CEO Bill Abbott Discusses the Launch of Great American Media

CEO of American Family Media Bill Abbott and screen star Mario Lopez. The company is launching its "Great American Family Christmas Festival" on Nov. 22. Great American Media

Over the course of three decades I’ve interviewed close to 500 movie and entertainment individuals: writers, directors, and on-screen performers. This was the first time I’ve interviewed the CEO of a major entertainment company.

Bill Abbott is the current president and CEO of Great American Media (GAM) and Pure Flix, companies specializing in family and faith-based entertainment. Prior to GAM, Abbott was the CEO of Crown Media, the parent company of the Hallmark Channel.

Bill Abbott, CEO of Great American Media. Great American Media

It’s safe to say Abbott is a pioneer in the faith and family branch of entertainment, one of the fastest growing markets, not only in the United States but the entire globe.

Michael Clark: You began your media career at The Family Channel in 1988, is that correct? Bill Abbott: That is correct.

Clark: You were “family friendly” before it was cool. To what do you attribute the swelling audience numbers consuming faith and family-based entertainment? Abbott: Great question. I think the world has gone so far in the other direction. All day long you can see programs that aren’t appropriate for children. I think it’s a migration toward really shocking content that has led people to look for something that is different. They long for the day when TV was the subject of watercooler exchanges, when people talked about great wholesome stories, writing, and characters and not what is most shocking or headline-grabbing.

Clark: According to Wikipedia, “In 2004, [Abbott] oversaw the launch of Hallmark Movie Channel. During his tenure as EVP of advertising sales, Hallmark Channel’s annual advertising revenue increased from $10.2 million to $223 million.” Is that an accurate statement? Abbott: Sounds about right.

Clark: With that kind of unqualified success, what made you decide to leave Hallmark for Great American Media? Abbott: In 2016 to 2017, the parent company (Crown Media) went from a publicly owned company to privately owned where the quality of the content became less of a priority, and I felt it was time to move on.

Clark: Can you describe the genesis of Great American Media and where it is now? Abbott: There is a very dedicated set of investors that believe that the culture would benefit from the celebration of faith, family, and country. That was the premise on which GAM was founded. Great American Country,” which in 2020 was owned by Discovery, was acquired and rebranded as Great American Family—with a family focus.

In 2020 to 2023, we were blessed when Sony had just purchased Pure Flix. They came to us looking to roll Pure Flix into our company and to invest in our business; this established us in the streaming space. Those elements were really the key moments in our history and evolution. Along with that, there has been much more content created, and it is something that is very unique in the entertainment space.

TV and movie star Candace Cameron Bure is now chief creative officer for the company and stars in the upcoming "A Christmas Less Travelled." Great American Media

Clark: Please tell our readers about the upcoming launch of the “Great American Christmas 2024.” Abbott: We’re really excited this year more than ever. Not only do we have a bigger library to draw from, but we have two new special Candace Cameron Bure Christmas titles. She’s far too humble to ever admit it or own the “Christmas Queen” moniker, but if you look back over time, she has, by far and away, the highest-rated movies in this genre.

One of our rare theatrical releases is called “I Heard the Bells,” which is a story about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the author of the poem to which the song, “I Heard the Bells of Christmas Day” is based on, and how that song came to be.

Poster for “I Heard the Bells” about how Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem, "Christmas Bells.” Great American Media

Clark: Is there a website our readers can visit to see everything that’s available to view? Abbott: Yes, GreatAmericanFamily.com

Clark: You have a very big event coming up on Nov. 22: “The Great American Family Christmas Festival” at The Northwell Park at UBS Arena in New York. Tell us about it. Abbott: UBS is a recently constructed arena that is the new home of the New York Islanders, located just outside of Belmont Park. We’re using the space in between Belmont and the UBS arena to stage an immersive Christmas experience. This would include [meeting our] talent, Santa’s Workshop, a daily tree-lighting ceremony, movie screenings—all of the things that make up the Christmas experience.

"The Great American Family Christmas Festival" kicks off on Nov. 22 in Belmont, New York. Great American Family

Clark: So, this is a ticketed event in New York. Do you have any plans to do a screening simulcast or home video of the event later on down the road for those that can’t travel to New York? Abbott: Yes, the Islanders have a live TV broadcasting facility where they produce pregame shows 40 nights a year. We’re working closely with them to make the event available to those who cannot attend.

(L–R) Jon Ledecky, co-owner of NHL’s Islanders hockey team and GAM's partner in the "Great American Family Christmas Festival," with GAM star Danica McKellar, and CEO Bill Abbott. Great American Media

Clark: With the growing popularity of studios like Angel, have you considered GAM exploring the theatrical feature market? Abbott: First off, Angel does that extremely well. Theatrical is not something we’re focused on now. Instead, we’re producing more cost-effective “singles and doubles” type of productions for our 24/7 platforms, rather than one-off movies. Our Pure Flix division has produced the enormously popular “God’s Not Dead” franchise, which is very successful.

Clark: I was saving the most important, hardest-hitting question for last. Abbott: Fire away.

Clark: What is the history behind “The Kitten Bowl?” Abbott: [pause, laughs] We started this at the other place 10, 15 years ago. It was something that allowed us to give back to St. Jude’s and other disaster relief organizations, specifically for animal rescue efforts. As the digital migration was really happening in the early 2010s, we invented this because we felt like the Internet was invented for watching cat videos [laughs]. We took a page out of the “Animal Planet” playbook with its “Puppy Bowl,” but for cats. It’s been rebranded as the “Rescue Bowl” and helps raise awareness regarding adoption and spay/neuter.

We started it as counterprogramming for the “Super Bowl Sunday” pregame marathon. It’s the perfect event if you’re at a Super Bowl party with children. It serves a lot of purposes.

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