Goodbye 'Family,' hello 'Freeform.' That's right, ABC Family is ditching that familiar name and adopting something newer, flashier, and intended to draw in younger audiences, because apparently young people don't want to be reminded of family fun time while watching PLL. According to this article by Entertainment Weekly, the targeted audience is a 14-34 group called "Becomers," (which also oddly sounds like an ABC Family...sorry, Freeform show) who are "navigating the wonderful, fun, exciting, and scary time in life when you experience the most firsts." Also according to that article, the word "Family" as part of the title was turning people who weren't already fans of the channel off for being too "wholesome," and "family friendly." Oh no! For shame! Well, as of January all of that wholesomeness will be in the past, and we'll be experiencing the edgier Freeform we apparently all secretly needed. But don't take my word for it, take the future stars of Freeform:
Nonetheless, Freeform still seems like a fairly random choice. We're sure they did the right research, but we'd also like to throw some options into the ring just in case they decide they need to switch things up again. Here's what we came up with:
6. Dangerzone
What's the opposite of family friendly? Something vaguely terrifying. Go from A->Z much faster by tuning into Dangerzone.
5. #PleaseTweet
[iframe https://giphy.com/embed/VMlT4FciWbRni allowfullscreen="" class=^{{"giphy-embed"}}^ frameborder="0" height="270" width="480"]
ABC Family/Freeform loves to put a lil' hashtag in the corner, so why not just get right to the point? #Hashtag, basically.
4. PrettyLittleLiars
[iframe https://giphy.com/embed/U9r4XJu5DseAw allowfullscreen="" class=^{{"giphy-embed"}}^ frameborder="0" height="267" width="480"]
Yes, there are other things on the channel (and hey, we love The Fosters), but come on. Rosewood dominates all. - A
3. YouDoYou
[iframe https://giphy.com/embed/pcuTSwvLqNuiQ allowfullscreen="" class=^{{"giphy-embed"}}^ frameborder="0" height="198" width="480"]
ABC Family wants to live on top of the trends, so let's just grab this handy phrase for as long as it's relevant. It welcomes the same freedom as Freeform while also utilizing some modern vocab you maybe wish would go away.
2. IDK?
[iframe https://giphy.com/embed/MiWdvYnvZwaFW allowfullscreen="" class=^{{"giphy-embed"}}^ frameborder="0" height="268" width="480"]
What's a channel, really? How can you define a network of varying content? Don't even try. Give up.
1. Shaycation
Life is stressful, tune in for a Shaycation.
