ABC Family to Change Its Name to Freeform

Posted on October 7, 2015

ABC Family has announced a major name change. The network will become known as Freeform starting in January 2016. ABC Family says it plans to "super-serve Becomers."

ABC Family President Tom Ascheim says in a statement, "Freeform evokes the spirit and adventure of our audience. Freeform will deliver new, exciting original content as well as all the favorite shows our viewers already love on ABC Family."

Many of the shows on the renamed network in January will be shows that fans are already familiar with. These include Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Young and Hungry and Baby Daddy. Freeform has also announced two new series: Shadowhunters and Recovery Road.

The Shadowhunters series is based on Cassandra Clare's fantasy series, The Mortal Instruments. It stars Katherine McNamara in the lead role as Clary Fray. Recovery Road is a teen drama series based on the young adult novel by Balke Nelson.

Deadline has some details about the network's plans for next summer here. The network plans to double its original programming over the next four years. ABC Family also released this video teaser for Freeform. It is a more enticing name than ABC Family. Take a look: