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The Rise And Fall Of YA TV: How Creators & Development Execs Are Appealing To Gen Z In The Age Of TikTok


Deadline spoke with purveyors of YA TV from Julie Plec and Greg Berlanti to Simran Sethi and Vernon Sanders to get a pulse check on the state of things

The landscape for young adult TV became much more fragmented over the years, as is also evidenced by the rise and fall of Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family), which appealed to that audience with hits like Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, grown-ish and The Bold Type. “I think what [those shows] really taught me was how broad young adult content is [and] the breadth of the age range of viewers that just always connects to these deep relationship stories,” former Freeform development exec Simran Sethi told Deadline. In some cases, brands have opted to put entire episodes on YouTube and TikTok in hopes of catching young peoples’ attention and drawing them to a specific service, as Disney recently did with the premiere of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.

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