Trinity Broadcasting Network

The Trinity Broadcasting Network, or TBN, is the world's largest Christian television network, Founded by Paul and Jan Crouch in 1973, the network now has a larger U.S. viewership than its three main competitor networks combined. It owns twenty-three U.S. full-power television stations and 252 low-power rural stations, and boasts five million viewer households per week in the U.S. TBN is carried on over six thousand television stations in the U.S., and on thousands of cable television systems in seventy-five countries around the world, where its programs are translated into eleven languages.

Brief history

TBN began in 1973 when the elder Crouchs rented air time on a local UHF channel in Santa Ana, California. Jim and Tammy Bakker assisted them with the network and lived with them for a time. The Bakkers soon left—Paul Crouch claiming that Jim Bakker attempted to take over TBN but failed—and the Bakkers headed for South Carolina where they founded their own PTL Network. TBN spread from UHF stations to cable outlets and then to satellite distribution.

Related Topics:
UHF - Santa Ana, California - Jim - Tammy Bakker - PTL Network

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Recently, TBN has been purchasing independent television stations to gain cable carriage, due to FCC must-carry rules. As a result, TBN is seen in 95% of American households, as of early 2005. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA527238.html?display=News&referral=SUPP

Related Topics:
FCC - Must-carry

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According to the TBN website, TBN has several hundred affiliate stations, although just 61 of these stations are regular UHF or VHF stations. The rest are low-powered stations, requiring a viewer to be within several miles of the transmitter.

Related Topics:
UHF - VHF

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Today Paul Crouch is TBN's president and chairman, Jan Crouch is its vice-president and director of programming. Their son, Paul Jr., is its vice president for administration. The network maintains production deals with their other son, Matthew.

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