Complaints About Great American Family's Programming Sound Like the Israelites Before They Entered the Promised Land--Human Nature Never Changes!

If you follow Great American Family on social media or are a member of a GAF fan group, you've undoubtedly noticed a lot of murmuring and complaining lately. 

What's all the fuss?

Viewers want movies, but GAF's schedule is comprised of old reruns, like Little House on the Prairie, Murder She Wrote, Columbo, and Full House.  While these quality shows are family-friendly, they are dated (we loved them when they first aired, but that was then), plus, they are already syndicated on other networks.

Romcom movie fans who are desperate for an alternative to the ultra-woke Hallmark Channel are bitterly disappointed.  

A lot of hype surrounded Great American Family's launch in September 2021, and viewers expected a faster roll-out of new or acquired movies.

Do GAF fans have a legitimate reason to be upset?  Not really.  When you watch a duck glide across the pond, it doesn't look like much is happening to keep it afloat.  If you peer under the water, however, there's a lot of work going on!  It's the same with GAF.  Viewers might not see the results they want...yet...but rest assured, an incredible amount of energy and productivity is happening behind the scenes to deliver the type of content viewers crave.

Some surmise that our microwave society has caused us to demand instant gratification, which erodes our ability to wait patiently and graciously.  I would argue that people are the same as they've always been.

The Israelites Grumbled & Complained on the Way to the Promised Land--It Sounds Familiar!

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt.  God heard their cries of affliction and performed many signs and wonders against Pharoah until He miraculously delivered them from Egypt and sent them on their way to the land He promised to give them.  He provided for them in the wilderness and guided them as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  He sent manna from heaven for them to eat daily, and for 40 years, their clothes never wore out!

Despite all that God did for His people, they constantly complained.  The minute things didn't go the way they expected, they reacted negatively:

• A mere three days after leaving Egypt, the Israelites complained against God about the lack of water.

• They complained about having only manna to eat, so God gave them so much meat that it became "loathsome" to them.

• Forgetting how horrible their bondage was in Egypt, the people wanted to go back to being slaves!

• When God had Moses send men to spy out the land of Canaan, all but two came back with a negative report, which caused the people to moan that they would have rather died in Egypt or in the wilderness than deal with this.

• The Israelites complained about the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 

• When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments, the people made a golden calf idol to worship.

How is this Biblical account relevant to the feedback viewers are sharing about Great American Family's programming schedule?  Keep reading...

Former CEO of Hallmark Media, Bill Abbott, created the romcom movie magic many of us loved until the network took a hard left, anti-family turn, which led to his departure.

As the CEO of Great American Family, we can expect Abbott to fulfill his promise to create clean content that emphasizes faith, family, and country.

When GAF launched in the Fall of 2021, we were treated to 14 new movies right out of the gate.

The network experienced exponential growth in 2022, which brought us a total of 30 new movies to the network, some original and some freshly acquired.  

According to data from Nielsen, Great American Family was the fastest-growing cable network in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

The boost was largely contributed to the "Great American Christmas" franchise which increased its slate of holiday movies by 50% from 2021 to 2022.

Thus far in 2023, GAF has premiered eight movies.  The network announced we can expect two new movies for Fall 2023 and 21 all-new original Christmas movies starting in October 2023.

Great American Family's winning streak has extended into the first quarter of 2023--it ranked number one in ratings growth in households and total viewers.  This spurt is quite an accomplishment, especially considering that entertainment networks in general saw an average decline of -18% over the last year.

More Accomplishments from Great American Family

In addition to movies, Great American Family launched a unique app, Great American Community, which features short-form content from experts and your favorite GAF celebrities.  

GAF brought us two specials as well:  Great American Christmas in Kentucky and Great American Rescue Bowl.  

To celebrate March Madness, GAF created a fun Jingle Bell Bracket prediction game.  

A few movies have been released to DVD, the network became available on other channels, they have made GAF merchandise available (temporarily), and they launched a new book club, too!

Despite GAF's continued expansion, people keep complaining.

Here's a small sampling of the complaints GAF fans have shared on social media:

We want more movies!

GAF responded by showing several movies every weekend.  With their limited movie catalog, movies were repeated.

We want movies during the week!

In response, GAF began airing two movies each weeknight, even though they were drawing from a limited library.

We want Christmas movies all year!

GAF promised to show one Christmas movie every Friday night.

AFTER GIVING FANS WHAT THEY REQUESTED, HERE'S HOW FANS RESPONDED:    

We are sick of all the same movies playing over and over!

I only want to see Christmas movies during the holiday season, not all year long!

Play something else!

We want more mystery shows!

GAF heard and aired old reruns of family shows and sitcoms from decades ago across all the time slots, include mystery programs.

I don't want to watch all these old shows!  All the other networks are showing them too! 

What happened to the Christmas movies?

We want movies, even if you have to show the same ones over and over!

GAF brought back two movies for each Friday evening, including one Christmas movie, and continued to urge fans to be patient while they grow.

I'm going back to Hallmark!

I'm cancelling my subscription!

Why are you so focused on Christmas movies?  What about all the other seasons?

Scores of romcom fans, upset with the woke direction of Hallmark (Egypt), cried out for an alternative.  When GAF was established (the Promised Land), it lead to a mass exodus from Hallmark.  Now, as we wander in the wilderness of old reruns while we wait for new movies to flow like milk and honey from GAF under Abbott's proven leadership, the people grumble and complain, see only the negative (the Giants in Canaan), and threaten to run back to Egypt (Hallmark) where they at least have more movies.

Human nature never changes!

I know it takes time to build a catalog of content, but...fans keep reiterating.  They try to appear understanding when it's obvious they are testy.

Patience is a virtue.  We all want new movies, and we will get them.

Why Isn't Great American Family Showing More Movies?

This topic has been debated to death in social media fan groups.

Most of us who support and value GAF really have no inkling about all the mechanics that go into building a network from scratch and turning it into a successful business enterprise.  

Here are a few things we do know:

• When the Hallmark Channel launched, only a handful of new movies were released each year.  It took YEARS for them to grow the extensive movie library they have today.  Even now, they still air reruns of old shows for several hours each day.  GAF is being built strategically from the ground up, and the ratings prove the channel is gaining rapid momentum because there is an empty space in the marketplace for entertainment that is not infused with a political agenda.  You can't expect a channel that is less than two years old to be on equal footing with other networks that have been around for decades.

• New movies are expensive and time-consuming to create.  Acquiring older movies is also costly.  The most economical formula for growing a network is airing old and syndicated shows historically known to attract ratings while whetting an audience's appetite with new and original content.  The more people who watch GAF, the more attractive the network will be to advertisers.  The more advertisers GAF gains, the more capital they pull into their budget to produce new movies and series.

• Bill Abbott is doing the same thing with GAF that he did to grow Hallmark.  With today's woke culture, he understands the demand for quality, family-friendly content that reflects traditional American values.  GAF is going to be a shining light in a dark world, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

• For those wondering why GAF places a heavier emphasis on Christmas movies over other seasons, ask yourself this question:  why are retailers best stocked at Christmas than any other time?  Think of Black Friday.  It's the time of year when people are planning to spend the most amount of money to push retailers' profits into the black.  Similarly, everyone is inside and ready to watch Christmas movies that make them feel warm and cozy, and GAF is establishing itself as the go-to destination for Christmas movies.  The more revenue the holiday season generates for GAF, the more projects they can tackle the following year.  It's a smart business move.

The bottom line is that Great American Family is still establishing itself, and each year the network's data demonstrates substantial growth.

Grumbling and complaining does nothing.  You might say, "Well it's a free country.  I can state my opinion."  That's true, but you're using free speech to mask your pessimism and giving an evil report rather than a good report like Caleb and Joshua did when they saw Canaan.  Let's focus on GAF's accomplishments and anticipate all the good stuff that will be coming our way.

GAF knows we want movies.  Be patient.  Extend grace.  Stop complaining and threatening to cancel your service.  We want GAF to succeed so we have a "home" where our values and beliefs are respected.  Watch what you want and keep an eye on GAF's social media accounts to receive updates.  If you want to send your feedback to Great American Family, you can reach out to them on social media (they are very responsive) or send them a message here.  

UPDATE 4/17/23!!!

Bill Abbott sent an e-mail to fans with a movie update.  NEW movies are coming in June 2023, including one that's a little different than normal called Dream Wedding.  There will be a new movie premiere during GAF's Christmas in July, and in August, a new movie will premiere every weekend through the end of the year.  That's great news!

When you read how faithful God was to the Israelites and recount all the miraculous things He did for them, it's easy to marvel how quick they were to fall away, murmuring and complaining when things didn't happen the way they thought or took longer than they expected.  Their attitudes displeased God.

Yet, people are on social media grumbling and complaining about GAF's programming in the exact same way for the exact same reasons--things aren't happening the way they thought they would and are going a little slower than expected.

More movies and series are coming.  Think positive and stay tuned, or as Candace Cameron Bure states at the end of every podcast, "Be grateful, all day, every day!"