Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 06/16/23

Great American Media and Sony Pictures Television’s Pure Flix have officially completed their previously announced merger.  The deal joins Great American Media’s family-friendly linear and FAST (free ad-supporting streaming TV) channels with the Pure Flix faith-and-family service into a single consolidated entity. Great American Media retains a majority interest in the merged company and oversees day-to-day management of the organization. GAM head Bill Abbott serves as CEO and reports to the combined company’s board of directors.

About the agreement, Abbott says “The merger marks a significant milestone for our company, our employees, our business partners and our fans as we take an important step in our mission to become the leader in trusted, faith and family entertainment for a large and under-served market…We are extremely excited that Sony Pictures has chosen to partner with us and we look forward to combining these two dynamic organizations to accelerate Great American Media’s growth strategy.”

Pure Flix is a leading streaming service in providing faith and family-friendly movies and series, while Great American Media’s flagship network Great American Family is currently in approximately 50M homes and recently celebrated seven consecutive months as TV’s fastest-growing network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

With father’s day upon us, here are 10 TV father moments that stand the test of time.

1. Archie Bunker, All in the Family
Archie definitely had his flaws (though he evolved along the way) but he loved his little goil.

2. Andy Taylor, The Andy Griffith Show
Sheriff Andy Taylor explains the Golden Rule to Opie.

3. Frank Reagan, Blue Bloods

Fathers often don’t brag about their heroism – but deserve a medal anyway.

4. Ben Cartwright, Bonanza
A father searches for – and finds – his lost son.

4. Cliff Huxtable, The Cosby Show
Separating the actor from the character he played, this stands out as one of TV’s classic father-son scenes.

4. Frank Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond
Frank Barone certainly wasn’t a perfect father but he broke the cycle of physical abuse in his family and that’s not nothing.

5. Martin Crane, Frasier

A father’s life advice.