; another contractual clause that Robertson was alleged to have added in the sale agreement to Fox required any future secular owners to maintain

37054-416: Was then CBN Cable adopted a family-focused entertainment format, the network heavily scaled back the amount of children's programming on its schedule, relegating the handful of programs that were retained to the morning hours. With this, the remaining Fox Kids shows that were on ABC Family's schedule became part of the "ABC Family Action Block", a new two-hour-long block of action-oriented animated series (which

37248-401: Was to be determined at a later date. On March 27, 2019, Freeform announced that the channel was placing two animated series into development called Betches and Woman World . These were the network's first original animated series since changing its name from ABC Family, and served as the foundation of a female-oriented animation block. In May 2020, former Netflix executive Tara Duncan —who

37442-457: Was to re-position the channel to market it at a more hip audience, such as college students or young women, and rename it "XYZ," a reverse reference to ABC; however, this concept was ultimately dropped. The decision not to move forward with the "XYZ" rebranding had been alleged to be because of the stipulation reported to have been put in place within International Family Entertainment's original sale agreement to News Corporation by Pat Robertson that

37636-533: Was trading its interest in Sprint PCS for $ 300 million in TCI Satellite preferred stock . A new company, 90% owned by Liberty Media and 10% owned by TCI Satellite, would combine the satellite-related businesses and take advantage of the growing area of Internet content. Liberty Media President and CEO Robert R. Bennett said the deal would benefit stockholders of both companies. Another new company, Liberty Livewire,

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