TBN Inspire is an American Christian
broadcast television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...
owned by the
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...
(TBN). It is carried on the
digital subchannels of TBN's stations.
The network originally launched as The Church Channel, which focused on carrying
brokered broadcasts of various Christian church services. In 2016, the network was re-launched as a broadcast feed of Hillsong Channel—a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
with the
Hillsong Church, which added its services and original programming to the schedule. In 2022, the network rebranded again as TBN Inspire, maintaining the same format.
History
The network originally launched on January 14, 2002, as The Church Channel, which was devoted primarily to carrying church service programs from various Christian ministries and denominations, often under
brokered arrangements.
On March 9, 2016, TBN announced a partnership with the
Sydney-based international congregation
Hillsong Church, that would see The Church Channel re-branded as the Hillsong Channel—a network devoted to its ministry, teaching, and
worship music
Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are f ...
. Hillsong founder
Brian Houston
Brian Charles Houston ( ; born 17 February 1954) is a New Zealand-Australian former pastor and evangelist. He was the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the national president ...
stated that the channel would be a "Christ-centred, Bible-based television channel that changes mindsets and empowers people to lead and impact in every sphere of life", and would be "constantly looking towards the future–filled with a vision that inspires and influences many." The new channel officially launched June 1, 2016. An over-the-top subscription service, Hillsong Channel Now, launched in November 2017.
On January 1, 2022, the US feed of the network was rebranded as TBN Inspire, with no change in programming. TBN stated in a notice to carriage providers that the change was intended to "speak more clearly to how we are programming the network".
The international Hillsong Channel operations and the Hillsong Channel Now online service were initially unaffected by the January 2022 rebrand in the United States. However, following Hillsong Church's internal investigation over the alleged inappropriate behavior against women by co-founder Brian Houston, and his subsequent resignation as the church's senior global pastor in March 2022,
TBN began rebranding its linear Hillsong Channel operations outside the U.S. as TBN Inspire as well beginning April 2022, and removed Hillsong programming from their schedule (with a version operated by TBN Pacific, which is available in Australia, following suit on April 28). The Hillsong Channel website and Hillsong Channel Now service, as operated by the church, remain operational as of April 2022.
Programming
TBN Inspire programs a mix of original programming and outside
televangelism
Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...
.
As Hillsong Channel
Shows not produced by Hillsong or TBN were billed as "partner programs".
*
Hillsong Church Services from worldwide Hillsong congregations, including London, Sydney, New York and Los Angeles.
* ''Best of
Hillsong Conference
Hillsong Conference is a mid-year week-long annual Christian conference hosted in Sydney, Australia, with a smaller three-day event held in London later each year. It is the largest annual conference in Australia of any kind. The event is hosted ...
''
*
Hillsong Conference
Hillsong Conference is a mid-year week-long annual Christian conference hosted in Sydney, Australia, with a smaller three-day event held in London later each year. It is the largest annual conference in Australia of any kind. The event is hosted ...
Live
* ''What Do You See? with Robert Fergusson''
* ''
Brian Houston
Brian Charles Houston ( ; born 17 February 1954) is a New Zealand-Australian former pastor and evangelist. He was the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the national president ...
TV''
*
Colour Conference
Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global Evangelical charismatic movement, charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia.
The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New ...
'': Main Stage, Green Room, The Edition''
* ''Chapel: The College Experience'' – Services and stories from the
Hillsong International Leadership College
Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia.
The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, by Brian Houston and ...
* ''What's Cooking with
Young & Free'' – Cooking series with a comedic bent
* ''Hillsong Kids: A Big Life'' – Children's programme for ages 6–12
* ''Hillsong Kids Jr Cubby House'' – Children's programme for ages 3–5
* ''Sex, Love, and Relationships''
* "Worship by Hillsong" – Music videos by
Hillsong United,
Hillsong Worship
Hillsong Worship (formerly Hillsong Live) is a praise and worship collective from Sydney, Australia and Orange County, California. They started making music in 1983 at Hillsong Church. Fifteen of their songs have appeared on the '' Billboard'' ...
, and
Hillsong Young & Free
Hillsong Young & Free (also known as Hillsong Y&F or simply Young & Free or Y&F) is an Australian contemporary worship music group from Sydney, Australia, where they started making Christian music in 2012 at Hillsong Church. They have release ...
* Pastor Robert Morris Ministries (sermons from
Gateway Church)
*
Elevation Church
Elevation Church is a Baptist Evangelical multi-site megachurch pastored by Steven Furtick, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.Southern Baptist ConventionElevation sbc.net, USA, Retrieved January ...
*
Joel Osteen
Joel Scott Osteen (born March 5, 1963) is an American lay preacher, televangelist, businessman and author based in Houston, Texas. Known for his weekly televised services and several best-selling books, Osteen is one of the more prominent figu ...
*
Enjoying Everyday Life
''Enjoying Everyday Life'' is an American Christian television and radio series hosted by Joyce Meyer
Pauline Joyce Meyer (née Hutchison; June 4, 1943) is an American Charismatic Christian author, speaker and president of Joyce Meyer Ministri ...
Hillsong Channel also aired specials documentaries, other worship programming and music programming such as a special around ''
Let There Be Light
"Let there be light" is an English translation of the biblical Hebrew , Hebrew (''yehi 'or'') found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible. In Old Testament translations of the phrase, translations include the Greek l ...
'', along with other Hillsong events and short series.
Availability
TBN Inspire is available over-the-air on
digital subchannels of TBN stations, and via select U.S. cable providers,
Dish Network,
Glorystar
GloryStar Satellite Systems is a direct to home religious based satellite television service. The service offers viewers and churches a selection of Christian radio and television services.
Glorystar broadcasts its channels via the Galaxy 19 sat ...
(
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
Galaxy 19
Galaxy 19 is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat located at 97° West longitude, serving the North American market. Galaxy 19 replaced Galaxy 25 which is nearing the end of its design life and has been moved to 93.1°W longitude. It was ...
) and
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
, in the UK and Ireland on Sky and in many nations around the world via
direct-to-home satellite, such as ABS1 to India and the Middle East,
Hot Bird satellite to Europe, and
Agila 2
ABS-3, formerly ABS-5, was initially named Agila 2 after the Philippine eagle, before being acquired by ABS (formerly known as Asia Broadcast Satellite). Launched in 1997, the satellite provided telecommunications services for Mabuhay Satellite ...
satellite both C-band and Ku-Band signal in Asia and the Philippines. The network also livestreams its programming on its official website, along with TBN's streaming apps.
In late May 2019, Olympusat, the main provider of TBN's networks to cable providers in the United States (including
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...
and
Xfinity
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the c ...
), discontinued carriage of the network, thus affecting carriage of Hillsong Channel to those systems.
International versions
TBN Pacific version (Australia, New Zealand and rest of Oceania)
On July 24, 2016, the IPTV service
Fetch TV began carrying the version of Hillsong Channel as operated by TBN Pacific. On September 11, 2016, it was announced that
multichannel television provider
Foxtel would carry Hillsong Channel on its satellite and cable television services.
In April 2022, it was reported that the particular version would be rebranded as TBN Inspire on April 28, with Hillsong content replaced by TBN original programming (such as ''
Praise
Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration.
Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures).
Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's att ...
''), and other worship music and televangelism programming. The change, along with Australian
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
's removal of Hillsong-produced programs from its schedules,
came amid controversies involving Brian Houston, who resigned from his position as senior pastor after being indicted in a misconduct investigation by the ministry.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:TBN Inspire
Evangelical television networks
English-language television stations in the United States
Hillsong Church
Religious television stations in the United States
Trinity Broadcasting Network
Television channels and stations established in 2002