Dear Freeform,
A few, short months ago, you deemed it necessary to recreate your television station's image. I understand that you felt the need to reinvent your station in order to appeal to an older crowd as opposed to the family genre you aimed to fulfill in the past. New shows, new name, same channel. Unfortunately, as a twenty-one year old college student, you have failed to please me.
Not quite two weeks ago, I was watching a movie on your station, one that had aired while the channel was ABC Family as well, when it occurred to me that your network no longer filtered out the curse words within the movie. I know it sounds silly of me to say that I was appalled, I am a college student and am no stranger to cuss words, but hearing it on the same channel that was once so family-friendly really got to me.
Although Freeform did not make any drastic network changes, in fact they prepared viewers for months about the alterations they would be making, I worry that with ABC Family no longer a viewing option for families with younger children, that family television is disappearing entirely. Sure, Disney, Nickelodeon, as well as other, similar stations offer age-appropriate material for children to watch, they do not appeal to parents, or younger teens, in the same way that ABC Family once did.
Maybe another network will fill in the gap that you have created by eliminating ABC Family, but I think such a duty is a large one to undertake. It makes sense that Freeform was founded, because the age range you are directing your movies and shows at is an easier one to satisfy. Well, at least in my opinion it seems much more straightforward to appeal to one distinct age range rather than a broader age dynamic families encompass.
I am not going to shun Freeform, or write off ABC in any negative way. I simply want to say that I will miss your previous station, ABC Family. I grew up with it. It was the the compromise channel in my house: my sisters were six and four years older than me. Of course I wanted to watch whatever they watched, but my mom did not exactly allow that. ABC Family was the happy medium...most of the time anyway.
Maybe Freeform will turn out to be more family-orientated than I am considering it to be right now. I can hope.
Sincerely,
If the rumors about you losing the rights to Harry Potter are true, the next letter I write to you will not be as cordial.
