ABC Family Set to Change Its Name in 2016, Looks to Appeal to Younger Audience

ABC Family is preparing to kickoff the 2016 year in a big way. The network has been looking for ways to hone in on a particular fan base of viewers, mainly consisting of Millennials and young adults and in an attempt to expand their market by appealing to a younger audience, ABC Family will soon be known as Freeform.

Before any negative thoughts pop into your head, the network isn't getting rid of the shows that you've grown to know and love. Fan favorites like The Fosters, Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth and Young and Hungry will all be returning next year, with new series Shadowhunters and Recovery Road. However, instead of being viewed on ABC Family, fans will catch them on Freeform starting in January 2016.

According to ABC Family president Tim Ascheim, their new re-branding strategy is hoping to cater towards a target demographic of viewers ranging from ages 14-34, or what they like to call "Becomers." The term was coined to reflect the initial experiences of the Millennial generation, as well as, the period between who they think they are and who they want to become.

"In many ways, this feels to us like an evolution - not a huge change," Ascheim told The Hollywood Reporter. "If we wanted to grow and reach new people, we couldn't have this very narrow sense of who we were and hope to attract new consumers. In an attempt to build on our strength and attract new folks, we thought it was time to change our name."

This will be the first time in nearly three decades the network will be without the word "family" in its name. ABC Family has gone through a few name changes throughout the years, including CBN Family Channel (1988), The Family Channel (1990), Fox Family Channel (1998), and finally ABC Family (2001).

Executives at ABC Family wanted to create a way to balance their audience, content and branding strategies. While their programming content and demographic audience were booming, the name of the network didn't seem to relate to their overall goal. Cutting out the word "family" would give them more room to explore different outlets and still complete their overall re-branding task.

"This moment in media, where it was not just a linear moment but a back and forth one between the audience and content maker, because they, too are content makers; and it seemed to evoke an emotional response in us and our creative selves and made us feel like we would be able to convey the spirit of Freeform to the audience - and they'd want to play along with us," Ascheim explained.