Former Hallmark Channel head Bill Abbott’s GAC Media launched its first free ad-supported streaming television channel, Great American Adventures, on Comcast’s Xumo platform.
The channel focuses on Americana, with 500 hours of scripted and unscripted programming highlighting subjects including Southern cooking and do-it-yourself projects.
Series on the channel include Southern Fried Skinnyfied with Paige Duke and Patti LaBelle’s Place.
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Abbott launched GAC Media by buying two cable networks and rebranding them as GAC Family and GAC Living in 2021. GAC Family follows the Hallmark playbook, featuring original holiday movies and family-friendly series. The new streaming network gets GAC Media into the fast-growing connected TV space, which is attracting viewers and advertisers.
“The launch of Great American Adventures is a new growth milestone for GAC Media as the company expands into the FAST TV sector,” Erin McIlvain, chief officer, distribution and content strategy at GAC Media, said. “This new partnership with Xumo will broaden the viewing ecosystem for our content allowing us to reach a new audience while further serving our existing fans with entertaining programming that celebrates Americana.”
Xumo was acquired by Comcast in 2020 and features 250 channels of free premium programming.
“Great American Adventures is a perfect fit as a FAST channel on Xumo,” senior VP of programming and partnerships Stefan Van Engen said. “It’s always the right time to enjoy and celebrate the kind of everyday American traditions we all know and love. Great American Adventures delivers the high-caliber content that allows us to engage millions of viewers across our network.”
Xumo will become part of the joint venture Comcast and Charter Communications are starting to create a new streaming platform. ■