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was sold to the Fox Network and eventually acquired by Disney). The show’s host and
founder, Pat Robertson, launched the program as a way to evangelize to the nation and
the world. Born Marion Gordon Robertson in 1930, this well-educated son of a U.S.
senator decided to pursue the ministry and, after attending seminary, was ordained in the
Southern Baptist Church in 1961. Two years earlier, Robertson, who had become an
Evangelical and a Charismatic, bought a rundown UHF station for the purposes of
becoming a religious broadcaster, and founded CBN the year of his ordination. Five
years later, the already launched 700 Club went to regular programming. In 1988,
Robertson resigned from the ministry to run for President; following his failed bid,
Robertson returned to CBN and the 700 Club, now calling himself not an evangelist but a
religious broadcaster. Over the years, Robertson’s Christian broadcasting empire has
grown into satellite broadcasting and multiple media holdings, its value finally exceeding
one billion dollars by 1997 (Christian Broadcasting Network website, 2002; Erickson,
1992; Melton, Lucas, and Stone, 1997).
Over the years, the show has gone through an evolution of forms and co-hosts.
Initially, Jim Bakker co-hosted with Robertson in a freewheeling format that included
telling the Gospel, testimonials from guests, casting out demons from and healing
members of the audience, raising money through telethons, and a discussion of
contemporary issues from Robertson. In 1972, the show was syndicated nationally and
restructured, and 1980 saw yet another retooling of the program to the basic format one
sees today. Currently, the program is carried on 95 percent of the nation’s television
markets and purports to reach a daily average of one million viewers (Christian
Broadcasting Network website, 2002).
Convention