When my friend and former colleague, John Rood, SVP Marketing at ABC Family, told me a little over a year ago that they were planning to reposition the network to Millennials, I admit I was more than skeptical. Disney-owned ABC Family was anything but hip. It sounded like a Bridge to Terabitha too far.
Fast forward one year and ABC Family, tagline “A New Kind of Family”, is on fire going into the crucial April ‘upfront’ advertiser buying season. According to Multichannel.com, ABC Family network just finished its best quarter ever. The reason? Strength in its core audience of 12-34 year old “millennials”.
Its new show, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” about a young teen dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, finished its first season last month as the network’s most-watched series ever, averaging 3.9 million viewers, despite being head to head with the established ‘Gossip Girls’ on CW. Two other hit shows, “Greek” and “Lincoln Heights”, deal with multi-cultural family issues.
Movies are another bright spot. The Jan. 18 premiere of “Another Cinderella Story” was the top cable movie of the first quarter, drawing 5.6 million viewers. The premiere of the original movie, “My Fake Fiance”, about a woman who devises an engagement sham to replace her stolen belongings scored 3.7 million viewers, ranked as ABC Family’s fourth best ever among adults and women 18 to 34.
An understanding of the importance of family relationships to Millennials combined with a willingness to deal with the new family issues of the new Millennium (in a way that doesn’t alienate their parents), appears to underlie ABC’s success with this group, an insight confirmed by President, Paul Lee:
“[Millennials] are optimistic, they make decisions by consensus, and they’re diverse — but most importantly they love family, which is great for our name and the brand,” he said. “They may define family differently — it’s not Ozzie and Harriet, but rather a much messier, more passionate, more fun, more real family,”
A visit to the Secret Life of the American Teenager blog reveals the depth of attachment viewers feel for this show. Here are some sample responses to the question of whether 15-year old Amy will make a good mom:
“I think Amy will do great as a mom and i think her and ben make a great couple cuz i mean wat guy would stay with a pregnant girl and its not even his baby that shows how much he really cares about amy unlike ricky he was still having sex with adrian and trying to get with grace at the same time! But i think ricky should still be in the baby’s life because the baby needs to know the real father, but ben and amy will do great. ”
“Okay, I’m getting annoyed at Amy right now. She’s always feeling so sorry for herself, but look at everyone else, they’re not. Ricky loves John and isn’t feeling sorry for himself. Everyone’s being such a great support system. I totally think Amy will be a great mom, but only when she finds out how lucky she is to have such a strong support system, because a lot of girls don’t no matter the situation whether boys, drugs, sickness, or babies. OMGSecretLife”
“Amy is going to be a great mom. yes, it will be dificult she mite even have to dump Ben and focuse more on baby John. Ricky is also going to be a great daddy..::. I LOVE THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER.::.”
Okay, this is definitely not Father Knows Best. Bravo to ABC Family for having the courage to address this target in a relevant way. And sorry, John, for ever doubting it.
