In order to appeal to a wider audience, there will be a new name showing up on people’s DVRs for what was formerly known as ABC Family.

This January, ABC Family is changing their network’s name to Freeform. Even though this may be a shock, Tom Ascheim, the president of ABC Family, told Entertainment Weekly, “For us, this doesn’t feel like a radical departure; this is an evolution.”

The network’s name change is meant to appeal to an audience of people called “The Becomers.”

This term is directed towards people ages 14 to 34. According to Variety, “The Becomer audience reflects the network’s efforts to keep up with its millennial viewers as they grow up.”

Senior Jamie Knippen believes that the new name, Freeform, was chosen in order to connect with more people and to flow better with newer popular culture norms.

Though she enjoys the name, Knippen is unsure if it’s going to stick: “It’s like the Sears Tower. It should be called the Willis Tower, but everyone still calls it the Sears Tower.”

One of the biggest concerns for ABC Family viewers is whether their favorite shows will change. Ascheim said on TV Line, “Freeform will deliver new, exciting, original content as well as all the favorite shows our viewers already love on ABC Family.”

Senior Zach Struckman said part of the reason that he likes ABC Family is because they always have good movies to watch. The name “ABC Family” represents a clean, fun, and family-oriented network, whereas Struckman said, “Freeform sounds like a television show and not a channel.”

Also on Variety, an article called, “ABC Family to Rebrand Network ‘Freeform’ in January” said, “In addition to adapting to the growing audience, the rebrand is also an effort to reach new viewers who may associate ABC Family with too much, well, family.”

This isn’t the first time that this channel has undergone a name change. Since the original launch of the network in 1977, its name has been changed several times.

After Pat Robertson, the original owner, sold the network, the name was changed to The Family Channel. Later, it was resold to a company that named it Fox Family Channel.

When Disney purchased it in 1991, the name was finally changed to ABC Family.

“I like it when ABC Family does 25 Days of Christmas,” senior Hanna Skinner said. “ABC Family is known for having great movie and TV show marathons.”

According to the website “The Top Tens,” some of ABC’s most successful shows were Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Twisted, and Switched at Birth.

Senior Tommy Agase’s take on the name Freeform is that the name doesn’t really make sense. He thinks that it would have been more beneficial for ABC Family to have promoted the new name, but with a little explanation on why they changed it.
Agase said, “If they want their viewers to understand what’s happening with the network, they should be informed about the new name, with the background behind it.”

Ascheim added to the Variety article, “It made us realize that for us to grow and reach new customers, we really had to do something about the perception gap, and not be hindered by our label,” he said. “Freeform evokes the spirit and adventure of our audience.”