‘The Fosters’ renewed for season 4 prior to season 3 return

When “The Fosters” returns to ABC Family / Freeform with season 3 in January, it’s going to be doing so with confidence knowing that this is not the end of the road.

Today the network, which is on the cusp now of officially changing its name, has picked up the show for a fourth season. This season will probably premiere in the summer, and will run once again in the winter unless there is a decision to switch things up. This does seem to work well for them, though, and is a smart way to program while avoiding the key November and May sweeps periods that the major networks use to promote their shows.

“The Fosters” may not necessarily be a ratings machine for the network, but it does have a stable audience and in addition to that, it brings attention from places like the Teen Choice Awards and also critics. It tackles social issues and diversity in a way that it is a conversation-starter, and bringing buzz is something that networks perennially look for. In this age of hyper-competitive programming, this is something you crave; otherwise, the odds are high that nobody will ever even notice you.

The third season of the show will resume airing new episodes on January 25, and we imagine that we’re going to have some further updates on the subject in the future. It would not be like ABC Family to shy away from unleashing a deluge of sneak peeks and synopses upon us weeks in advance, and we have a very hard time envisioning that this is going to change when the name does to Freeform. Stay tuned!

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