ABC Family

World Screen Weekly, October 12, 2006

COUNTRY: U.S.

YEAR IT LAUNCHED: Founded in 1995 under the name Fox Family Worldwide, the channel was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2001 and was rebranded as ABC Family.

OWNERSHIP: ABC Family is one of four wholly owned cable networks of the Disney ABC Television Group.

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: Approximately 90 million in the U.S.

DESCRIPTION: ABC Family is an advertiser-supported, basic-cable channel. It features original movies, series and specials—programming that is reflective of today’s families with all of their diversity, dysfunction, humor and passion. The channel uses the tag line, “Real stories. Real heart.” to describe its programming.

PRESIDENT: Paul Lee

VP, PROGRAM ACQUISITIONS & SCHEDULING: Tom Zappala

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: While most of the channel’s schedule consists of acquired programs, in the last year, ABC Family has put a lot of emphasis on high-profile original series. Following the success of Wildfire and Beautiful People, ABC Family has premiered three more original dramas: Kyle XY, Three Moons Over Milford and Falcon Beach. Lincoln Heights, from Kevin Hooks, the producer of Prison Break, will debut in January.

“Our biggest original thus far has been Kyle XY, which premiered last summer,” says Tom Zappala, the VP of program acquisitions and scheduling at ABC Family. “It set record ratings for the channel. It was so successful it was repurposed on ABC the same week and was the focus of our broadband player and was available on iTunes. I think we covered every conceivable platform with the show and that contributed to its success.” The result of this multi-platform approach is that a lot of people discovered ABC Family, explains Zappala, “whether on the linear channel or via the other platforms and we saw the show build over the course of the summer to a finale, which was our highest-rated scripted original ever.”

Zappala is also quite hopeful about Lincoln Heights, which will air in January. “It’s the story of an African American family that moves from a comfortable suburban lifestyle to the inner city,” he explains. “The dad is a police offer and they are offered a break on housing if they live in the inner city where he grew up, so he returns home and the family experiences a different lifestyle.

The channel’s goal is to air originals all year round. “It’s not just series; it’s specials and movies,” continues Zappala. “We have two original episodes of Scariest Places on Earth for our [branded holiday event] 13 Nights of Halloween, as well as an original movie called The Initiation of Sarah. We also have two original movies in December as part of 25 Days of Christmas. Series are certainly a focus but we’re keeping our toe in the water in other areas as well.”

Despite ABC Family’s emphasis on original series, popular shows that have already aired on other networks remain an important part of the schedule. Everwood premiered last month and it joins 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls, two series that have performed very well on the channel.

“We try to refresh the lineup every year with new product and this year we have two new shows launching,” explains Zappala. “Everwood is coming off The WB and is a big acquisition for us. We’re placing it between 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls, which are two well-established shows for us. Both shows are being refreshed with new episodes that premiered October 2. We are airing the seasons that just finished on The WB—the tenth season of 7th Heaven and the seventh season of Gilmore Girls. Before that we have Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which is a show that is in keeping with the programming that we have acquired off the TGIF schedule from ABC—shows like Full House, Family Matters, Step By Step. We view them as evergreens, people continue to discover them and there is a fondness for these series among baby boomers.”

While the channel attracts a significant number of young viewers during the day and in the after-school hours with shows like Full House, Zappala has looked for shows that appeal to somewhat older viewers as well. “We are trying to age up the channel and in general you’ll see shows like Everwood and Gilmore Girls and a lot of our original series that help age us do that.” ABC Family targets the 14-28 group, but as Zappala explains, “18-34 is certainly a sweet spot for us.”

WHAT’S NEW: ABC Family has added some high-profile feature films to its library including Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Polar Express and two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

“This year we have the TV premiere of Corpse Bride, we’ll have it before it goes to the pay-TV services,” says Zappala. “It was released less than two years ago, so that’s a nice coup for us. It’s nice when we can partner on acquisitions with ABC and Disney Channel. We went together with ABC to buy the third and fourth installments of the Harry Potter franchise.”

Coming up in March will be the third season of the series Wildfire. “It’s been a great success for us and we couldn’t be more excited about it,” says Zappala.

WEBSITE: www.abcfamily.com