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Christian Broadcasting Network
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Christian Broadcasting Network | |
| Type | Religious broadcasting |
|---|---|
| Country | United States of America |
| Availability | seen internationally; some shows carried by Trinity Broadcasting Network, FamilyNet, LeSEA and Sky Angel |
| Website | www.cbn.com |
The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a Christian television broadcasting network in the United States. Its headquarters and main studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
CBN was founded by evangelist Pat Robertson in 1961. He devised for it a religious variety program format that has been successfully used in religious broadcasting ever since. One of the mainstays of the network is The 700 Club, the longest-running program using that same variety format. Other programs include religious news programs such as CBN NewsWatch and Christian World News, and the talk-show Living the Life, hosted by 700 Club co-host Terry Meeuwsen and seen on ABC Family.
CBN also manages Operation Blessing, an international relief and missionary effort.
CBN also has international programming, producing local programs, from Solusi (Indonesia) to From Heart to Heart (Thailand). CBN India alone produces five weekly series. CBN has versions of the The 700 Club aimed at Latin American (Club 700 Hoy) and British audiences (The 700 Club With Paul and Fiona) [1]. Altogether CBN has broadcast programs in over 70 languages.
Originally a full fledged network, CBN was later renamed The Family Channel. Eventually "FAM" was sold to Fox and known as the "Fox Family Channel". Fox later sold it to Disney, which renamed it "ABC Family". CBN exists now as a production company for The 700 Club, and the other syndicated shows CBN NewsWatch, Christian World News, Living the Life, and One Cubed. CBN and Regent University jointly produced the film First Landing. [2] The current news director is Rob Allman.
Some of CBN's programs are also aired on Sky Angel, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Cornerstone Television, FamilyNet, LeSEA Broadcasting and Middle East Television (which was founded and owned by CBN, until sold in the early 2000s to LeSEA), all Evangelical Christian networks.
CBN.com – VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, December 3, 2007—Pat Robertson announced at the quarterly meeting of the CBN Board of Directors his desire to continue as Chairman of the Board, but to relinquish his duties as Chief Executive Officer of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), effective immediately. Robertson who will be 78 in March founded CBN in 1960. He has been the ministry’s Chief Executive Officer since its founding.
From a tiny rundown UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia, CBN has grown to a worldwide ministry employing approximately 2,800 and having sent out programs in 99 languages to over 225 countries with domestic studios in Virginia Beach and Nashville, and overseas studios in Manila, Jakarta, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kiev. Its humanitarian arm, Operation Blessing International, is responsible for humanitarian and disaster relief caring for an estimated 9.5 million people worldwide in 2007.
As Chairman, Pat Robertson will continue active involvement in the ministry he founded as well as the Presidency of Regent University.
The CBN Board voted unanimously to appoint Gordon Robertson as Chief Executive Officer of the corporation and Vice Chairman of the Board, reporting to the Chairman.
Gordon Robertson holds a baccalaureate degree from Yale University and a juris doctor degree from Washington & Lee Law School. Upon graduation from law school, he began a law career with the Norfolk law firm Vandeventer, Black and became a partner specializing in real estate and corporate law. He left the practice of law to serve the ministry of CBN. He lived in Manila in the Philippines for five years and was placed in charge of CBN’s Asian operations in China, India, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia. At present, Gordon Robertson has assumed expanded responsibilities in addition to Asia to include the production of CBN’s flagship program, The 700 Club, its national and international news, and its digital media division. As CEO, he will lead an expanded effort to enlarge the scope of CBN’s penetration into all phases of digital communications. Gordon Robertson is married to the former Katharyn Banks. Katharyn was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of William and Mary. The couple has three children and resides in Norfolk, Virginia.
At one time, CBN owned a number of broadcast television stations, including the following:
- WANX, Atlanta (now CBS affiliate WGCL)
- WXNE-TV, Boston (now Fox affiliate WFXT)
- KXTX, Dallas/Fort Worth (now a Telemundo affiliate)
- WGNT, Norfolk (now a CW affiliate)
- WVRN, Richmond, Virginia (now defunct)
Between 1969 and 1982, CBN owned a simulcast network of five FM stations in upstate New York, known as CBN Northeast. This station group was originally constructed in 1948 by a farming cooperative as the Rural Radio Network but split up following CBN's sale of the licenses to separate owners.