• Los Angeles Times, Tuesday, February 3, 2009 9:15 AM

Some parents whose children watch the ABC Family cable program "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" are startled by the show's frank focus on the sex lives of high school students. The titillating themes, in their view, are out of place on a channel with the word "family" in its name.

But "Secret Life" has become ABC Family's biggest hit, drawing an average 3.8 million viewers an episode and boosting ABC Family's revenue and ratings, making 2008 the channel's best year. The edgy strategy is sparking debate about boundaries. Michele MacNeal, a mom who heads watchdog group Parents Television Council, says ABC Family is not really a family channel at all, because it's content is not appropriate for the youngest members of a family.

On the advertising front, typically cautious marketers such as Procter & Gamble and Target, seem to be embracing ABC Family's approach. "Family programming [these days] is all about bringing families together to watch shows so that they can dialogue about these sensitive topics," says Pat Gentile, P&G ad buyer and co-chairman of a coalition of major advertisers that advocates for family programming.

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