History of Freeform

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 a third of its daily schedule.

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.

[1][5] This time-buy clause (which also mandates that the program air at suitable time slots that would allow it to attract decent viewership) was the only requirement that Robertson included in sales terms for the network to its subsequent owners.

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 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).

On September 11, 1989, the CBN Family Channel launched "Fun Town", a daily children's program block featuring content from DIC Enterprises.

[20][21] The network gained more visibility when, for 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.

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".

Aimed a more teenage audience, Fox Family Films created Ice Angel, 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.

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 the block.

While in essence, it maintained 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.

The channel also acquired 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.

The sale to Disney included ownership of Saban Entertainment, including most of 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, a relationship that lasted until December 2008, when the network discontinued its remaining Saturday morning block, 4Kids TV).

[44][45][46] 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 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.

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 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, a demographic it began gravitating toward when it transitioned into a basic cable channel in April 1997).

[48] 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.

[49] Another plan drafted by Disney 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.

Disney also inherited 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 the regime of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, as well as those regarding homosexuals, feminists, Muslims, abortion and many other social issues.

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 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 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 the seasonal "13 Nights of Halloween" and the "25 Days of Christmas" blocks.

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 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.

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).

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 the struggles of an interracial lesbian couple with five adopted at-risk youths.

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 the series premiere of Shadowhunters, a fantasy drama based on The Mortal Instruments series of novels by Cassandra Clare[59]), 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.

[6][50] However, 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.

[7][60] An extensive campaign to promote 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.

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.

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).

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 a new trailer and June 7, 2018, premiere date for Marvel's Cloak and Dagger.