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The 700 Club

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The 700 Club
GenreChristian news/talk
Presented by
Narrated byWendy Griffith, Gordon Robertson
Theme music composerJeremy Sweet
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationVirginia Beach, Virginia
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkChristian Broadcasting Network/Syndicated (1966–)
Freeform
(1977–)
ReleaseApril 1, 1966 (1966-04-01) –
present

The 700 Club is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, political opinion commentary, contemporary music, testimonies, and Christian ministry. Celebrities and other guests are often interviewed, and Christian lifestyle issues are presented. The program additionally features world news stories plus investigative reporting by the CBN News team.

The 700 Club has been in production since 1966 and was initially hosted by Jim Bakker,[1] as well as being hosted by Gordon Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Ashley Key, Wendy Griffith and Andrew Knox. Previous co-hosts include Pat Robertson (1966–1987; 1988–2021), Ben Kinchlow (1975–1988, 1992–1996), Sheila Walsh (1987–1992), Danuta Rylko Soderman (1983–1988), Kristi Watts (1999–2013), and Lisa Ryan (1996–2005). Tim Robertson served as host for a year (1987–88) along with Kinchlow and actress Susan Howard, while Pat Robertson ran unsuccessfully for President in the 1988 campaign.[2]

History

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In 1960, Pat Robertson, the son of former U.S. Senator Absalom Willis Robertson, purchased the license for WTOV-TV, channel 27 in Portsmouth, Virginia (unrelated to the current WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio), which had ceased operation because of poor viewership. Renamed WYAH-TV (known today as CW affiliate WGNT), the station began broadcasting Christian programming to the Hampton Roads area on October 1, 1961.[2]

In 1962, the station suffered financially and almost closed. It had a total operating budget of $700 per month. To keep the station on the air, WYAH produced a special telethon edition of the show. For the telethon, Robertson set a goal of 700 members each contributing $10 per month (equivalent to $101 in 2023), which was enough to support the station.[3] Robertson referred to these members as the "700 Club" and the name stuck. The telethon was successful and is still held annually.[2]

After the telethon in 1966, The 700 Club continued as a nightly, two-hour Christian variety program of music, preaching, group prayer, Bible study, and interview segments.[4] The music was hymns, instrumental pieces, southern gospel music, and urban gospel music.[citation needed]

The first permanent host of the program was Jim Bakker, who, along with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker, also hosted a children's show on WYAH called Come On Over (later retitled Jim and Tammy). The couple left CBN in 1972; reportedly, Jim Bakker was fired by Pat Robertson over philosophical differences.[5] The Bakkers then moved on to help launch the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) before starting their own television ministry and signature show, The PTL Club. After the Bakkers left, some staffers at the station reportedly responded by destroying the Bakkers' sets and puppets.[6] Pat Robertson took over as host and evolved his 700 Club by cutting back on music and preaching and heading toward the talk show format developed by Bakker. Robertson transformed the 700 Club from a nightly religious-themed telethon to a Christian talk show.

The 700 Club originally aired only on WYAH-TV and other CBN-owned stations in Atlanta (WANX-TV) and Dallas (KXTX-TV), and later Boston (WXNE-TV). The program entered national syndication in 1974, as CBN purchased airtime on stations such as WPIX in New York City, KTLA in Los Angeles, WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, and WDCA in Washington, D.C., among others. The roster of stations carrying the program grew to over 100 markets by 1976. In some markets, the show aired on multiple stations, choosing between either the full 90-minute version or an edited 60-minute version. In 1977, The 700 Club received additional exposure nationally on the newly launched CBN Cable Network where, like CBN's broadcast outlets, it aired three times daily. [citation needed]

In 1979, The 700 Club moved its studios from WYAH's facilities in Portsmouth into CBN's then-new campus in neighboring Virginia Beach, from where the program continues to originate. During the 1980s, the show evolved into more of a format resembling a magazine show like Group W's PM Magazine, with news/opinion and lifestyle segments interspersed with interviews. In some markets, The 700 Club aired during the morning hours, competing head-to-head with the major network "breakfast television" programs such as NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. [citation needed]

After CBN sold its group of terrestrial stations later in the decade, The 700 Club continued to air on CBN Cable as well as many commercial secular stations and Christian stations nationally. CBN was re-branded as The Family Channel in 1988. The Family Channel was packaged as part of a sale of International Family Entertainment to News Corporation and television producer Haim Saban in 1998. The channel was renamed Fox Family Channel, but only three years later Fox Family was sold to The Walt Disney Company and was subsequently re-branded ABC Family. Disney later rebranded ABC Family as Freeform on January 12, 2016; Freeform was later reunited with many of its former corporate siblings from News Corporation in 2019. As of 2005, The 700 Club airs on Freeform three times daily, part of a contractual obligation originally made as part of the Family Channel's sale to News Corporation.[7] As of 2009, the first airing of the show in the morning (only) has been preceded by a half-hour show called 700 Club Interactive, which utilizes Internet user-generated videos and comments by viewers of the show.[citation needed] Longtime host Pat Robertson announced his retirement from The 700 Club on October 1, 2021.[8]

Political advocacy

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Between 1978 and 1980, discussions on current political issues became a part of the program, and news segments were added in the first 20 minutes of the show. The 700 Club strongly supports Israel, especially in its conflicts with the Palestinians and the United Nations.[9]

Staff

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Former

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Criticism

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Main article: Pat Robertson controversies

As a commentator and minister on The 700 Club, Robertson made many controversial statements attracting criticism.

On March 23, 1995, Pat Robertson led a television program in which he attacked Hinduism, calling it "demonic".[11] He has also referred to Islam as "Satanic".[12] Robertson has denounced views of feminism,[13] activism regarding homosexuality,[14] abortion,[15] and liberal college professors.[16] Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former presidents Charles Taylor[17] of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko[18] of Zaire who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination[18] and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.[19]

Former 700 Club co-host Danuta Rylko Soderman later criticized Robertson for having no room on the show for profiling people with progressive illness, who were overweight, had facial blemishes, used wheelchairs, crutches, were blind or had blindness, no disabilities that could not be healed as Robertson viewed people with such problems as "failures of the faith" and that "Robertson offers the Reader's Digest version of answers to difficult and demanding religious, social, financial, marital, political, sexual and moral concepts." She also accused the show of faking a piece that had Robertson walking into a Contras camp in the Nicaraguan jungle during the Nicaraguan Civil War, claiming that the camp was actually a "prop" built by an airfield specifically for Robertson's visit.[20]

The week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen". Robertson replied, "I totally concur".[21] Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their commentary,[22] for which Falwell later issued an apology.[23]

In October 2003, while interviewing State Department critic Joel Mowbray about his book Dangerous Diplomacy, Robertson appeared to suggest that destroying the Harry S Truman Building with a nuclear bomb would enhance United States security by eliminating a nest of liberal traitors who secretly yearn for Islamic world domination. After officials condemned his remarks,[24][25][26] Robertson aired a "clarifying" segment which he described as "issu[ing] a correction to the State Department" in which he reiterated his previous comments.[27]

On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination". He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group".[28]

Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew worldwide controversy and was met with international condemnation.[29][30] Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so.[31][32] CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French".[33][34] Various figures in mainline and evangelical[35] Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.[29][36]

References

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  1. ^ "About The 700 Club". Christina Broadcasting Network. March 28, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "About The 700 Club". CBN.com - The Christian Broadcasting Network. June 13, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  3. ^ "🤔 How Did the 700 Club Get itsItsme?". YouTube. March 26, 2022.
  4. ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 469
  5. ^ "Pat Robertson: the man, the mission, and the medium." Broadcasting. March 6, 1978, pp. 56–68.
  6. ^ Biography: Bakker, Jim
  7. ^ Eggerton, John (August 23, 2005). "ABC Family Repudiates Robertson 'Hit'". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "US televangelist Pat Robertson says 'God is not a Republican' during TV interview". Ecumenical News. October 19, 2021. Archived from the original on December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  9. ^ PFEIFFER, DANUTA (March 1998). "Inside The 700 club".
  10. ^ "CBN Spiritual Life - Celebritites, Dignitaries, and Politicians Gather for Harald Bredesen's 85th Birthday".
  11. ^ Today, Hinduism (July 1, 1995). "Using TV, Christian Pat Robertson Denounces Hinduism as "Demonic"". Hinduism Today. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "Robertson says Islam isn't a faith of peace: Televangelist calls radicals 'demonic'", Sonja Barisic, March 14, 2006, Associated Press.
  13. ^ "Equal Rights Initiative in Iowa Attacked", Washington Post, August 23, 1992.
  14. ^ ^ "California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Keeps Promise and Will Veto Abominable Homosexual 'Marriage' Bill Passed By Legislature Which Ignored Overwhelming Vote of California Voters in Proposition 22 Banning Homosexual 'Marriage'". Christian Coalition. September 9, 2005. http://www.cc.org/content.cfm?id=253. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  15. ^ "Abortion to Die by 1,000 Cuts After Today's Supreme Court Ruling". Christian Coalition. January 18, 2007. http://www.cc.org/archives/abortion/index.html. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  16. ^ "Right-Wing Watch", May 11, 2006, People for the American Way.
  17. ^ "Pat Robertson's Gold", Colbert I. King, September 22, 2001, The Washington Post.
  18. ^ a b Blumenthal, Max (September 7, 2005). "Pat Robertson's Katrina Cash". The Nation Online. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
  19. ^ "Robertson suggests God smote Sharon: Evangelist links Israeli leader's stroke to 'dividing God's land'", January 6, 2006, CNN.
  20. ^ Pfeiffer, Danuta (March 1, 1998). "Pat Robertson's former co-host speaks out". Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "Falwell speaks about WTC disaster, Christian Broadcasting Network". Archived from the original (mp3) on October 19, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  22. ^ David John Marley, Pat Robertson: an American life (2007) p 273
  23. ^ "Falwell apologizes to gays, feminists, lesbians". CNN. October 14, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  24. ^ State Dept. Decries Robertson Nuke Quote, Associated Press, October 12, 2003
  25. ^ U.S. State Department protests televangelist's nuclear threat, Agence France-Presse, October 10, 2003
  26. ^ "Robertson Suggests Lobbing Nuclear Bomb at U.S. State Department".
  27. ^ "State Department Comments Clarified".
  28. ^ Hamby, Peter (November 18, 2009). "McDonnell won't disavow Robertson's Islam remarks". CNN. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  29. ^ a b "Urban Legend Expert Debunks Haitian 'Pact with the Devil'". Archived from the original on January 21, 2010.
  30. ^ Lauerman, Kerry (January 13, 2010). "Robertson: Haiti had "pact with devil"". Salon. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  31. ^ Televangelist Pat Robertson Says Earthquake Result Of "Cursed" Haiti's Satanic Pact
  32. ^ "US evangelist says quake-hit Haiti made 'devil' pact". France 24. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010.
  33. ^ "Statement Regarding Pat Robertson's Comments on Haiti". Cbn.com. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  34. ^ Thylefors, Markel (March 2009). "'Our Government is in Bwa Kayiman:' a Vodou Ceremony in 1791 and its Contemporary Signifcations" Stockholm Review of Latin American Studies, Issue No. 4
  35. ^ "Pat Robertson on Disasters: Consistently Wrong" Thursday, January 14, 2010, 1:01 PM by John Mark Reynolds
  36. ^ "In Good Faith: Guest post: A message for Pat Robertson – A blog for news and discussion on matters of faith – baltimoresun.com". Weblogs.baltimoresun.com. May 17, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
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