ABC Family Summer 2015 Schedule (and Beyond)

Tom Ascheim, President, ABC Family, announce at its network upfront on Tuesday in New York that ABC Family was doubling-down on the life stage that has made it a leading voice in entertainment for W18-34, W18-49, F12-34 and a top five network with adults, in addition to having the most socially engaged audience. The network identified and coined the term ‘Becomers’ to describe people in this life stage. Traditionally, Becomers are in high school, college and the decade that follows and are navigating the wonderful, fun, exciting, and scary time in life when you experience the most firsts - first car, first apartment, first job, first love, first heartbreak - all the firsts that exists between who they are and who they want to become. Becomers are 69 million strong in the US, with an estimated spending power in the trillions.

“We are renewing our focus on an especially vibrant and important part of the consuming public, whom we have named ‘Becomers,’ and are committing to this life stage rather than to a generation,“ said Ascheim. Becomers are exploring and establishing who they are becoming - personally, professionally and romantically -- they live in that magical and messy place between their first kiss and their first kid. We are doubling our commitment to original programming and will serve their modern media habits with gusto by reconceiving our WATCH ABC Family app as a marriage of content and fandom that will make it a vital part of their viewing habit.”

'Switched at Birth' Spring Finale Sneak Peek

The Switched at Birth Spring Finale airs tonight on ABC Family. Photo Credit: ABC Family/(Eric McCandless

Bay fights for her relationship with Emmett in the Spring finale of Switched at Birth, airing tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.

Intent on making their relationship work, Bay surprises Emmett with a visit to Los Angeles while he’s shooting his first big class project. Daphne is distraught with her performance in school and the idea of letting Bay and her family down. Kathryn and Toby get the chance to have their musical produced.

Meanwhile, Regina is shocked by Eric's (guest star Terrell Tilford) reaction to a buyout offer on the coffee shop.

Watch a sneak peek below:

'Switched at Birth' Sneak Peek: Daphne's Date?

Switched at Birth airs tonight on ABC Family. Photo Credit: ABC Family/(Eric McCandless

Bay struggles to determine what is next for her art career in an all-new episode of Switched at Birth, airing Tuesday, February 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.

Bay tries to figure out how she can pursue an art career. Regina invites Eric (guest star Terrell Tilford, The Young and the Restless) and his son to stay with her temporarily. Mingo (guest star Adam Hagenbuch, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) asks Daphne to hang out.

Meanwhile, Kathryn offers to help Travis with his English.

Watch a sneak peek below:

'Switched at Birth' Partners With Break the Cycle for Live Twitter After-Chat

Max Adler and Vanessa Marano. Photo Credit: ABC Family

Switched At Birth series star Vanessa Marano, guest star Max Adler and show creator/Executive Producer Lizzy Weiss will be part of a special Twitter “After-Chat” moderated by a Break the Cycle specialist after the East Coast broadcast of an all-new episode addressing the topical issue of sexual consent on Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Fans can also live tweet with Adler and Weiss during the east coast airing of the episode.

Tuesday, February 3
9 p.m ET/6 p.m. PT - Live tweet with Max Adler (@Mr_Max_Adler) and Lizzy Weiss (@LizzyWeissSAB) using #SwitchedAtBirthChat

10 p.m ET/7 p.m PT - Live Twitter After-Chat with Vanessa Marano (@abcfSAB), Max Adler (@Mr_Max_Adler), Lizzy Weiss (@LizzyWeissSAB) and Break the Cycle (@BreaktheCycleDV) using #SwitchedAfterChat

'Switched at Birth' Winter Premiere Sneak Peek

Switched at Birth returns tonight on ABC Family. Photo Credit: ABC Family/Adam Taylor

The family and Emmett discover Bay's impulsive decision to take the blame for Daphne, and no one is happy about it. Meanwhile, Daphne is determined to prove herself worthy of her switchster's sacrifice while also dealing with the challenges of starting college in the fourth season premiere of Switched at Birth, airing Tuesday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family (new day and time).

With both Emmett and Daphne heading off to college, Bay finds that taking the blame for Daphne may be harder than she thought. Daphne struggles to adapt to being a pre-med student as she faces her own guilt for letting Bay take the fall for her illegal actions. Regina frets over what will soon be an empty nest.

Watch a sneak peek below:

Christmas Episodes of 'The Fosters' and 'Switched at Birth' Deliver Multi-Month Ratings Highs

The Switched at Birth Christmas episode hit nine-month highs in young adults.

Christmas episodes of The Fosters and Switched at Birth deliver multi-month highs for ABC Family on Monday night.

At 8 o'clock, The Fosters delivered near-1-year highs in Total Viewers (1.93 million - #3 telecast ever), Adults 18-34 (614,000/0.9 rating), Women 18-34 (508,000/1.5 rating), Adults 18-49 (885,000/0.7 rating - tie) and set 10-month highs in Viewers 12-34 (1.01 million/1.1 rating) and Females 12-34 (825,000/1.8 rating) - since 1/20/14, 2/10/14 and 2/17/14, respectively.

The Fosters stood as Monday's #1 scripted cable TV telecast in the hour in Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Adults 18-49, Women 18-49, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

At 9 o'clock, Switched at Birth hit 9-month highs in Adults 18-34 (485,000/0.7 rating), Women 18-34 (418,000/1.2 rating), Viewers 12-34 (743,000/0.8 rating) and Females 12-34 (641,000/1.4 rating) and garnered a near 5-month high in Total Viewers (1.40 million) - since 3/3/14, 3/10/14 and 7/14/14, respectively.

Switched at Birth qualified as Monday's #1 scripted cable TV telecast in the time period across target demos: Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Adults 18-49 (714,000/0.6 rating), Women 18-49 (547,000/0.9 rating), Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

Source: NTI, U.S. ratings, Live +SD, 12/08/14.

'Switched at Birth' Christmas Episode Premieres Tonight

The Switched at Birth Christmas episode premieres December 8.

An all-new holiday-themed episode ("Yuletide Fortune Tellers") of Switched at Birth, airs Monday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.

As the Kennish and Vasquez families prepare to celebrate Christmas in their traditional ways, Bay and Daphne find themselves living each other's lives as if the switch never happened.

With the holidays approaching, Bay bristles at Kathryn's festive holiday spirit, complete with homemade peanut brittle and Christmas karaoke, while Daphne is frustrated with Regina's usual tradition of movies and Chinese food for Christmas. Then, after a joint family dinner including "magical" garlic knots, they wake to discover that the switch never happened. In this alternate life, Bay (Katie Leclerc) is an Olympic hopeful and Daphne (Vanessa Marano) is a successful artist with an upcoming exhibit. Is it the Christmas miracle they’ve always wanted? Could they even get back if they tried?

ABC Family Reveals January Premiere Dates: 'Switched at Birth' Follows 'Pretty Little Liars' on Its New Night, Tuesday, January 6

Switched at Birth moves to Tuesdays starting January 6, following the return of Pretty Little Liars.

ABC Family will kick off the New Year with all-new episodes of returning original hit series and fan favorites Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, Chasing Life and The Fosters, in addition to comedies Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy, all set to premiere in January 2015, with three nights of original programming.

The hit ABC Family original series Pretty Little Liars returns on Tuesday, January 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with the Liars still reeling from Mona’s death and determined to prove Alison’s guilt. Pretty Little Liars won six Teen Choice Awards in 2014, including Choice TV Show, Choice TV Actress Drama - Lucy Hale, Choice TV Actor Drama - Ian Harding, Choice Summer TV Actress - Ashley Benson, Choice Summer TV Actor - Tyler Blackburn and Choice TV Breakout Star: Female - Sasha Pieterse. ABC Family will air a special Pretty Little Liars marathon on Tuesday, January 6, from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. ET/PT, leading up to the premiere. An all-new special holiday episode of Pretty Little Liars, airing during ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas, premieres Tuesday, December 9th at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

"25 Days of Christmas" Begins December 1 on ABC Family

ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas" returns with 25-continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family. From December 1 - 25, viewers can ring in the holidays with new holiday episodes of original series, holiday specials and returning favorites.

This year, "25 Days of Christmas" will feature original holiday episodes of comedy series Melissa and Joey, and Baby Daddy. And for the first time, holiday episodes of drama series Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Switched at Birth and Chasing Life will also make their debut during the week of December 8.

The holiday cheer continues with the network-television premiere of the delightful holiday movie Arthur Christmas, featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent as Santa, on Saturday, December 6 (9:00- 11:00 p.m. ET/PT) and the ABC Family debut of the new Christmas special "Toy Story That Time Forgot" on Sunday, December 7 (8:00- 8:30 p.m. ET/PT)

On Sunday, December 21, the network will air a Rankin Bass holiday classics marathon, featuring such beloved programs as The Little Drummer Boy (1:00 - 1:30 p.m. ET/PT), Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (3:00-4:00 p.m. ET/PT), and The Year Without a Santa Claus (4:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET/PT). Other returning favorites include National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Monday, December 1, 6:00-8:00 p.m.), holiday classic Elf (Monday, December 1, 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT,) and a The Santa Clause double feature (begins Tuesday, December 2, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Below is a "25 Days of Christmas" day-by-day programming guide:

Gilles Marini Promoted to 'Devious Maids' Series Regular

Gilles Marini will continue to play Sebastian in Devious Maids Season 3.

Gilles Marini has been promoted to series regular status for the upcoming third season of Lifetime's recently renewed Devious Maids, scheduled to air in 2015.

Marini debuted in the Season 2 finale as Sebastien, the man that Carmen (Roselyn Sanchez) met at a bar. After he showed her demo to a major record producer, the two of them slept together. However, Sebastian soon confessed that the record producer was his wife.

Marini's credits include playing Luc Laurent on ABC's Brothers & Sisters for two seasons, and Angelo in ABC Family's Switched at Birth, until his character was killed off this year. He will be guest-starring on NBC's The Mysteries of Laura starting October 8.

RELATED:
* Lifetime Renews 'Devious Maids' For Third Season, With Many Questions Left to Answer

'Switched at Birth' Christmas Special Coming in December

What would have life been like for Bay and Daphne if the switch never happened? Look out for an all new Switched at Birth Christmas Special, coming this December on ABC Family.

Monday Night Ratings: 'Dallas' Returns Down, 'Switched at Birth' Hits Four-Week Highs

Under the Dome topped Monday's serial ratings.

Below are the ratings for Monday night's primetime serials:

Under the Dome (10 p.m. ET, CBS) - 7.23 million viewers, 1.5 Adults 18-49 rating
WWE Entertainment (9 p.m. ET/USA) - 4.3 million viewers, 1.5 Adults 18-49 rating
WWE Entertainment (8 p.m. ET/USA) - 4.28 million viewers, 1.5 Adults 18-49 rating
WWE Entertainment (10 p.m. ET/USA) - 3.97 million viewers, 1.4 Adults 18-49 rating
Mistresses (10 p.m. ET, ABC) - 3.3 million viewers, 0.7 Adults 18-49 rating
Teen Wolf (10 p.m. ET/MTV) - 1.48 million viewers, 0.7 Adults 18-49 rating
The Fosters (9 p.m. ET/ABC Family) - 1.48 million viewers, 0.6 Adults 18-49 rating
Switched At Birth (8 p.m. ET/ABC Family) - 1.29 million viewers, 0.5 Adults 18-49 rating
Dallas (9 p.m. ET, TNT) - 1.97 million viewers, 0.4 Adults 18-49 rating

At 8 o'clock, the summer finale of Switched At Birth hit 4-week highs in Total Viewers (1.3 million), Women 18-34 (355,000/1.1 rating), Women 18-49 (574,000/0.9 rating) and Females 12-34 (501,000/1.1 rating) - since 7/21/14.

At 9 o'clock, The Fosters' summer finale registered its 2nd-best ratings this season in Adults 18-34 (514,000/0.8 rating), Adults 18-49 (791,000/0.6 rating) and Viewers 12-34 (774,000/0.8 rating) - behind 7/21/14 - and generated 4-week highs in Total Viewers (1.5 million), Women 18-34 (426,000/1.3 rating), Women 18-49 (627,000/1.0 rating), and Females 12-34 (665,000/1.5 rating).

'Switched at Birth' Renewed by ABC Family for a Fourth Season

Bay and Daphne graduate in the Switched at Birth
Season 3 finale on August 18. Photo Credit: ABC Family

ABC Family today announced the network has picked up a fourth season of its hit drama serial Switched at Birth. The third season finale of the Peabody Award-winning series airs Monday, August 18th at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Switched at Birth remains one of basic cable's strongest dramas this summer, ranking as cable TV's #1 series in its time period in key female demos.

"Fans will be clamoring for season four and to know what happens with Daphne and Bay after the season three finale next week," said Tom Ascheim, President ABC Family.

The critically-acclaimed Switched at Birth tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Despite overwhelming socio-economic and ethnic differences, both families must learn to co-exist as parents and blend their lives into one for the sake of their daughters.

Switched at Birth has been honored with a Peabody Award as well as a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming and an Imagen Award for Best Primetime Program. The series has also won AFTRA's (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) American Scene "Crystal Award," the Producers Guild of America George Sunga Award and a Gracie Award.

Switched at Birth is executive-produced by Lizzy Weiss, Paul Stupin and John Ziffren. The series stars Katie Leclerc as Daphne Vasquez; Vanessa Marano as Bay Kennish; Constance Marie as Regina Vasquez; D.W. Moffett as John Kennish; Lea Thompson as Kathryn Kennish; Lucas Grabeel as Toby Kennish; Sean Berdy as Emmett Bledsoe; and Marlee Matlin as Melody.

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* 'Switched at Birth' Star D.W. Moffett on Directing This Week's 'Intense' Episode

'Switched at Birth' Star D.W. Moffett on Directing This Week's 'Intense' Episode

Switch at Birth's Lea Thompson and D.W. Moffett.

Monday's episode of ABC Family serial Switched at Birth was full of emotional moments, from Daphne (Katie Leclerc) hitting rock bottom after stealing oxycodone then getting fired from her job to Bay (Vanessa Marano) taking a stand against the prom dress code. The mood was a bit lighter as the bromance between Toby (Lucas Grabeel) and Tank (Max Adler) continued. D.W. Moffett, who plays patriarch John Kennish, directed the episode.

Serial Scoop spoke with Moffett about being a first-time director on the show and asked him what it was like to direct himself.

"If you watch last week’s episode, you’ll see I’m not really in that episode very much," Moffett explained. "That was originally going to be the episode that I was going to direct because I wasn’t in it very much! But for scheduling reasons and budgetary reasons and location reasons, it didn’t work out that I could direct that episode. So I wound up directing an episode in which I appeared more than I would have liked to have appeared."

The experience of a long and successful acting career helped make things easier.

Vanessa Marano Previews the 'Switched at Birth' Summer Season

Vanessa Marano stars as Bay Kennish in Switched at Birth.
Photo Credit: ABC Family

Vanessa Marano stars as Bay Kennish, the artistic and edgy daughter, on the hit ABC Family serial Switched at Birth. Marano met with a few media outlets on Friday to talk about the show and preview what's coming up. Switched at Birth returns for its summer premiere Monday, June 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Check out what Marano had to say below:

How excited were you when Switched at Birth was renewed for a new season?
Vanessa Marano: You know, it’s so funny; I’ve been doing this for a very long time so I go into everything very cynically; like, “Alright, well, let’s see if we’re coming back.” We never know. But Switched at Birth is the first show I’ve ever been on that’s generated such a positive strong audience response. We’ve got incredible support from our viewers, specifically, the deaf community. There’s an amount of confidence there knowing that we have an audience rooting for us and wanting us to come back, so that was nice. What’s great about the way ABC Family works is that they split up your seasons seasonally, so to speak, so you have your winter season and your summer season. We have a hiatus, a break, for two months knowing that we were coming back airing in the summer, so that’s kind of nice to have a break and then also know that your job is coming back!

SWITCHED AT BIRTH Sets Season Highs in Adults 18-49 and Women 18-49

Monday was a good night for ABC Family in the Nielsen ratings. Check out what the network had to say below:

SWITCHED AT BIRTH (8:00 - 9:00 p.m.)

At 8 o’clock, SWITCHED AT BIRTH set season highs in Adults 18-49 (974,000/0.8 rating), Women 18-49 (759,000/1.2 rating) and Women 18-34 (516,000/1.5 rating), and four-week highs in Total Viewers (1.7 million), Adults 18-34 (609,000/0.9 rating), Viewers 12-34 (908,000/1.0 rating) and Females 12-34 (792,000/1.7 rating) - since 1/13/14.

SWITCHED AT BIRTH stood as cable TV’s #1 scripted telecast in the hour for its 5th-consecutive original airing among Women 18-34, Women 18-49, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

'Switched at Birth' Returns January 13 (Spoiler Alert)

Photo Credit: ABC Family

SWITCHED AT BIRTH returns with all new episodes on Monday, January 13th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family. Guest stars in upcoming episodes include Sandra Bernhard, RJ Mitte, Alec Mapa and Max Adler.

Below are previews for the next four episodes:

[SPOILER ALERT]

January 13, 2014
Senior year means big changes for Bay and Daphne, as the Carlton School for the Deaf receives an influx of hearing students who are not happy to be there. Daphne begins working at a free clinic as part of her probation from the Senator Coto blackmail scandal, and bonds with a pre-med student (guest star RJ Mitte, BREAKING BAD) with a spinal injury. Bay is inspired by her art teacher (guest star Sandra Bernhard, ROSEANNE) and surprised by her jock classmate (guest star Max Adler, GLEE), when she takes an art class at a local college. Toby tries to unite a divided Carlton by coaching girls' field hockey, and Kathryn dips her toes into new territory when she makes friends with a gregarious tap dancer (guest star Alec Mapa, UGLY BETTY).