The Lying Game (premiering Monday, 9 ET/PT) is one of nine original series it will broadcast this year, its most ever. The cable network, which opened a third night of original programming to accommodate the large number of shows, has expanded into comedy and is exploring more music and fashion content, the latter of which will be an element of the upcoming scripted series, Jane by Design.
At the same time, it has increased its audience for the seventh year in a row. For second-quarter primetime, it was up 9% year-to-year in viewers (1.34 million) and 19% in women 18-34 (236,000), which covers most of the network's target demographic.
ABC Family, which focuses on young women from teens on up, has "reflected the taste (they) were looking for. For us, that opportunity to bring together authentic, real, relatable programming with warmth and optimism is at the heart of everything we do," network president
Michael Riley says.
July was the network's best month ever among females 12 to 34, with
Pretty Little Liars,
The Secret Life of the American Teenager(photo t the left) and new series
Switched at Birth(photo to the right) taking the top three spots in that category, respectively, among original, scripted cable series.
The network, which once struggled to attract viewers, has drawn those younger women, whom it calls "millennials," without alienating the larger audience, says Sam Armando, director of video analysis for Chicago ad firm SMGx.
"They've been picking up their female demographics but they haven't really lost in adults 18 to 49, and a lot of times you don't see that," he says. "What ABC Family has been able to avoid are the quarters with huge valleys" in viewership.
Beyond the audience numbers, ABC Family became only the second network to receive an "excellent" rating from
GLAAD for its portrayal of gay and lesbian characters.
Riley says Game, a mystery that focuses on identical twins (Alexandra Chando) searching for their birth parents, fits the network's strategy. It is based on a novel by Sara Shepard, the author of the Pretty Little Liars( series.
In Game, Emma, who comes from a rough foster care environment, takes over the identity of her twin, Sutton, while the latter follows a lead about their birth mother. When Sutton fails to return at the appointed time, Emma must decide whether to reveal the false identity to the former's wealthy, loving, adopted family.
Chando, who was intrigued by the opportunity to play two characters, says Game's appeal extends beyond one genre. "There's mystery and romance in it, and different dynamics and different relationships between family members, boyfriends and girlfriends, best friends and sisters," she says. "It's definitely a mystery, but it also has a lot of heart."
"The adolescent struggle of an adopted child to find their biological parent appealed to me. The twin aspect was an added bonus and, in a story that has mysterious or melodramatic elements, it was something I had experience with and liked," he says.
He also likes how the adult characters are drawn in detail and incorporated into the story, which isn't always the case with programming aimed at teens and young adults.
ABC Family takes care in casting adults, Riley says, and looks for "experienced, seasoned actors." Many of them, including Game's Helen Slater (Supergirl), Switched at Birth's Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and The Secret Life of the American Teenager's Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles), had experience in young adult roles, too, and are well known to millennials' parents, he says.
"We're creating the fabric of a family and want to make sure all the characters are multidimensional and have the opportunity to interact with our young adults," Riley says. "One of the things I hear most this summer about Switched at Birth is the ability to have parents and millennials watching the show together."
