Debbie Matenopoulos, Cameron Mathison, and Lizzy Mathis among stars who will host new shows for Great American Media. The company, which was founded by former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott, will introduce 15 new short-format shows this fall through the Great American Community app.
“We are thrilled to be launching Great American Community with fifteen new, always-on series that are topical, relatable and hosted by our growing family of recognizable talent,” said Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media, in a statement to Deadline. “This new platform represents an important evolution of the company’s digital strategy and gives our passionate fans a fun and engaging new way to interact with our stars in a trusted, family-friendly environment, 365 days a year.”
New shows for Great American Media
TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos has already started releasing short videos on her Instagram account of recipes and fashion tips in preparation for the release of her series, The Modern Mom with Debbie Matenopoulos.
In recent videos, she showed fans how to make a summer salad and berry smoothie, and showed off her new pair of Doc Marten boots.
“I can’t believe I am going to say this next, but I recently bought myself a pair of Dr. Marten boots,” she wrote. “Yes…the kind we used to wear in high school. I don’t know what came over me, but the people who worked in the store got me all excited and I was feeling very nostalgic and slipped back into my 15 year old self.”
Her new show is similar to Home and Family, which she co-hosted with Cameron Mathison on Hallmark Channel. That series ran from April 2012 to August 2021. In a recent interview, Matenopoulos called her time on the show the best years of her life.
“With Home and Family, our job was to spread joy,” she told The Good Men Project. “Legitimately, my job every day for nine years was to go to work and make people smile. Not discuss politics, not discuss religion, but to just say, ‘Hey, how are you doing today? Spend the next two hours with me. We are going to bake a cake. We are going to talk about celebrities and their pet projects.”
Great American Community
Great American Media was launched in 2021 by Bill Abbott, who was president and CEO of Hallmark before departing the network in 2020. Great American runs two networks, Great American Family and Great American Living.
“We want to be the leader and family television,” Abbott said on a March episode of the Up Next with John Contratti. “We think that we’ve assembled a terrific team, not only at our networks, but also on the talent side; people who are well known to the audience and the audience loves.”
The company has already released a slate of movies starring actors such as Jen Lilley, Danica McKellar, and Trevor Donovan. But the channels aren’t available through all cable providers. The app will allow viewers access to Great American material even if they can’t watch the channels.