Great American Family continued its momentum from 2022 into the new year by ranking as the fastest-growing network for the first quarter of 2023, the second straight quarter it has claimed that label.
A rival of Hallmark, Great American Family ranked No. 1 in ratings growth in households (+121 percent) and total viewers (+118 percent), according to a news release. For primetime viewing, it also ranked No. 1 in ratings growth in households (+118 percent) and total viewers (+124 percent).
“The increase in audience marks the second consecutive quarter in which Great American Family was TV’s fastest-growing network,” the news release said.
The network recently announced it was making 21 original Christmas movies for the 2023 holiday season, an increase from the 18 broadcast last year.
The films feature such popular actors and actresses as Candace Cameron Bure, Daniel Lissing, Jill Wagner, Cameron Mathison, Jen Lilley, Danica McKellar, Neal Bledsoe and Jessica Lowndes.
Bill Abbott, CEO of parent company Great American Media, said last year he wants the network to be “relentlessly family-friendly.”
The network has embraced faith content. On Good Friday at 4 Eastern, Great American Family will broadcast The Passion Play commercial free. It was produced by the Shepherd Church in California.
“The performances are Broadway-worthy and the story will bring you to your knees,” Bure wrote on Instagram.
Bure’s faith-centric Christmas film A Christmas … Present won two MovieGuide awards. It won for best Best Family Television, while Bure herself won a MovieGuide Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance in TV.
“Massive thank you to @billabbotthc and @gactv for being unashamed to share scripture and the name of Jesus on cable television and for your dedication to faith and family entertainment,” Bure wrote on Instagram this year. “... My heart is full of gratitude and love.”
Related:
Candace Cameron Bure Leaves Hallmark, Signs with Family-Friendly Rival GAC Media
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Skynesher
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
