From Cynopsis 10/07/15:

New year, new name: Come January, ABC Family will be rebranded Freeform, evoking “the spirit and adventure of our audience,” said net president Tom Ascheim. Pointing out that 14-34 year-old "Becomers," a life stage full of firsts and changes, are 69 million strong in the U.S., the network says it remains committed both to hit programs like Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters and its plan to double original programming over the next four years. But does rebranding carry a risk? “Family does have a very positive connotation with advertisers, but it's not the best description of the network's content,” Brad Adgate, SVP research at Horizon Media tells Cynopsis. “It's taking a legacy name and rebranding to suit a more modern viewer. Disney knows how to market, and will do what needs to be done to inform viewers.”




From "Cynopsis Media Presents: Millennial Report":

ABC Family saw the millennial future, and reacted differently: Earlier this month, the net announced it would be renaming itself Freeform in in Jan. 2016. While they acknowledge that millennials are still part of their audience pool, they're more interested in providing content for viewers who are "experiencing firsts," explains Nigel Cox-Hagen, SVP marketing, creative and branding. "First careers, first relationships, moving away from home for the first time. As a millennial, you've done that  and moved on to your next set of choices."

The network wants to stay focused on what it does best, as Hagen notes: coming-of-age stories, tales of young lone heroes who are still to make those choices. To that end, the channel is "doubling down on our commitment to [providing] images, assets, creatives [to viewers]  this is an audience that is really hungry for constant feedback, constant stimulation, and things to talk about."

For example, early this year when Pretty Little Liars was preparing for its new season, the network solicited key art from fans for the show that was ultimately used in print ads; when upcoming new show Shadowhunters news first hit social media, fans of the novel series it was based on began scouring the web for any tidbits  so the network created a show website with regular social postings and a place to discuss what's to come. Why wait for a premiere?

"We're always looking for an opportunity to engage the audience and be more involved than just in a commenting way," says Hagen.

Music Choice, meanwhile, has a different kind of programming format, and as such can stretch to embrace both ends of the millennial spectrum. The Music Choice app is set to expand by up to 75 new channels beginning in October, which SVP programming strategy and partnerships Damon Williams says will turn it into "YouTube and Pandora combined." Meanwhile, the linear network MC Play now has an interactive experience so that viewers can link their social media networks and engage while enjoying the content.

"Our strategy is to have consumers live and grow with us," says Williams, who notes the 1990s is "oldies" for their wide, diverse audience. "We want to make sure at the heart of our network we're reaching a 12-34 audience at all times  but we do have an opportunity to cast a wider net because of our streaming audio channels."