ROBERTSON, PAT 1930-

TELEVANGELIST; FOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN
BROADCASTING NETWORK

Background

In 1960 Marion ("Pat") Robertson, son of a U.S. senator from Virginia and graduate of Yale Law School, purchased a UHF television station in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He had gone through a religious experience that led him to the New York Theological Seminary and showed him how, as he explained, he was ready to carry out God's order to begin a religious television ministry. His original audience was small. Not only did the signals of UHF stations have a limited range, only recently had television manufacturers been forced to make sets that could receive their signals. Robertson struggled in his early years. At a low point he asked for seven hundred listeners to join his ministry by contributing ten dollars a month to keep his station on the air. The response of what he called his "faith partners" was astounding, and the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) was underway.

The 700 Club

By the 1970s CBN and The 700 Club, hosted by Jim Bakker in its early years, began to spread by syndication across the country. Initially Robertson bought time on other UHF stations in the nation's major cities, and by the end of the decade his 120 channels covered most of the major markets. He quickly recognized the potential of the cable systems, which were growing in most urban markets. These companies needed more than local channels to attract customers and were often willing to rent cheaply or even give away time for their excess channels.

Satellite

Robertson also moved quickly when satellite technology became available for commercial use. His satellite was the first to lease satellite space to link his stations by direct broadcast. He also made money by permitting other programmers to rent time from his system.

CBN University

CBN's growth was stunning, and as contributions poured into the ministry Robertson decided to expand his range from broadcasting to education. In 1978 he opened CBN University, now Regents University, in Virginia.

New Religious Right

Robertson, like many conservative Evangelicals, expressed growing concern about what he saw as the moral decay of the nation. By the end of the 1970s he was ready to join others in the New Religious Right to enter politics and change those government policies he believed encouraged the decline of faith and values.

Sources:

Dick Dabnesy, "God's Own Network: The TV Kingdom of Pat Robertson," Harpers, 261 (August 1980): 33-52;

Janice Peck, The Gods of Televangelism (Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 1993);

Richard Quebedeaux, The Worldly Evangelicals (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978);

Pat Robertson, Shout It from the Housetops (South Plainfield, N.J.: Bridge, 1977).