GAC Media - TV Cheddar

Great American Family announced that new romantic comedies will air every Saturday night. But fans still have the same question: How do I find the network?

Great American Family and its sister network, Great American Living, were launched in 2021 under the names GAC Family and GAC Living. Both channels are included in many basic cable packages and can be added to others for a fee. The channels can also be added (for a fee) to streaming packages from companies including DIRECTV Stream, FrndlyTV, FuboTV, Hulu Live TV, Philo, and SlingTV.

In an attempt to help viewers, the company has made posts on social media with the channel numbers for the networks on different cable providers:

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They also have a hotline for viewers to call for help. (The number is (855) 701-2804.)

The network has also said it has plans to release movies for sale and to stream them on an app.

Saturday night movies

Identical Love

After being left at the altar, Dr. Charlotte Hudson needs to escape life at home. So, she signs up to volunteer with a health clinic in a tropical country. But her plans of escaping are thrown off when she comes across her former fiancé’s identical twin brother, Seth (a dentist), who is also volunteering with the clinic.

The movie stars Shae Robins (My One True Love, Romance in the Outfield) and Mason D. Davis (Cryo, Grandpa’s Crazy?).

Love In Bloom

When her soon-to-be-married little sister and fiancé become marooned at a mountain retreat days before their wedding, Amelia and the best man are tasked with stepping in to save the day.

The movie stars Susie Abromeit (Much Ado About Christmas, King Richard) and Julian Haig (Riverdale, Five Bedrooms).

Prescription for Love

In this Cinderella story, Claire is a nurse with a supervisor who is intent on making her life miserable. However, on a rare and fun night off, she gets trapped in an elevator with a charming man. The next day she is introduced to him again, but he does not recognize her.

The movie stars Jillian Murray (Code Black, Christmas in the Pines) and Trevor Donovan (Jingle Bell Princess, 90210).

Just Add Love (this is a working title and could change)

April is a health-chef guru on the verge of notoriety, but her brand of cooking is failing. Despite her assurances that healthy is tasty, those who have tried her recipes disagree. Not willing to give up on her dream, April vows to reinvent herself. She goes to Italy to learn how to incorporate the country’s notorious rich culture of food in her own healthy recipes. She also meets Rob, a brilliant chef with big dreams of his own.

The movie stars Laura Mitchell (Love at Cedar Creek, Meeting Mr. Christmas) and Brad Johnson (A Crafty Christmas Romance, Switched for Christmas).

This Little Love of Mine

A workaholic lawyer returns to her island home to convince an old friend to take over his family’s company, but rekindled feelings soon get in the way.

The movie stars Saskia Hampele (The Heights, Neighbours) and Liam McIntyre (Flash, Star Wars: Resistance).

Showtimes are as follows:

Saturday, August 20 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT): Identical Love

Saturday, August 27 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT): Love in Bloom

Saturday, September 3 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT): Prescription for Love

Saturday, September 10 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT): Just Add Love

Saturday, September 17 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT): This Little Love of Mine

Fans who cannot currently get GAC channels through their cable subscription can rejoice: a GAC Family app is in the works. The head of GAC Media announced the launch of Great American Community, an app that will stream lifestyle, seasonal, and holiday content from the company’s two new networks.

“Since launching GAC Family original programming last October, fans have been asking us for more opportunities to engage with our roster of talent, which we believe is the best in the business,” said Bill Abbott, president and CEO of GAC Media. “Great American Community will serve as a stand-alone app delivering a completely new experience for consumers hungry for trusted, family-friendly content that is relevant to their lives.”

What is GAC?

GAC Media was launched in June 2021 by Abbott, who left his position as CEO of Crown Media Family Networks in 2020. The company purchased two cable networks and began showing content in September. The GAC Family network has been showing HGTV content, including Tiny House, Big Living and Aloha Builds. GAC Family has been showing reruns of family-friendly shows such as Who’s the Boss and Bewitched, while also debuting original romantic comedies.

Big names

During the 2021 holiday season, the network released 12 films starring actors such as Danica McKellar, Jen Lilley, Chad Michael Murray, and Brendan Fehr. The network has already released several movies this year and has started production on holiday content for the 2022 season.

GAC Media recently made headlines when Candace Cameron Bure signed a deal to produce and star in content for GAC Family.

GAC Family app

Though some fans of Hallmark have celebrated the addition of the new networks, some are concerned that they won’t be able to watch their favorite stars on GAC because they can’t access the channels. GAC Family and GAC Living are available on some but not all basic cable packages. The network currently isn’t available at all in Canada.

An app will allow fans to watch original content created for the networks without a cable subscription.

According to GAC Media, “The company has commissioned more than 200 hours of original content exclusively for the ad-supported app, which will be available in mobile app stores and on connected devices.”

Many of the actors and content producers are well-known to Hallmark audiences. According to the press release: “GAC Media has tapped veteran producer Tracy Verna (“Home and Family,” “The Price Is Right”) to oversee all content creation for Great American Community, which will include short-form lifestyle content featuring Debbie Matenopoulos (“Home & Family,” “The View”), Cameron Mathison (“Home & Family,” “General Hospital”); as well as Shirley Bovshow (“Home & Family,” home and gardening expert), Kym Douglas (“Home & Family,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” lifestyle expert), Maria Provenzano (“Home & Family,” DIY expert), Larissa Wohl (“Home & Family,” animal expert), Lawrence Zarian (“Home & Family,” “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” fashion expert), Toya Boudy (culinary expert), Amber Kemp-Gerstel (DIY expert), Emily Hutchinson (baking expert), Jamie Tarence (cooking expert), Mahaila McKellar (lifestyle expert); and other fan-favorite stars from GAC Family, including Jen Lilley, Jill Wagner, Danica McKellar, and Trevor Donovan.

Great American Community is expected to launch in September 2022.

GAC Media CEO: Too much of today's TV content salacious

The former CEO of Crown Media said that too much of today’s TV content is salacious. Bill Abbott said that a “quantity over quality” philosophy has taken over at some networks.

In an appearance on the Up Next with John Contratti podcast, Bill Abbott talked about his two new networks, GAC Family and GAC Living, and his attempt to expand the realm of family-friendly programming on television.

“Not all rom-coms are created equal,” Abbott said. “Just because someone makes a rom-com doesn’t mean that it has a lot of heart and emotion.”

In the interview, Abbott mentioned his 20-year tenure at Crown Media, the company that owns Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. He did not elaborate on why he chose to leave the company in early 2020. He did say he hopes to make his two new networks a home for quality family-friendly television.

Too much of today’s TV content is salacious

“There’s so much need for family content in the market and in this space,” he said. “You know, it’s pretty scary, quite frankly, the amount of content that’s out there…the vast majority of content that’s salacious and just is not appropriate for any member of the family.”

A native of Long Island, Abbott started his career in advertising after earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature from College of the Holy Cross. He quickly became interested in television ratings and programming and moved on to work as a manager representing television stations around the country.

“I learned so much about what works, what doesn’t, what programming resonates,” he said.

At Crown Media, he helped produce both shows and movies, something he hopes to do with GAC Media.

Abbott made headlines in June 2021 when he announced he had partnered with Dallas-based Hicks Equity Partners to purchase two networks in a deal Bloomberg estimated at $90 million.

Programming began in September 2021 on both networks, and GAC Family aired 12 original movies by the end of December. So far this year, the network has released The Winter Palace and Harmony From the Heart, and Abbott mentioned he was scouting locations in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Texas for more productions.

What’s on at GAC

In addition to movies, GAC Family has been showing reruns of I Dream of Jeannie, Full House, Fuller House, Who’s the Boss, and Bewitched. GAC Living has been showing old HGTV content, but the network will ultimately produce its own lifestyle and cooking programs.

Abbott said he is interested first and foremost in giving people a place to go for simple, feel-good programming.

“You get home from work, the last thing a lot of people want to do is have, you know, more problem or see situations…that make them uncomfortable,” he said. “So we just want to be that lean-back experience in the linear space that you can count on, and you know what you’re going to get when you turn on our network.”

Saturday night movies

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What is GAC?

Big names

GAC Family app

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GAC Media CEO: Too much of today's TV content salacious

Too much of today’s TV content is salacious

What’s on at GAC

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