 Logo used since September 12, 2022 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Burbank, California |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish (viaSAP audio track) |
| Picture format |
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| Ownership | |
| Parent |
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| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | April 29, 1977; 47 years ago (1977-04-29) |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | freeform |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated Streaming Service | Disney+ andHulu |
| Streaming services | YouTube TV,Hulu + Live TV,Sling TV,FuboTV,Vidgo,DirecTV Stream |
Freeform is an Americanbasic cablechannel owned and operated byABC Family Worldwide, a subsidiary of theDisney Entertainment business segment and division ofthe Walt Disney Company. Freeform primarily broadcasts programming geared towards young adults – with some skewing toward young women – in the 18–34 age range, a target demographic designated by the channel as "becomers". Its programming includes contemporaryoff-network syndicated reruns and original series, feature films, andmade-for-TV original movies. Also ahousehold can watch movies during seasonal programming blocks, like31 Nights of Halloween, 30 Days of Disney, &25 Days of Christmas.
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 originallyfounded as areligious channel, theCBN Satellite Service—an extension of televangelistPat Robertson'sChristian Broadcasting Network. It evolved into a family-focused entertainment network in 1981. It was spun off into a for-profit company known asInternational Family Entertainment (IFE) in 1990, eventually becoming known asThe Family Channel. As a condition of the spin-off, the channel was contractually required to maintain airings ofThe 700 Club and an annualtelethon 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 a joint venture betweenNews Corporation andHaim Saban. This resulted in its rebranding as theFox Family Channel a year later. The new owners wanted to reposition the network toward younger viewers as a companion for the unpopularFox 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 toABC Family one month later on November 10.[1][2] The network was later rebranded asFreeform on January 12, 2016.[3][4][5]
As of September 2023, Freeform was available to more than 55 million households in the United States, according toNielsen estimates.[6] The network's president reports to the chairman ofDisney Television Studios andABC Entertainment.
The channel traces its origins to the launch of the CBN Satellite Service (CBN Satellite Network), an arm ofPat Robertson'sChristian Broadcasting Network (CBN), on April 29, 1977. Focusing mainly onreligious programming,[7] the channel was notable for being one of the first cable channels to distribute its signal nationally throughsatellite transmission (the third overall, as the method had been first pioneered byHBO in September 1975) as well as the first national basic cable-originated network (TBS – which became the second cable channel in the United States to begin transmitting via satellite in December 1976 – originated as a feed ofbroadcast television station WTCG (nowWPCH-TV) inAtlanta,Georgia). The channel changed its name to theCBN 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 varioustelevangelists (mirroring the format used by CBN'sindependent television stations of that time). Around this time, the channel began airing a late night block of classic family oriented shows likeYou Bet Your Life withGroucho Marx,I Married Joan, andThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. This block of programming is said by some[who?] to have inspired the 1985 debut of theNick at Nite classic television block onNickelodeon. By this point, its carriage grew to 10.9 million homes with a cable television subscription.
On January 1, 1988, the word "Family" was incorporated into the channel's name to better reflect its programming format,rebranding asThe CBN Family Channel. By 1990, the network had grown too profitable to remain under the Christian Broadcasting Network umbrella without endangering the ministry'snon-profit status. On January 8 of that year, CBN spun out the network into a new, for-profit corporation known asInternational Family Entertainment (IFE). Managed by Pat Robertson's eldest son Timothy, IFE was co-owned by the Robertsons, with a minority interest held byLiberty Media andTele-Communications Inc. (TCI) ownerJohn C. Malone.[8][9] 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.[10]
Outside of prime time, Freeform as of January 2025 offers a slate of mostly reruns of contemporary comedy series, such asblack-ish andBoy Meets World.
The channel also produces some original programming, which as of February 2025 includes shows such as Grand Cayman Secrets in Paradise, How I Escaped My Cult, Royal Rules of Ohio, Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order, and Scam Goddess. Until the debuts ofMelissa & Joey (which ran from 2010 to 2015),Baby Daddy (which ran from 2012 to 2017),Young and Hungry (which ran from 2014 to 2018) andGrown-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 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 ofPretty Little Liars that air as part of the 13 Nights of Halloween in October as well as the debut of the first third of season one (and the only season) ofRavenswood in October 2013), the first ten episodes (or as few as eight for new series) of each season of its original programs air consecutively, the season's remaining episodes are broadcast following a hiatus of four to six months. Dating back to its existence as ABC Family, Freeform typically only reruns episodes of its original series in a marathon that airs prior to a season premiere, mid-season or season finale, or other special occasion, though the channel does air encore presentations of its shows that typically preempt programs that normally air at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time during the rest of the week on these nights (with the previous week's episode airing in the former time slot prior to the newest episode and a same-night encore of the newest episode on the evening of an episode premiere in the latter time slot).
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 a mix of animated and live action films from film divisionsWalt Disney Pictures,Walt Disney Animation Studios,Pixar,20th Century Studios,Searchlight Pictures,Touchstone Pictures,Hollywood Pictures, andBlue 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 asSony Pictures,Universal Pictures,Paramount Pictures (barringNickelodeon Movies titles),Warner Bros. Pictures,New Line Cinema,HiT Entertainment,Lionsgate, andDreamWorks Pictures.
Freeform has purchased the cable television rights to many film series, such as theHarry Potter series (which ABC and Disney Channel also hold rights to), 2004'sA Cinderella Story (and the direct to video sequels,Another Cinderella Story,A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song, andA Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits) and most recently theLegally Blonde film series (after securing rights to the 2009 made-for-DVD releaseLegally Blondes).
The channel also produces its own original made-for-TV movies (targeting a slightly older audience than those aired by sister network Disney Channel); some of Freeform's most popular original movies includeNight of the Twisters (the channel's first original movie, which premiered in 1996 during its existence as The Family Channel),Holiday in Handcuffs, theAu Pair trilogy,Ice Angel, andCyberbully (which premiered on the channel under either the Fox Family or ABC Family identities). As Freeform, the channel has had original movies such asAngry Angel,The Truth About Christmas,Life-Size 2,No Sleep 'Til Christmas,Turkey Drop, andGhosting: 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 the year to date. ABC Family's airing ofThe 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 forHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,Hairspray, andStardust.[11]
The channel has also aired select Disney Channel Original Movies in recent years, including the 2008 movieCamp Rock the 2011 filmsLemonade Mouth andPhineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, and the 2017 movieDescendants 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 onThe Wonderful World of Disney in 2002.) This has become somewhat more prevalent since the channel's January 2016 rebranding to Freeform, which has also seen the channel air such popular Disney Channel films asHigh School Musical.
Freeform aired theOlivia Rodrigo filmDriving 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 weeklyMajor League Baseball (MLB) game onThursday nights during the league's regular season (a game that had previously aired nationwide onFox Sports Net from 1997 to 1999), as well as selectDivision 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 channelFX. ESPN assumed the production responsibilities for the two game packages beginning with the2002 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 startingthe following year (although the games aired on Disney-owned networks, Fox kept the exclusive negotiation to renew the contract after the2006 season; Fox chose not to renew their rights to the Division Series, which went toTBS as part of itsnew baseball contract). The Division Series games broadcast on the network were simulcast on local broadcast television stations in the home markets of the participating teams.[12]
For the2020 NFL season, ESPN aired an alternate broadcast of itsNational Football League (NFL)wild card game on Freeform, alongside simulcasts on ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes;[13] this marked the first live sports telecast of any kind on the channel since2002 (when the channel was known as ABC Family).
| |
| Freeform Studios | |
| Formerly |
|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Television |
| Predecessor | Fox Family Channel  |
| Founded | August 14, 2007 (2007-08-14) |
Key people | Jayne Bieber (SVP, Production Management and Operations) |
| Parent | ABC Family Worldwide Inc. |
Freeform Studios, the DBA ofProdCo, Inc., formerly known as ABC Family Productions, later Freeform Original Productions[20] is the in-house production company ofABC Family Worldwide Inc. for original scripted series.[21]
Programming executive Linda Mancuso died in December 2003. In early 2004, Disney Channel original programming leaders, executive vice president of original programming and productionGary Marsh and original movies VP Michael Healy took over ABC Family's original movies unit. They moved away from the planned romantic comedies to green light two telefilms,Crimes of Fashion andHead Rush.[22]
ProdCo was incorporated onAugust 14, 2007.[23] Jayne Bieber was hired as vice president of production in 2010. As of June 2015, Bieber is Vice President, Production Management and Operations, ABC Family over seeing ProdCo.[21]
In October 2015, ABC Family,ABC Studios and ABC Signature signed a two-year production deal withMcG's production banner, Wonderland Sound & Vision. Prior, McG had just put two series in at ABC Family.[24] In January 2016, ABC Family changed its name to Freeform.[25]
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beautiful Girl | October 19, 2003 | |
| Celeste in the City | March 14, 2004 | |
| Love Rules | June 6, 2004 | |
| Crimes of Fashion[22] | July 25, 2004 | |
| Pop Rocks![22][26] | September 12, 2004 | originally titledHead Rush |
| Searching for David's Heart | November 21, 2004 | |
| Snow | December 13, 2004 | |
| I Do, They Don't | March 20, 2005 | |
| Pizza My Heart | July 24, 2005 | |
| Campus Confidential | August 21, 2005 | co-production with Firm Films |
| The Initiation of Sarah | October 22, 2006 | co-production withMGM Television |
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
| Freeform HD | Freeform HD is ahigh definition simulcast feed of Freeform that broadcasts in the720p format (the preferred HD resolution for the Walt Disney Company's television properties); it was launched as ABC Family HD in early 2008.[27] All of the network's original series and made-for-TV films, and many of its acquired programs are currently produced in high definition, which are presented in aletterboxed format on thestandard definition channel; films airing on the channel are also broadcast in HD whenever possible. The vast majority of pay-TV providers carry the network. |
| Freeform On Demand | Freeform On Demand is the channel'svideo-on-demand service, offering recent episodes of the channel's original series and select made-for-TV movies to digital cable andIPTV providers. Freeform On Demand's rotating program selection incorporates select new titles that are added the day after a program's original episode airdate (or every two weeks for its original movie selections), alongside existing program titles held over from the previous two weeks. |
| Freeform App | The Freeformmobile app (formerly known as Watch Freeform) allowssubscribers to Freeform on participating television providers to stream Freeform programming live or on-demand. It launched on January 7, 2014, replacing the original ABC Family app on mobile devices.[28][29] On August 24, 2024, it was announced that the Freeform app would shut down on September 23 along with all other Disney-owned TV Everywhere apps; however, viewers can still watch episodes on the Freeform website even after said date.[30] |
| Hulu | The network also makes mention of the programming the network offers streaming onHulu, which through its part-ownership by the Walt Disney Company has full season "stacking rights" to several of the network's self-produced series since the network's "ABC Family; a new kind of family" era, excluding series such asPretty Little Liars,Shadowhunters andThe Fosters that have instead been licensed toNetflix. |
On October 26, 2011, the Walt Disney Company andToronto-based media companyCorus Entertainment entered into a partnership to launch a Canadian version of ABC Family,ABC Spark, which launched on March 23, 2012.[31] The channel, which is licensed by theCanadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission as aCategory B specialty channel (which under CRTC rules, allows Canadian digital cable anddirect-broadcast satellite providers to optionally choose to carry the channel), is aimed at teenagers and young adults between 15 and 34 years of age.[32]
The ABC Spark name was purposefully chosen to avoid conflicts withpremium serviceFamily 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 andFrench language versions ofthethreechannels as sisters to ABC Spark), Family maintained a licensing agreement withDisney 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), andDisney XD (Allarcom andFirst Choice first proposed the "Family Channel" name for the Canadian service in 1987, and jointly launched it in September 1988, one month after the American channel changed its name to The CBN Family Channel).[33][34][35][36]
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 withFlextech, launched an international version of The Family Channel in the United Kingdom,[37][38] featuring a mix of original family-oriented programming, reruns of American series and programming from theMTM Enterprises/TVS library. In April 1996, International Family Entertainment sold its 61% controlling interest to Flextech,[39] giving that company full control of the channel.[40] On February 3, 1997, the network was relaunched asChallenge TV, which changed the network's primary focus togame shows.
The Company produces and distributes live action and animated television programming under the ABC Studios, ABC Media Productions, and ABC Family Productions labels.
