Great American Family — the Hallmark Channel competitor launched in 2021 — is set to take over the faith-based streaming platform Pure Flix.
While the exact terms of the merger have not yet been disclosed, it is known the fusion will see the two companies, Pure Flix and Great American Family, share content across their respective platforms, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Pure Flix will bring its content to Great American Media, sharing films and TV shows on its two cable channels, Great American Family and Great American Living, as well as its free ad-supported subscription streaming channel, Great American Adventures.
Great American Media is led by CEO Bill Abbott, who left Hallmark in 2020, after the popular cable network made headlines for pulling an ad featuring a same-sex couple (the network has since embraced LGBT storylines in its films and shows). Great American Media will retain controlling stake in the newly formed company and Abbott will stay on as its chief executive.
“[The] merger allows us to maximize potential [with] the expertise [and] content creation capabilities of a world-class partner like [Sony Pictures Television], furthering our commitment to original, quality content in a large [and] under-served market,” Abbott wrote in a statement on Twitter.
Ravi Ahuja, chair of global television studios and corporate development at Sony Pictures Television, added, “Family-friendly entertainment remains an important segment of the industry, and merging these two entities will create the greatest opportunity to achieve more scale for Pure Flix as it continues to build its subscriber base.”
A subscription to Pure Flix, acquired by Sony Pictures Television in December 2020, costs $7.99 per month and features a host of faith-based shows and movies, including Angel Studios’ “The Chosen,” as well as originals like “Sun Moon,” the “God’s Not Dead” franchise of films, and “A Thousand Tomorrows,” a series based on a book written by Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury.
Pure Flix has approximately one million subscribers between the U.S. and Canada, while Great American Media’s channels reach some 50 million households and touts itself as the “fastest-growing network” in the market.
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