# Christian Broadcasting Network The largest and longest-running Christian-conservative broadcast network in the United States — founded by [[Pat Robertson]] in 1960 in Portsmouth, Virginia, headquartered in Virginia Beach, and the institutional core of the Robertson family's religious-political-business empire. CBN's flagship program, *The 700 Club* (originally a fundraising telethon, later a daily talk show), debuted in 1966 and has run continuously since, providing the longest-running daily venue in American media for charismatic-evangelical political commentary, religious-prophecy speculation, and right-wing political mobilization. CBN has produced both straightforwardly religious programming and increasingly newsy political-commentary programming over the decades, with the news side functioning as one of the foundational infrastructures of the Religious Right's parallel media ecosystem. The institutional spine the Robertson empire built around CBN is **unusually intricate** and analytically important. From CBN, Robertson built [[Regent University]] (1977; originally CBN University) for higher education; [[American Center for Law and Justice]] (1990) for religious-liberty litigation; the [[Christian Coalition]] of America (1989, briefly hugely influential, since substantially diminished) for voter mobilization; Operation Blessing for international relief; the Family Channel cable network (later sold to ABC); and a substantial business portfolio (CBN diamonds, CBN Asia, the eventual sale of the 700 Club Inc. equity stakes). The model — religious nonprofit + university + legal nonprofit + voter-mobilization nonprofit + business arm — became the template for several other Religious Right empire-builders, but Robertson's was the original. For the Right Wing KB, CBN is the **dispensationalist / Christian-Zionist / charismatic-evangelical broadcast layer** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]. Its ideological orientation has been consistent: providentialist [[American Exceptionalism]], strong [[Christian Zionism]] Israel-policy advocacy, dispensationalist eschatological speculation, charismatic-Pentecostal religious sensibility, and aggressively pro-Republican political commentary. After Robertson's 2023 death, the network has continued under his son Gordon Robertson's leadership, with the political-commentary slot increasingly occupied by [[Jay Sekulow]]'s daily radio show and the broader ACLJ-aligned content layer. ## Founding and Early History [[Pat Robertson]] founded CBN on **January 11, 1960**, in Portsmouth, Virginia, with a single UHF television station (WYAH-TV, now WGNT). Robertson, the son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson (D-VA), had graduated from Yale Law School before experiencing a religious conversion and attending New York Theological Seminary. He purchased the defunct station for a nominal price and began broadcasting religious programming with minimal equipment and almost no funding. The network relocated to **Virginia Beach** in the late 1960s and built what would become its permanent headquarters and production campus — a complex that eventually included CBN, [[Regent University]], and related Robertson enterprises. ## *The 700 Club* CBN's flagship program originated in **1966** as a **telethon** — Robertson asked 700 viewers to pledge $10 per month to keep the station on the air (hence "The 700 Club"). The format evolved from fundraising telethon to daily talk show, combining Robertson's theological commentary, charismatic-evangelical prayer segments, news reporting, and increasingly political-conservative commentary. *The 700 Club* has run **continuously since 1966** — making it one of the longest-running daily programs in American television history. Robertson hosted the program until his later years, when **Gordon Robertson** (his son) and co-hosts assumed primary hosting duties. The program's viewership peaked in the 1980s–1990s; current estimates place daily viewership at approximately **500,000–800,000**, distributed through CBN's own cable carriage and the Freeform (formerly ABC Family) timeslot. ## The Family Channel and Cable Empire Robertson launched **CBN Cable Network** in **1977** (later renamed **The Family Channel** in 1988), building one of the early cable networks by distributing CBN's religious and family programming. The Family Channel became a valuable cable property and was sold to **Fox Kids Worldwide** (a News Corp subsidiary) in **1997 for approximately $1.9 billion**. Fox subsequently sold it to **Disney/ABC** in **2001 for approximately $5.3 billion** — it became **ABC Family** and eventually **Freeform**. Crucially, the sale agreements included a **perpetual carriage clause** requiring the channel to continue airing *The 700 Club* — meaning Robertson's program continues to appear on a Disney-owned cable network (Freeform) to this day, providing CBN with mainstream cable distribution long after the channel's ownership passed out of Robertson's hands. This contractual arrangement is one of the most unusual legacy provisions in American media. ## The Robertson Institutional Empire CBN was the foundation from which Robertson built a suite of institutional vehicles: - **[[Regent University]]** (1977, as CBN University) — higher education - **[[American Center for Law and Justice]]** (1990) — religious-liberty litigation - **Christian Coalition of America** (1989) — voter mobilization - **Operation Blessing International** (1978) — international relief - **The Family Channel** — cable television (sold) - Various business ventures (diamond mining, protein shakes, race horses) ### The Christian Coalition The **Christian Coalition of America** was founded in **1989** from the remnants of Robertson's 1988 presidential campaign organization. **[[Ralph Reed]]** served as executive director (1989–1997), building it into arguably the most effective evangelical-political organizing vehicle of the 1990s — with a reported **1.7 million members** at peak and a voter-guide distribution operation that reached millions of evangelical congregations before elections. The Coalition declined sharply after Reed's departure and a series of financial and organizational crises; it is now a minimal operation. ### Robertson's 1988 Presidential Campaign Robertson ran for the **Republican presidential nomination in 1988**, finishing second in the Iowa caucuses (ahead of George H.W. Bush) before fading in subsequent primaries. The campaign demonstrated the organizational capacity of the charismatic-evangelical constituency and generated the donor and volunteer infrastructure that became the Christian Coalition. ### Operation Blessing **Operation Blessing International** has been CBN's international-relief arm since 1978. The organization has conducted disaster-relief and development work globally but has been the subject of controversy — most notably allegations that Operation Blessing aircraft in Zaire (now DRC) in the 1990s were used to transport equipment for Robertson's **African Development Corporation** diamond-mining operation rather than exclusively for relief purposes. A Virginia state investigation examined the allegations but did not produce charges. ## CBN News CBN operates a news division (**CBN News**) that has grown from a small in-house operation into a multi-platform news organization with bureaus in Washington, D.C. and **Jerusalem**. The Jerusalem bureau reflects CBN's [[Christian Zionism]] editorial orientation — Israel coverage is a centerpiece of CBN News programming. The news division covers U.S. politics and international affairs from an explicitly conservative-evangelical perspective and functions as part of the right-wing parallel media ecosystem alongside [[Fox News]], Newsmax, and conservative-Christian digital outlets. ## Post-Robertson Era Pat Robertson died on **June 8, 2023**, at age **93**. His son **Gordon Robertson** — who had been serving as CEO and increasingly as the primary on-air presence — assumed full operational control. Gordon Robertson has maintained CBN's editorial orientation and institutional structure without substantial changes. CBN's annual revenue is approximately **$282 million** (recent reporting), making it one of the largest religious broadcasting organizations in the United States. ## KB Significance CBN is the **foundational broadcast-media node** of the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]'s charismatic-evangelical strain. The Robertson institutional model — religious nonprofit + university + legal nonprofit + voter-mobilization nonprofit + business arm, all controlled by a single family — became the template for evangelical empire-building. The perpetual Freeform carriage clause means CBN's programming continues to reach mainstream cable audiences decades after Robertson's personal influence waned. The Jerusalem bureau and the ECLJ/ACLJ international operations make CBN the primary institutional vehicle for Christian-Zionist media and advocacy. ## See Also - [[Pat Robertson]] - [[Regent University]] - [[American Center for Law and Justice]] - [[Jay Sekulow]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]] - [[Christian Zionism]] - [[Dispensationalism]]