Great American Channels (GAC), owner of several family-oriented cable channels, has inked a deal with Xumo to launch Great American Adventures – its first free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel.
Great American Adventures is said to boast over 500 hours of scripted and unscripted content. Featured themes include southern cooking, “do it yourself” programming and more.
Erin McIlvain, chief officer of distribution and content strategy at GAC Media, called the FAST launch a “new growth milestone” for the company.
“This new partnership with Xumo will broaden the viewing ecosystem for our content allowing us to reach a new audience while further serving our existing fans with entertaining programming that celebrates Americana,” she noted in a statement.
GAC, formerly known as Great American Country, was previously owned by Discovery, which divested the company in June 2021. Rebranded as GAC Media, the network is currently spearheaded by Bill Abbott, former Crown Media CEO.
GAC Media oversees two cable channels, GAC Family and GAC Living. Orby TV, a defunct satellite TV service planning to return to market, named Great American Country as one of the channels in its future programming lineup.
GAC’s Xumo integration comes as more media companies get into the FAST space. Just last month, DistroTV added 120 FAST channels, which are available in more than 60 markets. Cinedigm also rolled out a dedicated Elvis Presley FAST channel to seven platforms, including Amazon Freevee, Vizio and Xumo.
Xumo, acquired by Comcast in 2020, was one of the early entrants to the FAST market. It features over 250 channels from Hallmark, CBS, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) among others. Interestingly, the service last fall began streaming select movies without ads.
“Great American Adventures is a perfect fit as a FAST channel on Xumo,” said Stefan Van Engen, Xumo’s SVP of programming and partnerships, in a statement. He added GAC’s content will allow Xumo “to engage millions of viewers across our network.”
Xumo is likely to further increase its audience reach, as it’s been tapped as one of the platforms to be incorporated in Comcast and Charter’s recently-formed joint venture.
Despite FAST’s rising popularity, FAST providers have a considerable amount of unfilled ad time, One Touch Intelligence’s Michael Grebb noted in a March Fierce Video column.
According to OTI’s STREAMTRAK report from January and February, Xumo saw roughly 140 minutes of unfilled ad time, whereas Pluto TV recorded 463 minutes. Grebb suggests such results aren’t surprising, considering the still nascent nature of these services. But more FAST channels are likely to crop up, especially as viewers continue to consume ad-supported content.