Great American Family

Great American Family
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaNationwide
HeadquartersArlington, Texas
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format
Ownership
OwnerGreat American Media
Sister channelsGreat American Faith & Living
History
LaunchedDecember 31, 1995 (1995-12-31)
Former namesGreat American Country (1995–2021)
GAC (1995–2013; secondary branding throughout run of network)
GAC Family (2021–2022)
Links
Websitewww.gacfamily.com
Availability
Streaming media
Service(s)DirecTV Stream, Frndly TV, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Philo, Sling TV, Vidgo TV

Great American Family is an American cable television network owned by Great American Media. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming such as television series and made-for-TV movies—some of which containing faith-based themes.

It was originally established in 1995 by Jones Radio Network as Great American Country (GAC), a country music channel. GAC was later acquired by Scripps Networks and, in turn, Discovery Inc.; under Scripps, GAC was relaunched to focus primarily upon lifestyle programming pertaining to the American Heartland and the South, with country music programming being gradually phased out.

On June 28, 2021, the channel was acquired by GAC Media—a new ownership group that includes former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott, and Hicks Equity Partners. On September 27, 2021, the network was relaunched as GAC Family (later Great American Family); its format mirrors the programming strategies Abbott had developed while at Hallmark Channel, including a focus on original movies and specials tied to holidays. Its productions also leverage talent previously associated with Hallmark Channel, such as Candace Cameron Bure (who was also named chief content officer). The previous country lifestyle format was moved to Ride TV—a second channel acquired by GAC Media–which was concurrently relaunched as the sister network GAC Living (later Great American Faith & Living).

As of February 2015, GAC was available to approximately 59 million television households (51% of pay television customers) in the United States.