Editing ABC Kids (TV programming block) (section)

===ABC Kids===
On July 23, 2001, the Walt Disney Company purchased [[ABC Family Worldwide|Fox Family Worldwide]], primarily for its [[Television networks preceding Freeform#Fox Family|Fox Family Channel]], which was included in the sale as well as [[Saban Entertainment]], a company in which Fox purchased a 50% interest in 1994.<ref name=FoxFamilySell>{{cite news|title=News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion |url=https://www.saban.com/html/press/010723.html |work=[[Saban Entertainment]] |date=July 23, 2001 |access-date=February 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202154922/http://saban.com/html/press/010723.html |archive-date=February 2, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="SellToDisney">{{cite news|title=Fox Family costs Mouse less cheese in final deal|url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/news/fox-family-costs-mouse-less-cheese-in-final-deal-1117854788/|author=Carl DiOrio|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=October 24, 2001|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref> On September 14, 2002, ABC rebranded its Saturday morning block, as a subtle nod to the [[Fox Kids]] brand acquired by Disney through its purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, to ABC Kids (as a result of the sale, Fox Kids ceased to exist; Fox's children's program lineups would be handled from that point onward by [[4Kids TV|4Kids Entertainment]] until 2008).<ref name="ABC Kids">{{cite web|title=Kid skeds tread on joint strategy|url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/news/kid-skeds-tread-on-joint-strategy-1117873477/|author=Paula Bernstein|work=Variety|publisher=Reed Business Information|date=September 29, 2002|access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref>

The renamed block originally contained a mix of first-run programs exclusive to the block, as well as reruns of several original series from both [[Disney Channel]] and [[Toon Disney]]. ''[[NBA Inside Stuff]]'' also began airing on the block as a result of ABC's acquisition of the broadcast television rights to the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] from [[NBA on NBC|NBC]] (where the series originally premiered in 1990), starting with the [[2002–03 NBA season|2002–03 season]]'s [[National Basketball Association Christmas games|Christmas Day game]]; ''Inside Stuff'' continued to air on ABC Kids until 2004. The series premiere of Disney Channel's ''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series]]'' was also held on ABC Kids on September 20, 2003, with a delayed premiere on Disney Channel on October 12, 2003. The new block ditched the imagery of the ''One Saturday Morning'' era in favor of a sports stadium motif, which, in 2006, was changed to a rock concert design that remained throughout the last five years of ABC Kids.

Through Disney's acquisition of Saban Entertainment, the ''Power Rangers'' series moved from Fox Kids to the ABC Kids block. All first-run episodes from the franchise premiered on ABC Kids starting with the second half of the show's ''[[Power Rangers: Wild Force|Wild Force]]'' season (starting with the episode "Unfinished Business"), with the entirety of the ''Wild Force'' and ''[[Power Rangers: Ninja Storm|Ninja Storm]]'' seasons subsequently airing in reruns on [[Freeform (TV channel)|ABC Family]] (the former season aired in part both before the introduction of and during the [[Freeform (TV channel)|ABC Family Action Block]]). However, when Toon Disney and ABC Family jointly launched the action-oriented [[Jetix]] block in 2004, Jetix handled all first-run episode debuts of subsequent seasons from ''[[Power Rangers: Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'' to ''[[Power Rangers: Jungle Fury|Jungle Fury]]'', while ABC Kids aired these seasons in reruns. Due to the low ratings of the ''Jungle Fury'' season, as well as the merger between Jetix and Toon Disney to form [[Disney XD]] in 2009, the ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'' season aired exclusively on ABC Kids. After production on ''RPM'' had concluded, instead of producing a new season, Disney produced a re-version of the first 32 episodes of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'', which included a new logo, an updated title sequence, comic book-referenced graphics, and extra alternative visual effects. The re-version aired from January 2 to August 28, 2010 (the 17th anniversary of ''Power Rangers''), after which Haim Saban bought the franchise back and [[Nickelodeon]] acquired broadcast rights to the series.

In the 2004–05 season, ABC Kids dropped its two remaining original series, ''[[Fillmore!]]'' and ''Recess'' (the latter of which was airing in reruns on the block since it ended in 2001). With the transfer of [[Walt Disney Television Animation]] to [[Disney Channels Worldwide]], ABC fulfilled the FCC's three-hour quota by carrying select episodes of Disney Channel live-action comedies and animated series (anywhere between 9 and 13 episodes from a given season) featuring moral lessons and/or educational anecdotes. The episodes were selected by both the "Standards and Practices" division of the network and any educational consultants who were attached to the shows. ''[[The Replacements (TV series)|The Replacements]]'' and ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' were the last two Disney Channel series to be added to the block in Fall 2006. Beginning with the 2007–08 season, ABC Kids programming (with the exception of ''Power Rangers'') became fully automated, putting the same handful of episodes of each show (''The Emperor's New School'', ''The Replacements'', ''[[That's So Raven]]'', ''Hannah Montana'' and ''[[The Suite Life of Zack & Cody]]'') on a permanent rotation for the block's remaining four years.