Freeform Celebrates Their Launch at Their Upfront in NYC!

Three months after the successful launch of Freeform, Tom Ascheim, president, Freeform, announced at their Upfront in NYC, the channel’s programming line-up for this summer and on into 2017. According to a recent brand tracker survey*, consumers describe Freeform as “fresh,” “bold,” “innovative,” “modern,” “cool” and “made for me.” Their previous brand attributes of “wholesome,” “family friendly,” and “predictable” all showed a declined. Other measured categories including the idea that Freeform is “forward-thinking,” “fun and entertaining to watch,” “has compelling stories,” “has programs with situations and characters I can relate to” and makes them “feel good when they watch this network” showed significant improvement as well.

With all this positive momentum behind him, Ascheim promised to continue building on the network’s brand in order to maintain its position as a leader in providing original, groundbreaking content and deep fan engagement. He went on to promise that Freeform will continue to add to its programming slate new series, pilots, returning series and more movie-based programming stunts. In a bold move, Ascheim announced that for the first time ever, the network will air original programming in the late night space, is developing a live festival called “Freeform Fest”. The network will develop short-form content that will live in all the places Freeform exists, including traditional, digital and social platforms, taking advantage of all of the programming options available.

“Freeform is a brand built for the fresh taste of a modern generation who value open-mindedness, fluidity, immediacy and who don’t like to be fenced-in,” said Ascheim. “As we continue to evolve and deliver on our brand promise, it’s important that we put our audience at the center of everything we do and connect with them in all the places they are and in the ways they prefer – on our cable network, in the digital space and with ‘Freeform Fest’ IRL (in real life).”

Watch this space for in-depth information on Freeform’s 2016 and 2017 programming lineups.

*Source: Freeform Custom Research.  Online Survey of 2000 P14-49.  Feb 2016.