Great American Media Completes its Merger with Pure Flix

That development coincides with another ratings win for the company's flagship television network, Great American Family.

A graphic featuring the logos of Great American Media and Pure Flix. Image: Great American Media.

Bill Abbott and his team at Great American Media are on a roll, having put the finishing touches on their deal to merge with Pure Flix just over a month after it was first announced. The latter outfit, which is a faith-based streaming platform owned by Sony Pictures, will now be run by Abbott in his capacity as CEO.

Great American Media President and CEO Bill Abbott will oversee the newly merged venture with Pure Flix. Image: Great American Media.

The 61-year-old is the former head of Hallmark Channel's parent company, which he left to found Great American Media in 2021. Abbott launched two networks under the new company's umbrella, including Great American Family - which is a direct competitor for Hallmark - and he has lured away many of that outfit's former stars, including Christian actress Candace Cameron Bure.

In a press release about this merger, Abbott stated that his company is "extremely excited that Sony Pictures has chosen to partner with us." He went on to add that he looks forward to combing forces with Pure Flix, believing that "these two dynamic organizations (will) accelerate Great American Media's growth strategy."

"The merger marks a significant milestone for our company, our employees, our business partners and our fans as we take an important step in our mission to become the leader in trusted, faith and family entertainment for a large and under-served market."

Great American Family, the flagship channel of Abbott's company, is already going strong, scoring another ratings win in the month of May: its total-day household rating was up 238% from the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. That marks the seventh straight month it has claimed the top spot in that category, making the cable network the fastest growing television channel in America.

Exactly how Abbott plans to integrate Pure Flix and its vast library of Christian content into his Great American Media family of outlets is not completely clear, but we suspect there will be significantly more faith-based movies and shows on Great American Family, its sister channel Great American Living and the company's ad-based streaming platform, Great American Adventures.