Freeform (TV channel)

==Programming==
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{{Main|List of programs broadcast by Freeform}}
Outside of prime time, Freeform as of February 2024 offers a slate of mostly reruns of contemporary comedy series and animated sitcom series, such as ''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[Black-ish]]'', and ''[[Boy Meets World]]''.

The channel also produces some original programming, which as of March 2024 includes shows such as ''[[Grown-ish]]'', and Chrissy & Dave Dine Out. Until the debuts of ''[[Melissa & Joey]]'' (which ran from 2010 to 2015), ''[[Baby Daddy]]'' (which ran from 2012 to 2017), ''[[Young and Hungry]]'' (which ran from 2014 to 2018) and ''[[Grown-ish]]'' (which ran from 2018 to present), Freeform (as ABC Family) had long faced minimal success with its original sitcoms, with its drama series often outlasting its comedies.

Freeform airs its original drama series on Monday and/or Tuesday nights, and since 2011 (beginning under the former ABC Family brand), has aired its comedy series on Wednesdays. The channel airs first-run episodes of its original series mainly between January and August, with films generally airing in their place during prime time on the aforementioned nights from September to December (the only exception since 2010, have been annual Halloween episodes of ''Pretty Little Liars'' that air as part of the 13 Nights of Halloween in October as well as the debut of the first third of season one (and the only season) of ''[[Ravenswood (TV series)|Ravenswood]]'' in October 2013), the first ten episodes (or as few as eight for new series) of each season of its original programs air consecutively, the season's remaining episodes are broadcast following a hiatus of four to six months. Dating back to its existence as ABC Family, Freeform typically only reruns episodes of its original series in a marathon that airs prior to a season premiere, mid-season or season finale, or other special occasion, though the channel does air encore presentations of its shows that typically preempt programs that normally air at 7:00 and 10:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time during the rest of the week on these nights (with the previous week's episode airing in the former time slot prior to the newest episode and a same-night encore of the newest episode on the evening of an episode premiere in the latter time slot).

===Films===
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{{Main|List of Freeform original films}}
Freeform airs movies in prime time on Thursday and Friday nights (and if no original series are scheduled, Mondays, Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays as well), along with a day-long schedule of films on weekends from as early as 7:00&nbsp;a.m. (sometimes later, such as around 7:30&nbsp;a.m. or 8:00&nbsp;a.m.) to as late as 2:00&nbsp;a.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays and Sundays.

As of 2019, Freeform features a mix of animated and live action films from film divisions [[Walt Disney Pictures]], [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]], [[Pixar]], [[20th Century Studios]], [[Searchlight Pictures]], [[Touchstone Pictures]], [[Hollywood Pictures]], and [[Blue Sky Studios]].

Freeform also shows sub-runs (runs of films that have already received broadcast or syndicated television airings) of theatrical films from other studios such as [[Sony Pictures]], [[Universal Pictures]], [[Paramount Pictures]] (barring [[Nickelodeon Movies]] titles), [[Warner Bros. Pictures]], [[New Line Cinema]], [[HiT Entertainment]], [[Lionsgate Films|Lionsgate]], and [[DreamWorks Pictures]].

Freeform has purchased the cable television rights to many film series, such as the ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' series (which ABC and Disney Channel also hold rights to), 2004's ''[[A Cinderella Story]]'' (and the direct to video sequels, ''[[Another Cinderella Story]]'', ''[[A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song]]'', and ''[[A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits]]'') and most recently the ''[[Legally Blonde]]'' film series (after securing rights to the 2009 made-for-DVD release ''[[Legally Blondes]]'').

The channel also produces its own original made-for-TV movies (targeting a slightly older audience than those aired by sister network Disney Channel); some of Freeform's most popular original movies include ''[[Night of the Twisters (film)|Night of the Twisters]]'' (the channel's first original movie, which premiered in 1996 during its existence as The Family Channel), ''[[Holiday in Handcuffs]]'', the ''[[Au Pair (film)|Au Pair]]'' trilogy, ''[[Ice Angel]]'', and ''[[Cyberbully (2011 film)|Cyberbully]]'' (which premiered on the channel under either the Fox Family or ABC Family identities). As Freeform, the channel has had original movies such as ''Angry Angel'', ''The Truth About Christmas'', ''Life-Size 2'', ''No Sleep 'Til Christmas'', ''Turkey Drop'', and ''Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas''. ABC Family, the channel has also recently been generating high levels of viewers with its weekend movie events; the "Harry Potter Weekend" block in July 2009 generated some of the highest levels of viewers for its weekend events for the year to date. ABC Family's airing of ''[[The Hunger Games (film)|The Hunger Games]]'' on October 10, 2014, was one of the channel's most watched telecasts for a single film, being seen by nearly 1.9 million viewers.

Freeform is becoming known for airing previews of upcoming movies, as it has done for ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'', ''[[Hairspray (2007 film)|Hairspray]],'' and ''[[Stardust (2007 film)|Stardust]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harry Potter Triple-Feature Weekend on ABC Family Includes OotP Sneak Peeks|url=http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/6/7/harry-potter-triple-feature-weekend-on-abc-family-includes-ootp-sneak-peeks|website=The Leaky Cauldron|date=July 7, 2007|access-date=March 5, 2008|archive-date=October 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002155259/http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2007/6/7/harry-potter-triple-feature-weekend-on-abc-family-includes-ootp-sneak-peeks|url-status=live}}</ref>

The channel has also aired select Disney Channel Original Movies in recent years, including the 2008 movie ''[[Camp Rock]]'' the 2011 films ''[[Lemonade Mouth (film)|Lemonade Mouth]]'' and ''[[Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension]]'', and the 2017 movie [[Descendants 2]], which are also four of only five Disney Channel movies to air domestically on a non-Disney Channel branded network. (''[[Cadet Kelly]]'' is the other, having aired on ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series|The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' in 2002.) This has become somewhat more prevalent since the channel's January 2016 rebranding to Freeform, which has also seen the channel air such popular Disney Channel films as ''[[High School Musical]]''.

Freeform aired the [[Olivia Rodrigo]] film ''[[Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U|Driving Home 2 U]]'' on May 14, 2022. It was the first time that a Disney+ original movie ever aired on Freeform (and thus, any linear television channel).

===Sports===
{{See also|MLB on Fox|ESPN Major League Baseball|MLB on TBS|page 4=Monday Night Football}}
From 2000 to 2001, Fox Family aired a weekly [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) game on [[Thursday Night Baseball|Thursday nights]] during the league's regular season (a game that had previously aired nationwide on [[Fox Sports Networks|Fox Sports Net]] from 1997 to 1999), as well as select [[Division Series]] games. As part of its purchase of Fox Family, in addition to that game, Disney acquired the MLB cable television rights that were also held by Fox Family's then-sister channel [[FX (TV channel)|FX]]. ESPN assumed the production responsibilities for the two game packages beginning with the [[2002 Major League Baseball season|2002 MLB season]], although the game telecasts remained on ABC Family for one additional year, before ESPN struck a deal to move those playoff games to its flagship network starting [[2003 Major League Baseball season|the following year]] (although the games aired on Disney-owned networks, Fox kept the exclusive negotiation to renew the contract after the [[2006 Major League Baseball season|2006]] season; Fox chose not to renew their rights to the Division Series, which went to [[TBS (U.S. TV channel)|TBS]] as part of its [[MLB on TBS|new baseball contract]]). The Division Series games broadcast on the network were simulcast on local broadcast television stations in the home markets of the participating teams.<ref name="nytimes-abcfamilymlb">{{cite news|title=TV SPORTS; ABC Family Offers Familiar ESPN Look|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/sports/tv-sports-abc-family-offers-familiar-espn-look.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 4, 2002|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-date=January 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129061331/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/sports/tv-sports-abc-family-offers-familiar-espn-look.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

For the [[2020 NFL season]], ESPN aired an alternate broadcast of its [[National Football League]] (NFL) [[Wild card (sports)|wild card]] game on Freeform, alongside simulcasts on ABC, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes;<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-30|title=ESPN will air its NFL Wild Card game on five networks, including Freeform|url=https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/espn-will-air-its-nfl-wild-card-game-on-five-networks-including-freeform.html|access-date=2020-11-30|website=Awful Announcing|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130193328/https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/espn-will-air-its-nfl-wild-card-game-on-five-networks-including-freeform.html|url-status=live}}</ref> this marked the first live sports telecast of any kind on the channel since [[2002 Major League Baseball season|2002]] (when the channel was known as ABC Family).