''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, 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, as well as being hosted by Gordon Robertson,

Terry Meeuwsen Terry Anne Meeuwsen Friedrich (born March 2, 1949) is an American television personality, co-host of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)'s '' 700 Club'', author and singer. Meeuwsen was the 1972 Miss Appleton, 1972 Miss Wisconsin and the ...

, Ashley Key and Wendy Griffith. Previous co-hosts include Pat Robertson (1966–1987; 1988–2021), Ben Kinchlow (1975–88, 1992–96), Sheila Walsh (1987–92), Danuta Rylko Soderman (1983–88), 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.

History

In 1960, Pat Robertson, the son of former U.S. Senator Absalom Willis Robertson, purchased the license for

WTOV-TV WTOV-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Steubenville, Ohio, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market as an affiliate of NBC and Fox. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintain ...

, channel 27 in Portsmouth, Virginia (unrelated to the current

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. 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 70 members each contributing $10 per month (), which was enough to support the station. Robertson referred to these members as the "700 Club" and the name stuck. The telethon was successful and is still held annually. 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. The music was hymns, instrumental pieces, southern gospel music, and urban gospel music. 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. 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. 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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

( WANX-TV) and

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

( KXTX-TV), and later

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

( WXNE-TV). The program entered national syndication in 1974, as CBN purchased airtime on stations such as

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, KTLA in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, WPHL-TV in

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, 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 The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

where, like CBN's broadcast outlets, it aired three times daily. In 1979, ''The 700 Club'' moved its studios from WYAH's facilities in Portsmouth into CBN's then-new campus in neighboring

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous ci ...

, 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 ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

''. 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 ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform. The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broa ...

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 The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

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. , ''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. 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.

Political advocacy

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 The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

. Among its frequent Jewish guests are Michael Medved and

Rabbi Daniel Lapin Daniel Lapin (born January 1, 1947) is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and public speaker. xaminer om/article/rabbi-lapin-reveals-prosperity-secrets (URL blocked by Wikipedia) He was previously the founding rabbi of the Pacific Jewish Center ...

, who share ''Club'' conservative Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Staff

Hosts * Gordon Robertson (1999–) *

(1993–) *Wendy Griffith (2013–), occasional news anchor *Ashley Key (2021–) CBN News reporters *John Jessup (2003–), main news anchor *Charlene Aaron (2003-), news anchor *Jennifer Wishon (2008–) *Efrem Graham (2009–) *Mark Martin (2009–) *Gary Lane (1984-) *Dale Hurd (1991–) *Scott Ross (1988–) *Chris Mitchell (1989-) *Paul Strand (1995–) *George Thomas (1996-) *Heather Sells (2005-) *Lorie Johnson (2009-) *Caitlin Burke (2014-) *Abigail Robertson (2015-) *Jenna Browder (2016-) *Brody Carter (2021-)

Former

Hosts * Pat Robertson (1966–87, 1988–2021) * Jim Bakker (1966–72) alternating hosting duties with Robertson * Ben Kinchlow (1975–88, 1992–96) * Sheila Walsh (1987–92) *Danuta Rylko Soderman (1983–88) *Kristi Watts (1999–2013) *

Lisa Ryan Lisa Ryan (''Lisa Gail Davenport''; born c. 1960) is an American author and speaker. She has had a career as a television actress, host, reporter and producer. She assumed the title of Miss California in 1982 after Debra Maffett was crowned Miss A ...

(1996–2005) *Tim Robertson (1987–88) * Susan Howard (1987–88) CBN News reporters *Lee Webb (2001–13)

Criticism

As a commentator and minister on ''The 700 Club'', Robertson made many controversial statements attracting criticism. Robertson's service as a minister has included the controversial belief in the

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

power of God. He credited his prayers for steering the course of

Hurricane Gloria Hurricane Gloria was a powerful hurricane that caused significant damage along the east coast of the United States and in Atlantic Canada during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first significant tropical cyclone to strike the nor ...

in 1985. On March 23, 1995, Pat Robertson led a television program in which he attacked Hinduism, calling it "

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

ic". He has also referred to Islam as "

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

ic". Robertson has denounced views of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, activism regarding

homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, and liberal college professors. Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko of

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

who both had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call for Hugo Chávez's assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God. 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 The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 foll ...

camp in the

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

n jungle during the Nicaraguan Civil War, claiming that the camp was actually a "prop" built by an airfield specifically for Robertson's visit. The week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...

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

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

s ho havehelped

he terror attacks of September 11th He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

happen". Robertson replied, "I totally concur". Both evangelists were seriously criticized by President George W. Bush for their commentary, for which Falwell later issued an apology. 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, Robertson aired a "clarifying" segment which he described as "issu nga correction to the State Department" in which he reiterated his previous comments. 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 A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

, members of some

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

group". Robertson's response to the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...

also drew worldwide controversy and was met with international condemnation.Urban Legend Expert Debunks Haitian 'Pact with the Devil'
Robertson claimed that

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

's founders had sworn a "pact to

the Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...

" in order to liberate themselves from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. 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". Various figures in mainline and

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.

References

External links