What is the purpose of family programming?

Like most people I loved cartoons when I was young but they stuck with me through adolescence.  shows like Pepper Ann, Recess, Kim Possible, etc. were far more interesting than most sitcoms.  Consequently, I developed an affinity for family oriented TV channels and have kept that attachment as cartoons have slowly been removed from daily programming.  I find myself, now, watching Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Victorious and the like.  Now many people have discussed the sexualization of teenage girls and have pointed to some of these shows as evidence but that is not my goal here.

What is strange about these shows, and the networks that carry them, is that they seem unable to decide who their target audience is.  If you watch daytime TV you'll see an astonishingly coherent relationship between subject matter, dialogue and advertisements.  Everything is aimed at unemployed or underemployed people slightly below average intelligence.  Similarly for evening shows.  Every show on every network has a stated audience and everything about that show aims for that audience.

On the other hand, family channel programming seems to have no unified purpose.  The show is clearly aimed at preteen and early teen girls, as are the associated advertisements (though some for boys often come up).  Clearly, these girls care nothing for overtly sexualized main characters (at one point Selena Gomez has pigtails and a cheerleader outfit on and if you haven't seen the Ariana Grande scene from Victorious where she gets sprayed with water you haven't fully experienced televised jailbait) because such sexualization means nothing to them.  In addition, episodes consistently use references to things and events preteens know nothing about (Miley references both the Godfather and Goodfellas in one scene).  Is it possible that these references and the overt sexualization are aimed at the fathers of these girls in the hopes that the parent will actively want to watch the show, ensuring both an audience and someone close by to ask for stuff when the commercials come on?