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ABC Family Worldwide

ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform.

ABC Family Worldwide
Formerly
  • International Family Entertainment (1990–1998)
  • Fox Kids Worldwide (1996–1998)
  • Fox Family Worldwide (1998–2001)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryBroadcasting
FoundedJanuary 10, 1990; 33 years ago (1990-01-10)[1]
FounderTimothy Robertson
BrandsFreeform
(Worldwide)
OwnerIndependent (1990–1997)
News Corporation (1997–2001)
The Walt Disney Company (2001–present)
ParentFox Networks Group (1997–2001)
Walt Disney Television
(Disney General Entertainment Content) (2001–present)
SubsidiariesFreeform Studios
Footnotes / references
[2]

The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broadcasting Network's cable network The Family Channel.

In 1993, IFE acquired the assets of defunct British ITV broadcaster Television South, whose holdings included the library of U.S. studio MTM Enterprises. In 1996, IFE was acquired by News Corporation; the MTM library was melded into 20th Century Fox Television's library, while the remainder was melded into Fox Kids Worldwide (a merger of its Fox Kids unit with Saban Entertainment), to form Fox Family Worldwide. Fox and Saban planned to leverage the popular Fox Kids lineup to turn The Family Channel—which was re-branded as the Fox Family Channel following the purchase—into a competitor to other children's-oriented cable channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. The subsidiary also established international Fox Kids networks in Europe and Latin America.

After facing struggling ratings and a failed attempt by Saban to buy out News Corporation's stake in the venture, Fox Family Worldwide was later sold to its current owner, The Walt Disney Company, in 2001 for $5.3 billion. The purchase gave Disney ownership of the Fox Family channel (which was subsequently rebranded as ABC Family), the international Fox Kids channels (which were later re-branded as Jetix, and then Disney XD), and rights to the Saban Entertainment library. Following then, the company would be rebranded in 2001 under the name ABC Family Worldwide until 2016. The subsidiary has since been amalgamated into the Walt Disney Television group. Saban Brands, Saban Entertainment's successor, would acquire the rights to some of the properties held by its predecessor; most of these assets have since been acquired by Hasbro.

History

International Family Entertainment

The company has its origins in Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network; the religious broadcaster had re-positioned its CBN Satellite Service, which primarily carried televangelism, as the CBN Cable Network, which carried a mixture of secular programming and religious programs. Owing to its new scope, the service was later renamed the CBN Family Channel.[3]

By the 1990s, the network had become too profitable to remain under the ownership of the non-profit CBN without legal repercussions. In January 1990, a decision was made to spin-off the CBN Family Channel into a new, for-profit company known as International Family Entertainment, via a sale at a price of $250 million in convertible notes.[4][5] The majority of IFE was owned by the network's management, with a 15% minority interest held by TCI Development Corporation, a subsidiary of cable provider Tele-Communications Inc. Special voting shares were issued to Pat Robertson and Timothy Robertson that give them control of the company.[5] IFE continued to use CBN's facilities under a rental agreement.[4][6] As a stipulation of the spin-off, The Family Channel was required to maintain daily airings of CBN's flagship television program The 700 Club, a condition that has remained in effect to this day.[3]

CBN sold $23 million in notes to another cable company. An additional $127 million of convertible notes were converted into stock prior to an IPO in April 1992, in which CBN would sell them for $93 million to $106 million worth. More shares would be sold directly by IFE in the amount of $47 million to $53 million in a total of about $150 million.[5] IFE's proceeds would be used for programming, marketing and possible acquisitions or investments.[7] Plans were in the works for a home video distribution deal with Pacific Arts by the end of 1992, a South Korea cable network with Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. (now SK Hynix), and a joint venture to bid for a Czechoslovakian TV station. Additional plans called for Family Channels in Britain and the rest of Europe, and additional cable channels. In consideration by IFE for the cable channel's genres were game shows, westerns, country music and sports as well as Spanish-language simulcasting.[5] On April 28, 1992, IFE began public trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FAM.[8]

In May 1992, IFE announced plans to launch Game Channel, a joint venture with Game Technologies, which is a channel that would air original and classic game shows. The co-owners planned to allow viewers to interact with its programming over a 1-900 line; revenue was to be shared with providers that carried the channel, who could also integrate their own interactive content into the service. Upon its announcement, Game Channel already faced competition from Sony Pictures Television's upcoming Game Show Network, as well as other new cable networks launching at the same period.[9][10][11] On June 7, 1993, The Family Channel launched a game show block with interactive segments built around its new original production Trivial Pursuit, in preparation for the planned launch of Game Channel.[12]

In February 1993, IFE acquired the assets of Television South, a former ITV franchisee in Southern England, for $68.5 million. The deal gave IFE ownership of the library of Mary Tyler Moore's studio MTM Enterprises; IFE planned to leverage the MTM programs as part of a new syndication division, and the sale would also bolster an impending British version of The Family Channel. In June 1993, prior to its launch, IFE sold a 39% stake in The Family Channel UK to local company Flextech. The channel officially launched on September 1.[13][14] Flextech would later buy out IFE's share in The Family Channel UK,[15] which then became the game show-oriented channel Challenge.

On August 20, 1993, IFE soft-launched the Cable Health Club (later known as FitTV),[16] a service devoted to fitness.[17] In December 1993, IFE opened a bidding war to acquire the Nostalgia Network, competing with a partnership of Florida-based MOR Music TV Inc. and Arizona-based Gen-She Inc., and part-owner Concept Communications (owned by the Unification Church).[18]

In December 1993, IFE purchased three Myrtle Beach, S.C. theaters and Calvin Gilmore Productions for $20 million. The Great American Entertainment Co. was formed as a subsidiary of IFE to control the companies.[19]

In 1994, IFE acquired Dorothy Hamill International, which had bought the ice show franchise Ice Capades out of bankruptcy. However, the company went out of business afterward due to the decreasing popularity of its shows in favor of traditional figure skating competitions and exhibitions.[20] The tour had a lackluster season, which led Hamill to leave the company. IFE then searched for a management company to handle the touring company for an equity stake. Instead, they sold Ice Capades in late 1995 while retaining the option of reacquiring a majority stake in Del Wilber & Associates for 10 years.[21][22]

By March 1995, IFE formed Family Channel Pictures banner to produce $8 to $12 million theatrical films, four per year. Amblin Television president Tony Thomopoulos was hired as MTM Entertainment chief executive officer and would also oversee programing on The Family Channel cable channel and the Family Channel Pictures and creative parts of the Ice Capades and Great American Entertainment Company.[23]

Fox Family Worldwide

In 1997, Fox Kids Worldwide—a company formed in 1996 via the merger of Fox Children's Network and Haim Saban's Saban Entertainment—made a bid to acquire IFE.[24][25][26][27] With the growing shift in children's television from over-the-air programming blocks to cable channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, Fox and Saban sought to launch a competitor that would carry programming from the popular Fox Kids lineup.[26]

Viacom and Disney made competing offers for IFE; Viacom dropped out of bidding, and News Corporation offered $1.8 billion.[28] News Corporation won with a bid of $1.9 billion. The acquisition closed on June 11, 1997; IFE was folded into Fox Kids Worldwide, which itself was renamed Fox Family Worldwide.[29][30][31] [32] Of the sale, Robertson stated that he "felt it was time for the Family Channel to join the consolidation that was going on in the industry."[16] On August 15, 1998, The Family Channel was renamed Fox Family Channel;[33] Fox continued to be subject to the mandate that The 700 Club be broadcast by the network.[26] Rights to the MTM Enterprises library were folded into 20th Century Fox Television.

In October 1996, a Fox Kids channel was launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and in November, it started broadcasting in Latin America and Brazil. In November 1999, Fox Kids Europe N.V. was formed, with 75.7% being held by Fox Family Worldwide, and the remainder listed on the Euronext.[34]

In an attempt at U.S. expansion in October 1999, Fox Family spun off two digital cable channels—the Boyz Channel and the Girlz Channel—which contained programming content targeted at the respective genders. Both networks shut down after one year of operation due to a lack of leverage and demand by cable providers (each only had 100,000 subscribers), and a desire to invest more heavily in the parent channel.[35]

The Fox Family channel struggled under their ownership; Saban attempted to force News Corporation to sell it its share in the joint venture, but were unable to agree in a proper valuation. The ensuing conflict resulted in the two companies deciding to sell Fox Family Worldwide to a third-party. At the time, Fox was also preparing to acquire Hughes Electronics, the parent company of television provider DirecTV.[36][37]

Acquisition by Disney

On October 24, 2001, The Walt Disney Company acquired Fox Family Worldwide for $2.9 billion cash plus $2.3 billion in debt assumption, due to Fox Family Channel's 35% audience decline, which gave Disney control of the Fox Family channel (which, owing to its new ownership, was renamed ABC Family, and its parent company renamed ABC Family Worldwide), the Saban Entertainment library, the Fox Kids brand name and its Fox Children's Productions library of shows, including its international networks in Latin America and Europe,[37] a 76% stake in Fox Kids Europe (which operated the European networks), as well as additional cable rights to Major League Baseball that were assigned to Fox Family via the Fox Sports division, which included a slate of Thursday-night regular season games, and Division Series games.[38] ESPN assumed the production responsibilities for these games as part of its ESPN Major League Baseball package, although they continued to air on ABC Family for the time being.[38][39][40][41]

The U.S. Fox Kids block broadcast by the Fox network was not included in the sale, and its operations were shifted to the Fox Television Entertainment division. As Fox no longer held the rights to the Saban programming that primarily aired during the block, and no longer had appropriate synergies due to the sale of Fox Family, the company chose to contract the block to a third-party. Following a bidding war with DIC Entertainment, Fox subsequently announced in January 2002 that it would enter into an agreement with 4Kids Entertainment to program a new children's block for the network.[42][43]

In March 2002, Angela Shapiro was named president of ABC Family Worldwide, after moving from president of Buena Vista Productions. She originally reported to ABC Broadcast Group president Steve Bornstein, who resigned in 2002. The post then reported directly to Disney president Bob Iger.[44] In October 2003, ABC Family Worldwide was amalgamated into the ABC Cable Networks Group, run by Anne Sweeney. Shapiro also left the network that month.[44][45] Later, programming executive Linda Mancuso died in December 2003. In early 2004, ABC Family's original movie production unit was taken over by Disney Channel's vice president of original programming and production Gary Marsh and vice president of original movies Michael Healy.[46]

In January 2004, Fox Kids Europe, Fox Kids Latin America and the ABC Cable Group launched a new joint brand for their children's television operations, Jetix, which would be used to brand programming blocks which aired on ABC Family and Toon Disney, its television channels in Europe and Latin America, along with its program library and merchandising.[47][48][49][50]

On December 8, 2008, Disney reached an agreement to increase its ownership in Jetix Europe to 96%, and announced an intent to purchase the remainder to give it full ownership.[51] Following its takeover of Jetix Europe, Disney began migrating the Jetix properties in the region to a new brand, Disney XD.[52] In 2009, Switchover Media—a company formed by the management of the Italian Jetix operation, acquired the K2 and GXT networks from Disney, and managed Jetix until its re-branding as Disney XD.[53][54] Switchover would later be purchased by Discovery Communications.[55]

On May 12, 2010, Saban Capital Group's Saban Brands (a successor to Saban Entertainment) bought the rights to the Power Rangers franchise back from Disney for $43 million. Rights to the then-upcoming season Power Rangers Samurai, as well as previous seasons, were acquired by Nickelodeon in 2011.[56] In September 2012, Saban Brands also re-acquired the international rights to the Digimon franchise, partnering with MarVista Entertainment as distributor.[57][58][59] Hasbro subsequently announced a deal to acquire Saban Brands' entertainment assets in May 2018.[60]

On March 23, 2012, Corus launch ABC Spark, a preteen and teenage channel which serves as a Canadian version of Freeform (at the time named ABC Family)

On March 24, 2012, the ABC Family division took control of Soapnet as part of the wind-down of the service in favor of Disney Junior.[61][62]

Rebrand to Freeform

On January 12, 2016, the Disney division's flagship channel, ABC Family, was renamed to Freeform.[63]

Asset libraries

Fox Family Worldwide became ABC Family Worldwide in 2001 following Disney's acquisition. At the time, Saban Entertainment did not own the Fox Kids libraries until the buyout. The remaining properties within the 21st Century Fox libraries were acquired by Disney on March 20, 2019, which include:

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family, worldwide, subsidiary, walt, disney, television, that, responsible, operations, cable, network, freeform, formerlyinternational, family, entertainment, 1990, 1998, kids, worldwide, 1996, 1998, family, worldwide, 1998, 2001, typesubsidiaryindustrybroadc. ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U S cable network Freeform ABC Family WorldwideFormerlyInternational Family Entertainment 1990 1998 Fox Kids Worldwide 1996 1998 Fox Family Worldwide 1998 2001 TypeSubsidiaryIndustryBroadcastingFoundedJanuary 10 1990 33 years ago 1990 01 10 1 FounderTimothy RobertsonBrandsFreeform Worldwide OwnerIndependent 1990 1997 News Corporation 1997 2001 The Walt Disney Company 2001 present ParentFox Networks Group 1997 2001 Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content 2001 present SubsidiariesFreeform StudiosFootnotes references 2 The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment a spin off of the Christian Broadcasting Network s cable network The Family Channel In 1993 IFE acquired the assets of defunct British ITV broadcaster Television South whose holdings included the library of U S studio MTM Enterprises In 1996 IFE was acquired by News Corporation the MTM library was melded into 20th Century Fox Television s library while the remainder was melded into Fox Kids Worldwide a merger of its Fox Kids unit with Saban Entertainment to form Fox Family Worldwide Fox and Saban planned to leverage the popular Fox Kids lineup to turn The Family Channel which was re branded as the Fox Family Channel following the purchase into a competitor to other children s oriented cable channels such as Nickelodeon Disney Channel and Cartoon Network The subsidiary also established international Fox Kids networks in Europe and Latin America After facing struggling ratings and a failed attempt by Saban to buy out News Corporation s stake in the venture Fox Family Worldwide was later sold to its current owner The Walt Disney Company in 2001 for 5 3 billion The purchase gave Disney ownership of the Fox Family channel which was subsequently rebranded as ABC Family the international Fox Kids channels which were later re branded as Jetix and then Disney XD and rights to the Saban Entertainment library Following then the company would be rebranded in 2001 under the name ABC Family Worldwide until 2016 The subsidiary has since been amalgamated into the Walt Disney Television group Saban Brands Saban Entertainment s successor would acquire the rights to some of the properties held by its predecessor most of these assets have since been acquired by Hasbro Contents 1 History 1 1 International Family Entertainment 1 2 Fox Family Worldwide 1 3 Acquisition by Disney 1 4 Rebrand to Freeform 2 Asset libraries 3 ReferencesHistory EditInternational Family Entertainment Edit The company has its origins in Pat Robertson s Christian Broadcasting Network the religious broadcaster had re positioned its CBN Satellite Service which primarily carried televangelism as the CBN Cable Network which carried a mixture of secular programming and religious programs Owing to its new scope the service was later renamed the CBN Family Channel 3 By the 1990s the network had become too profitable to remain under the ownership of the non profit CBN without legal repercussions In January 1990 a decision was made to spin off the CBN Family Channel into a new for profit company known as International Family Entertainment via a sale at a price of 250 million in convertible notes 4 5 The majority of IFE was owned by the network s management with a 15 minority interest held by TCI Development Corporation a subsidiary of cable provider Tele Communications Inc Special voting shares were issued to Pat Robertson and Timothy Robertson that give them control of the company 5 IFE continued to use CBN s facilities under a rental agreement 4 6 As a stipulation of the spin off The Family Channel was required to maintain daily airings of CBN s flagship television program The 700 Club a condition that has remained in effect to this day 3 CBN sold 23 million in notes to another cable company An additional 127 million of convertible notes were converted into stock prior to an IPO in April 1992 in which CBN would sell them for 93 million to 106 million worth More shares would be sold directly by IFE in the amount of 47 million to 53 million in a total of about 150 million 5 IFE s proceeds would be used for programming marketing and possible acquisitions or investments 7 Plans were in the works for a home video distribution deal with Pacific Arts by the end of 1992 a South Korea cable network with Hyundai Electronics Industries Co now SK Hynix and a joint venture to bid for a Czechoslovakian TV station Additional plans called for Family Channels in Britain and the rest of Europe and additional cable channels In consideration by IFE for the cable channel s genres were game shows westerns country music and sports as well as Spanish language simulcasting 5 On April 28 1992 IFE began public trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FAM 8 In May 1992 IFE announced plans to launch Game Channel a joint venture with Game Technologies which is a channel that would air original and classic game shows The co owners planned to allow viewers to interact with its programming over a 1 900 line revenue was to be shared with providers that carried the channel who could also integrate their own interactive content into the service Upon its announcement Game Channel already faced competition from Sony Pictures Television s upcoming Game Show Network as well as other new cable networks launching at the same period 9 10 11 On June 7 1993 The Family Channel launched a game show block with interactive segments built around its new original production Trivial Pursuit in preparation for the planned launch of Game Channel 12 In February 1993 IFE acquired the assets of Television South a former ITV franchisee in Southern England for 68 5 million The deal gave IFE ownership of the library of Mary Tyler Moore s studio MTM Enterprises IFE planned to leverage the MTM programs as part of a new syndication division and the sale would also bolster an impending British version of The Family Channel In June 1993 prior to its launch IFE sold a 39 stake in The Family Channel UK to local company Flextech The channel officially launched on September 1 13 14 Flextech would later buy out IFE s share in The Family Channel UK 15 which then became the game show oriented channel Challenge On August 20 1993 IFE soft launched the Cable Health Club later known as FitTV 16 a service devoted to fitness 17 In December 1993 IFE opened a bidding war to acquire the Nostalgia Network competing with a partnership of Florida based MOR Music TV Inc and Arizona based Gen She Inc and part owner Concept Communications owned by the Unification Church 18 In December 1993 IFE purchased three Myrtle Beach S C theaters and Calvin Gilmore Productions for 20 million The Great American Entertainment Co was formed as a subsidiary of IFE to control the companies 19 In 1994 IFE acquired Dorothy Hamill International which had bought the ice show franchise Ice Capades out of bankruptcy However the company went out of business afterward due to the decreasing popularity of its shows in favor of traditional figure skating competitions and exhibitions 20 The tour had a lackluster season which led Hamill to leave the company IFE then searched for a management company to handle the touring company for an equity stake Instead they sold Ice Capades in late 1995 while retaining the option of reacquiring a majority stake in Del Wilber amp Associates for 10 years 21 22 By March 1995 IFE formed Family Channel Pictures banner to produce 8 to 12 million theatrical films four per year Amblin Television president Tony Thomopoulos was hired as MTM Entertainment chief executive officer and would also oversee programing on The Family Channel cable channel and the Family Channel Pictures and creative parts of the Ice Capades and Great American Entertainment Company 23 Fox Family Worldwide Edit In 1997 Fox Kids Worldwide a company formed in 1996 via the merger of Fox Children s Network and Haim Saban s Saban Entertainment made a bid to acquire IFE 24 25 26 27 With the growing shift in children s television from over the air programming blocks to cable channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon Fox and Saban sought to launch a competitor that would carry programming from the popular Fox Kids lineup 26 Viacom and Disney made competing offers for IFE Viacom dropped out of bidding and News Corporation offered 1 8 billion 28 News Corporation won with a bid of 1 9 billion The acquisition closed on June 11 1997 IFE was folded into Fox Kids Worldwide which itself was renamed Fox Family Worldwide 29 30 31 32 Of the sale Robertson stated that he felt it was time for the Family Channel to join the consolidation that was going on in the industry 16 On August 15 1998 The Family Channel was renamed Fox Family Channel 33 Fox continued to be subject to the mandate that The 700 Club be broadcast by the network 26 Rights to the MTM Enterprises library were folded into 20th Century Fox Television In October 1996 a Fox Kids channel was launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland and in November it started broadcasting in Latin America and Brazil In November 1999 Fox Kids Europe N V was formed with 75 7 being held by Fox Family Worldwide and the remainder listed on the Euronext 34 In an attempt at U S expansion in October 1999 Fox Family spun off two digital cable channels the Boyz Channel and the Girlz Channel which contained programming content targeted at the respective genders Both networks shut down after one year of operation due to a lack of leverage and demand by cable providers each only had 100 000 subscribers and a desire to invest more heavily in the parent channel 35 The Fox Family channel struggled under their ownership Saban attempted to force News Corporation to sell it its share in the joint venture but were unable to agree in a proper valuation The ensuing conflict resulted in the two companies deciding to sell Fox Family Worldwide to a third party At the time Fox was also preparing to acquire Hughes Electronics the parent company of television provider DirecTV 36 37 Acquisition by Disney Edit On October 24 2001 The Walt Disney Company acquired Fox Family Worldwide for 2 9 billion cash plus 2 3 billion in debt assumption due to Fox Family Channel s 35 audience decline which gave Disney control of the Fox Family channel which owing to its new ownership was renamed ABC Family and its parent company renamed ABC Family Worldwide the Saban Entertainment library the Fox Kids brand name and its Fox Children s Productions library of shows including its international networks in Latin America and Europe 37 a 76 stake in Fox Kids Europe which operated the European networks as well as additional cable rights to Major League Baseball that were assigned to Fox Family via the Fox Sports division which included a slate of Thursday night regular season games and Division Series games 38 ESPN assumed the production responsibilities for these games as part of its ESPN Major League Baseball package although they continued to air on ABC Family for the time being 38 39 40 41 The U S Fox Kids block broadcast by the Fox network was not included in the sale and its operations were shifted to the Fox Television Entertainment division As Fox no longer held the rights to the Saban programming that primarily aired during the block and no longer had appropriate synergies due to the sale of Fox Family the company chose to contract the block to a third party Following a bidding war with DIC Entertainment Fox subsequently announced in January 2002 that it would enter into an agreement with 4Kids Entertainment to program a new children s block for the network 42 43 In March 2002 Angela Shapiro was named president of ABC Family Worldwide after moving from president of Buena Vista Productions She originally reported to ABC Broadcast Group president Steve Bornstein who resigned in 2002 The post then reported directly to Disney president Bob Iger 44 In October 2003 ABC Family Worldwide was amalgamated into the ABC Cable Networks Group run by Anne Sweeney Shapiro also left the network that month 44 45 Later programming executive Linda Mancuso died in December 2003 In early 2004 ABC Family s original movie production unit was taken over by Disney Channel s vice president of original programming and production Gary Marsh and vice president of original movies Michael Healy 46 In January 2004 Fox Kids Europe Fox Kids Latin America and the ABC Cable Group launched a new joint brand for their children s television operations Jetix which would be used to brand programming blocks which aired on ABC Family and Toon Disney its television channels in Europe and Latin America along with its program library and merchandising 47 48 49 50 On December 8 2008 Disney reached an agreement to increase its ownership in Jetix Europe to 96 and announced an intent to purchase the remainder to give it full ownership 51 Following its takeover of Jetix Europe Disney began migrating the Jetix properties in the region to a new brand Disney XD 52 In 2009 Switchover Media a company formed by the management of the Italian Jetix operation acquired the K2 and GXT networks from Disney and managed Jetix until its re branding as Disney XD 53 54 Switchover would later be purchased by Discovery Communications 55 On May 12 2010 Saban Capital Group s Saban Brands a successor to Saban Entertainment bought the rights to the Power Rangers franchise back from Disney for 43 million Rights to the then upcoming season Power Rangers Samurai as well as previous seasons were acquired by Nickelodeon in 2011 56 In September 2012 Saban Brands also re acquired the international rights to the Digimon franchise partnering with MarVista Entertainment as distributor 57 58 59 Hasbro subsequently announced a deal to acquire Saban Brands entertainment assets in May 2018 60 On March 23 2012 Corus launch ABC Spark a preteen and teenage channel which serves as a Canadian version of Freeform at the time named ABC Family On March 24 2012 the ABC Family division took control of Soapnet as part of the wind down of the service in favor of Disney Junior 61 62 Rebrand to Freeform Edit On January 12 2016 the Disney division s flagship channel ABC Family was renamed to Freeform 63 Asset libraries EditFox Family Worldwide became ABC Family Worldwide in 2001 following Disney s acquisition At the time Saban Entertainment did not own the Fox Kids libraries until the buyout The remaining properties within the 21st Century Fox libraries were acquired by Disney on March 20 2019 which include Saban Entertainment became BVS Entertainment in 2001 and went dormant in 2014 64 Saban International N V became BVS International N V Saban International Services became BVS International Services Fox Kids Fox Children s Productions became Jetix U S in 2004 absorbed into Disney Channels Worldwide in 2009 Fox Kids Europe became Jetix Europe in 2004 fully purchased and absorbed into Disney by 2009 65 Fox Kids Play became Jetix Play in 2005 closed by 2010 66 67 Marvel Productions New World Animation library moved to Marvel Animation in 2009 and reverted to Marvel Studios in 2019 DePatie Freleng Enterprises shut down and reorganized as Marvel Productions in 1981 Marvel Films Animation incorporated into Marvel Studios formally Marvel Films in 1996 Saban International Paris Became independent in 2001 renamed as SIP Animation in 2002 folded into Disney France in 2009 Creativite et Developpement sold in 1996 absorbed into Saban International Paris in 1998References Edit Susan King December 30 1990 Family Channel Tries To Change Image Los Angeles Times Retrieved October 9 2015 via Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel Business Entity Detail ABC Family Worldwide Inc Search on Entity C1991622 California Business Search California Secretary of State Archived from the original on 2015 03 15 Retrieved February 19 2016 a b Susan King December 30 1990 Family Channel Tries To Change Image Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on November 24 2015 Retrieved October 9 2015 via Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel a b Joseph Pryweller January 10 1990 Sold Family Channel Keeps Lineup Daily Press Archived from the original on November 24 2015 Retrieved October 9 2015 a b c d Ress David March 29 1992 Taking Stock Of Family Value Daily Press Archived from the original on December 26 2015 Retrieved February 17 2016 Pryweller Joseph January 11 1990 Ahead For Family Channel More Shows New Market Daily Press Daily Press Media Group Tribune Publishing Archived from the original on December 26 2015 Retrieved February 17 2016 Ress David March 5 1992 Cbn To Sell 100 Million Network Stake Daily Press Archived from the original on January 5 2016 Retrieved February 17 2016 Ress David April 29 1992 Family Channel Stock To Begin Trading Daily Press Archived from the original on January 5 2016 Retrieved February 17 2016 New Cable Channels Seek Room on the Tube Television Backers have high hopes for science fiction cartoon and game formats but crowded systems might not have space for them Los Angeles Times Retrieved 19 February 2016 Swamped Aging Cable Firms Cool To Budding Channels Chicago Tribune Retrieved 19 February 2016 Ress David May 4 1992 Family Channel Plans All game Network Daily Press Archived from the original on December 26 2015 Retrieved February 17 2016 Stern Christopher May 17 1993 Game Channel gears up for launch Broadcasting amp Cable Archived from the original on November 5 2012 Retrieved February 17 2016 UK media group Flextech invests in UK Family Channel Brief Article Broadcasting amp Cable June 7 1993 Archived from the original on October 26 2012 Retrieved January 13 2016 via Highbeam Research Benson Jim Oct 6 1992 IFE forms syndie division for family shows Variety Retrieved 2009 08 14 Marketing Week marketing news opinion trends and jobs a b Fabrikant Geraldine 1997 06 12 Murdoch Set To Buy Family Cable Concern The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2019 04 01 Brown Rich August 23 1993 Family plans health channel Broadcasting amp Cable Archived from the original on November 5 2012 Retrieved February 17 2016 Lippman John December 7 1993 Robertson May Open Bidding Battle for Network Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 13 2016 Deckard Linda June 13 1994 Cable TV s IFE buys Ice Capades Amusement Business Archived from the original on September 18 2016 Retrieved September 6 2016 via High Beam Curtis Bryan March 16 2005 The Ice Capades Requiem for the ice carnival Slate com The Slate Group Retrieved November 19 2015 Waddell Ray September 8 1997 Ice Capades is forced to cancel two fall tours Amusement Business Archived from the original on September 18 2016 Retrieved September 6 2016 Mayfield Dave August 14 1995 International Family Entertainment to Sell Ice Capades The Virginian Pilot Knight Ridder Tribune Business News Archived from the original on September 18 2016 Retrieved September 6 2016 Coe Steve March 6 1995 Thomopoulos to head MTM Entertainment PDF Broadcasting amp Cable p 26 Retrieved March 16 2020 Schneider Michael Grego Melissa September 9 2001 Fox Kids net adopted by Fox TV Ent Variety Retrieved 2009 08 13 Hillier Barry November 1 1996 Fox Kids Worldwide is born Kidscreen Retrieved November 21 2010 a b c Fox Kids Faces Holy Challenge With IFE Deal Los Angeles Times June 14 1997 Retrieved 16 January 2016 Connie Bruck May 10 2010 The Influencer The New Yorker News Corp Disney Ready to Make Final Offers for IFE Los Angeles Times Reuters June 2 1997 Retrieved January 13 2016 Robertson Virginia December 1 1997 Special Report Family Programming New relations Fox keeping mum about plans for The Family Channel Kidscreen Retrieved November 21 2010 Peers Martin Richmond Ray Levin Gary June 12 1997 Family affair for Fox Kids Variety Retrieved 2009 08 14 Hofmeister Sallie July 17 1997 News Corp Taps Fox Kids Exec Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 13 2016 NBC To Reboot Remington Steele As Comedy With Ruben Fleischer Deadline Hollywood 9 October 2013 Retrieved 16 January 2016 Katz Richard July 10 1998 Fox Family squeezes Club in youthful sked Variety Retrieved 2009 08 13 2008 PDF Annual Reports Jetix Europe NV p 42 Archived from the original PDF on 15 October 2013 Retrieved 15 March 2013 Paula Bernstein August 15 2000 Fox Family pulls Girlz Boyz diginets Variety Reed Business Information Retrieved August 13 2009 Murdoch s DirecTV purchase approved BBC News February 9 2001 a b Jeff Bercovici July 23 2001 Disney buying Fox Family Channel Media Life Magazine Archived from the original on September 30 2007 a b Disney buys Fox Family CNN Money July 23 2001 Retrieved August 11 2012 Sandomir Richard 2002 10 04 TV SPORTS ABC Family Offers Familiar ESPN Look The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2019 04 01 News Corp and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for 5 3 Billion Saban July 23 2001 Archived from the original on 21 April 2009 Retrieved 2009 05 31 DiOrio Carl Oct 24 2001 Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal Variety Retrieved 2009 08 13 Paula Bernstein January 18 2002 4Kids buys 4 hours from Fox Kids Variety Retrieved August 13 2009 Michael Schneider Melissa Grego September 9 2001 Fox Kids net adopted by Fox TV Ent Variety Retrieved August 13 2009 a b Verrier Richard October 27 2003 ABC Family s Chief Expected to Step Down Los Angeles Times Retrieved March 22 2017 Romano Allison October 20 2003 Sweeney is family s new parent figure Broadcasting amp Cable Archived from the original on June 11 2014 Retrieved 28 January 2014 Martin Denise March 25 2004 ABC Family grows into new fields with two pix Daily Variety Archived from the original on March 23 2017 Retrieved March 22 2017 Edmunds Marlene January 9 2004 Fox Kids ABC cable jet to int l Jetix kidvid pact Variety Archived from the original on November 5 2013 Retrieved 18 March 2013 Edmunds Marlene May 4 2004 Fox Kids arm jets new name Jetix Variety Retrieved 2009 08 14 Meza Ed Apr 28 2005 Jetix brand rolls on Variety Retrieved 2009 08 14 Derrick Stuart March 22 2004 Licensing Fox Kids readies a European shake up marketingmagazine co uk Disney moves for Jetix Europe takeover Media Week UK December 8 2008 Retrieved October 15 2013 French Jetix becomes Disney XD Broadband TV News 2009 02 16 Jetix Italy bosses buy GXT and K2 channels digitaltveurope net July 16 2009 Retrieved 14 March 2013 Moody Annemarie July 15 2009 Jetix Italy Announces Management Buyout AWN News Retrieved 15 March 2013 Discovery buys Italian broadcaster Switchover Digital TV Europe 2013 01 15 Retrieved 2019 04 05 Saban buys back Power Rangers The Hollywood Reporter 12 May 2010 Retrieved 2019 02 10 Crowe Deborah September 25 2012 Saban Brands Acquires Digimon Anime Brand Los Angeles Business Journal Retrieved September 26 2012 Saban Brands Acquires Digimon Anime Franchise Anime News Network September 25 2012 Retrieved September 26 2012 Sarah September 25 2012 Saban Brands Acquires Digimon Brand BSCKids Archived from the original on September 28 2012 Retrieved September 26 2012 Hipes Patrick 2018 05 01 Hasbro Acquires Power Rangers Brand In 522M Deal Deadline Retrieved 2019 02 10 Eades Chris March 1 2012 ABC Family Is Taking Over SOAPnet For Now Soaps in Depth Retrieved January 13 2016 Giddens Jamey February 29 2012 BREAKING NEWS Kate Nelson OUT at SOAPnet Day to Day Operations Now Under ABC Family Until Channel Goes Dark Daytime Confidential Confidential Media Inc Retrieved January 13 2016 David Bauder October 6 2015 ABC Family Changing Name To Freeform TVNewsCheck NewsCheck Media Associated Press Archived from the original on June 25 2018 Retrieved October 6 2015 FY2014 Q4 10K EX21 www sec gov Retrieved 2023 04 05 Jetix Terminates Its Stock Exchange Listing Archived from the original on 14 January 2012 Szewczyk Lukasz 13 July 2010 Soon a new Disney channel in Poland media2 pl in Polish Archived from the original on 23 July 2012 Retrieved 18 March 2013 Change Log KingOfSat Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ABC Family Worldwide amp oldid 1154510203, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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