The faith and family streamer will merge with the cable channel's parent company to capture more fans of wholesome entertainment.
Sharing the "same mission to serve and delight consumers in the family and faith categories," as the press release puts it, Great American Media and Sony Pictures' Pure Flix would seem a natural fit as one company. Assuming that regulatory approval comes through as expected, we will soon find out.
The new entity - which will combine the Sony Pictures-owned streaming service with Great American Media's two cable networks, Great American Family and Great American Living, as well as its advertisement-based streaming platform Great American Adventures - is to be headed by Great American Media boss Bill Abbott, whose company will maintain majority ownership of the new entity.
It will share content across all platforms to better target faith and family viewers in the hope that the merger will "immediately establish the company as a leader in the genres." CEO of Hallmark Channel's parent company for more than a decade before founding GAC in 2021, Abbott stated in the aforementioned press release that the combining of these companies will positively impact consumers of this type of uplifting content.
"This merger will allow us to further our commitment to original, quality content and makes Great American Media and Pure Flix leaders in a large and under-served market."
Sony pictures purchased the Pure Flix streaming platform in late 2020, folding it into Affirm Films, its faith-based division, which is not part of this deal. Abbott, for his part, has moved quickly to take on his old employer at Hallmark by bringing over a host of that network's biggest stars, including Christian actresses Danica McKeller, Jen Lilley and Candace Cameron Bure, who is the new network's headline talent and Chief Creative Officer, and aims to deliver "faith-filled programming" in that capacity, as we previously reported.