ABC Family
ABC Family is an
American cable television network currently owned by
Disney/
ABC.
The network was founded by
Pat Robertson in
April 1977 as
CBN Cable, an arm of his
Christian Broadcasting Network. It was the first satellite-launched
basic cable network. The CBN Satellite Service grew to 10.9 million homes by
May 1981. In
September 1981, the format and the name were changed for the first time. CBN Cable Network became an entertainment cable network, providing family programming. Under the new format, the CBN Cable Network grew from 28 million households in
May 1985, to 35.8 million in
May 1987, and by the early
1990s, 47.6 million households.
In
September 1988, the word
family was incorporated into the name to better reflect the format, becoming the
CBN Family Channel. By
1990, the network had grown too profitable to remain under the CBN banner without endangering CBN's nonprofit status. CBN spun it off to a new company called
International Family Entertainment (run by Robertson's son, Tim), and the name was changed to simply
The Family Channel. The network gained more visibility when, for several years in the mid-1990s, it was the primary sponsor of
Ted Musgrave's #16 Ford in the
NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
It was sold to
Fox Broadcasting Company and
Haim Saban in
July 1997, and it changed its name to
Fox Family. The change from The Family Channel to
Fox Family became official on
August 15,
1998. As The Family Channel, it attracted an older audience not sought by advertisers, but only about one-third of homes watching the network included kids. When Fox bought the channel in
1997, programmers sought a new dual audience â€" kids in daytime, families at night. In
1999, Fox tried to spin off two
digital cable networks from Fox Family, the
Boyz Channel and the
Girlz Channel, which both contained content focusing on each sex; both networks went off the air a year later due to lack of demand and due to the controversy that developed over the sex-segrated channels [
1].
As part of the agreement when International Family Entertainment sold the network to Fox,
The 700 Club aired twice every weekday—live at 10 a.m.
Eastern, then repeated at 11 p.m. Eastern; they also aired occasional weekend-long CBN telethons as part of the deal. This arrangement frustrated Fox to no end, as it broke up any attempt to build programming continuity. Due to this, the network was sold again to ABC in
July 2001 for $3.2 billion. Under Fox's ownership, the Family Channel saw its ranking slide from 10th to 17th place as a result of an increasingly competitive race for younger viewers and the bickering over ownership between News Corp. and Saban. Some observers believe that
Fox Family chased away some of the older viewers and never really replaced the core audience. As a result,
prime time ratings declined 35% in the past three years.
The sale to ABC included the
Fox Kids Network (a joint venture of Fox and
Haim Saban) which provided the new ABC Family with hours of children's programming. The few Fox Kids shows ABC Family aired are broadcast under the
Jetix action banner, until
2006 when it will be moved to
Toon Disney. However, ABC Family must still air
The 700 Club every weekday, with subsequent repeats at 11 p.m. (ET).
Following controversial remarks made by
700 Club host
Pat Robertson about
Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez, as well as other comments, ABC Family moved to distance itself from the program, changing the disclaimers before, during, and after the broadcasts from
"The following/preceding program is brought to you by CBN" to
"The following/preceding CBN telecast does not reflect the views of ABC Family."The sale to ABC, owned by Disney, was considered one of the largest mistakes or problems occouring during the tenure of Michael Eisner. The failure was primarily due to the aquisition being done by the strategic planning department of Disney, without consulting anyone at ABC. The original plan was to use the channel to essentially show re-runs of ABC programming, but this plan was completely impossible since ABC had no syndication rights to the majority of their own programs. The next major plan was to reposition the channel to market it to young women or to a more hip audience (under the name
XYZ, a reference to ABC), however this was impossible since the company has contracts with cable companies which contain an unbreakable stipulation put in by Robertson that the channel contain the word
Family in the name forever, no matter who owns the network [
2].
In August 2006, an all new slogan and visual style premiered on abc family,
a new kind of family.Image:Famlogo.jpg|The Family Channel logo from 1986-1997Image:Fox Family 1998.jpg|Fox Family Channel logo from 1998-1999Image:FOX Family 2000.jpg|Fox Family logo from 2000-2001Image:ABC_Family.jpg|ABC Family logo from 2002-2003Image:abcfamily_logo.jpg|ABC Family logo from 2004-2006Image:Abcf pill orange new.jpg|ABC Family's new slogan has been used since August 2006.7th Heaven America's Funniest Home Videos (
Bob Saget version) (Returns in September 2006)
Boy Meets WorldFamily MattersEverwood (Starts September 2006)
Full HouseGilmore GirlsGrounded for LifeMy Wife and Kids (Starts 2008)
Step by StepWhose Line Is It Anyway?The Dukes of HazzardSmallville (Returns in January 2007)
The Hogan Family (Returns in September 2006)
They have also aired
3rd Rock from the Sun,
Jesse,
Two of a Kind,
So Little Time,
Sweet Valley High,
Hang Time,
The Wonder Years,
The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and
Growing Pains in recent years.
Beautiful People - A family moves to NY to start a new life(Cancelled)
The Brendan Leonard Show - A real show about real friends in
Winnetka, IllinoisFalcon BeachKicked Out - Adult children are kicked out to live on their own by their parents
Knock First -
Trading Spaces for kids
Kyle XY - A show about a boy with no belly-button and no knowledge of his past.
State of Grace (2001-2003) - Two very different girls befriend each other in 1965 North Carolina
Switched! - Kids change houses for a few days
Three Moons Over Milford - The impact the near end of the world is having on a small town.
Venus & Serena: For Real - A reality show following the tennis stars around
Wildfire - An ex-con becomes a jockey
Back on Campus*
Official Site*
Family Channel takes on Fox look*
Disney buying Fox Family Channel*
Disney refocusing Family channel*
Family Channel Canada
