Freeform (TV channel)

===Fox Family (1998–2001)===
[[File:Freeform Fox Family Channel logo.svg|thumb|162x162px|Fox Family Channel logo, used from 1998 to 2000.]]
In 1997, after International Family Entertainment put The Family Channel up for sale, [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] made an offer to acquire the channel. The company aimed to turn The Family Channel into a competitor to children's cable networks such as [[Cartoon Network]] and [[Nickelodeon]], leveraging the library of [[Fox Kids|Fox Kids Worldwide]] (which was a [[joint venture]] between [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] and [[Haim Saban]]). News Corporation negotiated to purchase a stake in the channel, with IFE as a partner.<ref name="lat-holychallenge">{{cite news|title=Fox Kids Faces Holy Challenge With IFE Deal|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-14/business/fi-3354_1_fox-kids|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 14, 1997|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=January 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128074106/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-14/business/fi-3354_1_fox-kids|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Influencer|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/10/the-influencer|author=Connie Bruck|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|publisher=[[Condé Nast]]|date=May 10, 2010|access-date=April 17, 2020|archive-date=September 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919031157/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/10/the-influencer|url-status=live}}</ref> After competing bids were submitted by Nickelodeon parent [[Viacom (original)|Viacom]] and [[The Walt Disney Company]] (parent of fellow competitor [[Disney Channel]]) to acquire IFE as a whole, News Corporation placed its own bid to buy the company for $1.8 billion.<ref>{{cite news|title=News Corp., Disney Ready to Make Final Offers for IFE|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-02/business/fi-64929_1_news-corp|agency=Reuters|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=June 2, 1997|access-date=January 13, 2016|archive-date=January 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128075448/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-02/business/fi-64929_1_news-corp|url-status=live}}</ref> On June 11, 1997, International Family Entertainment was acquired by the Fox/Saban consortium, renamed Fox Family Worldwide, for $1.9 billion.<ref>{{cite news|title=Special Report: Family Programming: New relations: Fox keeping mum about plans for The Family Channel|url=http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/magazine/19971201/20077.html?word=Haim&word=Saban|author=Virginia Robertson|periodical=Kidscreen|date=December 1, 1997|access-date=November 21, 2010|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207202822/https://kidscreen.com/1997/12/01/20077-19971201/?word=Saban|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="News Corp IFE 1997">{{cite web|title=News Corp. to buy IFE for $1.9 billion; Robertsons make a network deal parent of Family Channel to be bought for $1.9 billion|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-68691100.html|author=Lon Wagner|newspaper=[[The Virginian-Pilot]]|publisher=[[Landmark Media Enterprises|Landmark Communications]]|date=June 12, 1997|access-date=February 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105162738/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-68691100.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 5, 2012}}</ref> The Family Channel was officially renamed Fox Family Channel on August 15, 1998.<ref name=FoxFamilyWorldwide>{{cite web|title=Fox Family Worldwide Inc|url=http://www.saban.com/html/invest/fox.html|website=[[Saban Entertainment]]|access-date=June 14, 2009|archive-date=April 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421065142/http://www.saban.com/html/invest/fox.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="700Club">{{cite news|title=Fox Family squeezes 'Club' in youthful sked|url=https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/fox-family-squeezes-club-in-youthful-sked-1117478323/|author=Richard Katz|periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=[[Reed Business Information|Cahners Business Information]]|date=July 10, 1998|access-date=August 13, 2009|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207202820/https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/fox-family-squeezes-club-in-youthful-sked-1117478323/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Fox Family Channel2.svg|left|thumb|150px|Fox Family Channel logo from 2000 to 2001]]
When Fox Family Worldwide bought the channel, the management team assigned to the network (headed by newly appointed president and [[chief executive officer]] [[Rich Cronin (executive)|Rich Cronin]]) sought to re-program it towards a new dual audience – kids in daytime, families at night.<ref name="usatoday-renovate"/> Notable programs aired during this era included ''[[Miami 7|S Club 7 in Miami]]''—a sitcom serving as a starring vehicle for the [[S Club 7|eponymous British pop group]], and ''[[Big Wolf on Campus]]''. ''[[The New York Times]]'' classified both series as being among a larger wave of television programming catered towards children aged 9 through 14—also referred to as [[tween]]s.<ref name="dn-sclub">{{cite web|title=Get ready for the S Club 7 invasion British pop group comes to America on Fox Family|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/726311/Get-ready-for-the-S-Club-7-invasion.html?pg=all|website=Deseret News|date = 5 November 1999|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623211846/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/726311/Get-ready-for-the-S-Club-7-invasion.html?pg=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-awkward">{{cite news|title=TELEVISION/RADIO; Acknowledging That Early Age Of Awkwardness|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/23/arts/television-radio-acknowledging-that-early-age-of-awkwardness.html?pagewanted=all|website=New York Times|date = 23 April 2000|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630161841/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/23/arts/television-radio-acknowledging-that-early-age-of-awkwardness.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live|last1 = Adams|first1 = Thelma}}</ref> [[Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen]] were also a prominent fixture of Fox Family's schedule: ''[[The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley]]'' and reruns of their short-lived [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Two of a Kind (U.S. TV series)|Two of a Kind]]'', received frequent airplay by the channel. Fox Family also planned to premiere a new original sitcom starring the twins, ''[[So Little Time]]'', in June 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/magazine/the-olsen-juggernaut.html|title=The Olsen Juggernaut|last=Udovitch|first=Mim|date=2001-05-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-02-28|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2018-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301104140/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/magazine/the-olsen-juggernaut.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Airings of ''The 700 Club'' were scaled back to three per day.<ref name="Robertson">{{cite news|title=On Television; TV Works in Mysterious Ways for Pat Robertson|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/30/business/on-television-tv-works-in-mysterious-ways-for-pat-robertson.html|author=Bill Carter|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 30, 2001|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-date=September 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907215100/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/30/business/on-television-tv-works-in-mysterious-ways-for-pat-robertson.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this youth-oriented programming strategy alienated the network's core audience of older viewers;<ref name="usatoday-renovate"/>  there was a 35% drop in prime time viewership, and Fox Family fell from 10th to 17th place in overall [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen]] cable network viewership numbers.<ref name="usatoday-renovate"/><ref name="medialife-disneybuy"/> In October 1999, two spin-off cable networks, named [[Boyz/Girlz Channel|Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel]] launched on select cable operators. Both networks contained programming content targeted at the respective genders; both channels ceased operations after one year on the air in August 2000, due to a combination of very limited national carriage by cable providers (Boyz Channel and Girlz Channel were each carried in some 100,000 homes in an era when digital cable television was in its infancy) and the controversy that developed over the gender-segregated channels.<ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_11_15/ai_54176115 Find Articles]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Fox Family pulls Girlz, Boyz diginets|url=https://variety.com/2000/tv/news/fox-family-pulls-girlz-boyz-diginets-1117785136/|author=Paula Bernstein|periodical=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=August 15, 2000|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>

In the wake of Fox Family's struggles, Saban offered to acquire the stake in the network held by News Corporation (which had also begun negotiations to acquire television provider [[DirecTV]]), but was unable to agree to a proper valuation. A decision was made to sell the venture to a third-party.<ref name="medialife-disneybuy">{{cite news|title=Disney buying Fox Family Channel |url=http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/july01/july23/1_mon/news1monday.html |author=Jeff Bercovici |website=Media Life Magazine |date=July 23, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184230/http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2001/july01/july23/1_mon/news1monday.html |archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1157652.stm|title=Murdoch's DirecTV purchase 'approved'|work=BBC News|date=February 9, 2001|access-date=December 28, 2016|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207202853/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1157652.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>