By Michaela Gordoni
Great American Family CEO Bill Abbot shares the root of GAF’s purpose: family entertainment that doesn’t compromise on values.
“We are entertainment without compromise,” Abbott said on the “Crossmap Podcast” recently, “and that means not compromising on our values, not compromising on traditions, being consistently supportive of faith, family and country and not compromising on quality, which is very important to us.”
“We first and foremost want to service our subscribers and our viewers,” said Abbott. “We want to be that consistent destination where people don’t have to go to other places (for quality faith and family entertainment).”
“There is very little out there that is family-friendly, faith-based, which I happen to believe is the majority of the country. Audiences are looking for that. They are yearning for it,” the CEO explained. “They are going to find it wherever it is, and they found us.”
GAF also draws viewers that have come from other programming that isn’t focused on family.
“It’s just the beginning,” Abbot said of faith-based media’s popularity. “I kind of resent the headline that says ‘Faith is having a moment’ because that’s not true. Viewers are being heard in terms of what they’re looking for, and it’s clear with the success of Angel (Studios) and Wonder and us that there’s a real desire for this content and the needs being met.”
Related: Bill Abbott Shares Vision For Great American Pure Flix: ‘A Different Experience’
“I think that’s a big distinction between us and the typical channel that may say they’re family,” Abbott told Deadline in 2023. “Not all of our projects incorporate faith, but a good majority or a good portion of our content is faith-driven and really seeks to reinforce faith and its place in people’s lives and in family lives. And the two in many ways go together and are very much again missing from the overall landscape.”
Abbott got his start in faith entertainment at CBN Family before he went on to Hallmark and then came to GAF when he saw that there was a need for Christian media that wasn’t being met.
GAF “plays a big role in defining what faith content is. And you know, some faith content made a while ago gets a bad reputation…It hasn’t been the highest quality.”
But now, productions are getting backed by more investors, and there’s more interest circling around.
“One of the biggest parts of our growth has been our talent, and the fact that we have such recognizable stars in our stable of talent — and that they are relentless in promoting Great American Family,” he said previously. “That, in and of itself, has created the awareness necessary to grow like we have.”
Great American Media has been very successful. Hopefully, it will keep the same values and grow even more influential in the entertainment landscape in the coming years.
Read Next: Great American Family’s Bill Abbott Focused on Faith and Family
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