Origins of Freeform date back to April 29, 1977, when the network launched as America's second basic cable and satellite television network, but with a much different name -- the CBN Satellite Network. The name changed to CBN Cable Network in September 1981, as it was designed to broadcast family-friendly entertainment programs.
As this tradition continued, the network changed its name again, this time to the CBN Family Channel on August 1, 1988, and then later to just the Family Channel on September 15, 1990.
Fox Family Channel (1998-2001)[]
On August 15, 1998, the Family Channel was renamed the Fox Family Channel. During its three years, Fox Family Channel was partially owned by 20th Century Fox.
ABC Family (2001-2016)[]
After Fox Family Worldwide was sold to the Walt Disney Company, the Fox Family Channel changed its name to the current ABC Family on November 10, 2001. The slogan "A new kind of family" debuted in August 2006.
Many family-oriented films aired on ABC Family, including the Harry Potter films and some of Disney's films.
Every once a year, there are two special programming blocks promoting Halloween and Christmas: 13 Nights of Halloween (October 19-31) and 25 Days of Christmas (December 1-25).
In early 2008, ABC Family HD launched, and in this network, all films and programs are presented in a 720p resolution.
In October 2015, it was announced that ABC Family will re-launch as Freeform, which occurred on January 12, 2016.
Programming[]
Title | Premiere date (first known) |
Ended (or last aired) |
---|---|---|
Super Mario Bros. Super Show | September 15, 1991 | August 26, 1994 |
Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 | September 15, 1991 | April 8, 1998 |
Super Mario World | September 1992 | August 26, 1994 |
Mario All Stars | September 5, 1994 | September 28, 1996 |
Shining Time Station | August 17, 1998 | May 28, 1999 |
Full House | December 1, 2003 | September 13, 2013 |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | July 11, 2004 | December 29, 2017 |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) | December 5, 2004 | present |
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | June 19, 2005 | December 29, 2017 |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | December 3, 2006 | December 29, 2017 |
Mary Poppins | December 11, 2006 | Present |
The Cat in the Hat | December 21, 2006 | December 17, 2012 |
Dr. Seuss on the Loose | December 21, 2006 | December 17, 2012 |
The Incredibles | December 16, 2007 | present |
The Lorax | December 20, 2007 | December 17, 2012 |
Aladdin (Platinum Edition) | November 18, 2008 | January 20, 2013 |
The Hoober-Bloob Highway | December 1, 2008 | |
Cars | December 3, 2008 | Present |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | December 7, 2008 | December 31, 2017 |
Finding Nemo | June 6, 2009 | present |
Ratatouille | December 19, 2009 | Present |
The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat | December 22, 2009 | December 9, 2013 |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | March 21, 2010 | December 31, 2017 |
Toy Story | June 5, 2010 | present |
Toy Story 2 | June 6, 2010 | present |
Ice Age | June 19, 2010 | |
Pontoffel Pock and His Magic Piano | December 14, 2010 | |
WALL-E | December 17, 2010 | Present |
A Bug's Life | January 9, 2011 | present |
Monsters, Inc. | March 6, 2011 | present |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | December 4, 2011 | December 31, 2017 |
Up | December 16, 2011 | present |
The Lion King (Diamond Edition) | February 25, 2012 | present |
Despicable Me | December 8, 2012 | July 1, 2017 |
Toy Story 3 | December 16, 2012 | present |
Cinderella (Diamond Edition) | January 19, 2013 | present |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | May 12, 2013 | December 31, 2017 |
Ice Age: The Meltdown | June 30, 2013 | August 31, 2019 |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame | August 23, 2013 | Present |
Grinch Night | October 27, 2013 | |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | November 30, 2013 | December 31, 2017 |
Cars 2 | February 22, 2014 | Present |
Pocahontas | March 1, 2014 | August 17, 2014 |
Rio | August 30, 2014 | Present |
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | November 7, 2015 | |
Frozen | March 26, 2016 | present |
Zootopia | June 2, 2018 | present |
The Lego Movie | June 9, 2018 | Present |
Hotel Transylvania | October 14, 2018 | present |
Storks | November 9, 2018 | Present |
Ice Age: Continental Drift | November 12, 2018 | |
Shrek (Universal Print) | January 5, 2019 | October 26, 2021 |
Moana | January 20, 2019 | present |
Despicable Me 2 | November 22, 2019 | Present |
Coco | January 19, 2020 | present |
Cars 3 | May 23, 2020 | present |
My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) | June 24, 2020 | present |
Rio 2 | September 8, 2020 | Present |
Hotel Transylvania 2 | October 10, 2020 | Present |
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | October 10, 2020 | Present |
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | November 7, 2020 | Present |
Minions | November 7, 2020 | Present |
Despicable Me 3 | November 7, 2020 | Present |
The Secret Life of Pets | November 13, 2020 | Present |
Incredibles 2 | November 29, 2020 | present |
The Grinch | December 18, 2020 | Present |
Ferdinand | January 16, 2021 | Present |
Ralph Breaks the Internet | January 17, 2021 | Present |
The Emoji Movie | April 3, 2021 | Present |
Shrek 2 (Universal Print) | April 5, 2021 | October 26, 2021 |
Weblinks[]
- http://abcfamily.go.com (February 2003–September 2007)