CBN was founded by
Pat Robertson in 1960 in
Portsmouth, Virginia.
Radio CBN began broadcasting in October 1961 with
WYAH-TV (now
WGNT-TV) in Portsmouth. The ministry's subsidiary, Continental Broadcasting Network, operated several family-oriented
independent stations. Their programming combined predominantly religious content on Sundays with acquired secular shows such as
westerns,
sitcoms,
drama series, and children's programs. Funding primarily came from small donations by individuals and local churches. acquired in August 1962 • In 1969, CBN Northeast was launched as a simulcast network of five New York FM radio stations formerly part of the
Rural Radio Network: •
WBIV in
Wethersfield •
WEIV in
Ithaca •
WJIV in
Cherry Valley •
WMIV in
South Bristol •
WOIV in
DeRuyter •
WHAE-TV in
Atlanta, Georgia, acquired in 1971 • KBFI-TV in
Dallas, Texas, acquired in 1973, which later changed its call sign to
KXTX-TV •
WXNE-TV in
Boston, Massachusetts, acquired in October 1977 CBN expanded outside the US in 1968 when it acquired the Nuevo Continente radio station in
Bogotá, Colombia, the first evangelical radio station in that country. In June 1979, CBN partnered with George Otis Ministries to establish a combined radio and TV station in southern Lebanon, broadcasting 28 hours per week of Christian programming in Hebrew.
Television On April 29, 1977, CBN launched its national cable network, the
CBN Satellite Service, a
Christian television service in the United States. The channel was among the earliest cable channels to distribute its signal across the United States through
satellite transmission. The CBN Satellite Service became the CBN Cable Network on September 1, 1981. It adopted a more secular programming format featuring family-oriented series and films while retaining some religious programs from various
televangelists. Its coverage grew to 10.9 million households with cable television subscriptions and began airing a late-night block of classic family-oriented shows such as
You Bet Your Life with
Groucho Marx,
I Married Joan, and
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. In August 1988, the CBN Cable Network became The CBN Family Channel. In January 1990, the network was sold to an affiliated entity,
International Family Entertainment (IFE). IFE was majority-owned by the Robertson family, with a minority interest held by
John C. Malone. On September 15 of that year, the newly sold channel rebranded as
The Family Channel. It remained the most-watched outlet for CBN programs. IFE went on to launch other TV channels in the US and UK, with plans to expand further. IFE was sold to
News Corporation in June 1997. At this time, The Family Channel was the US's ninth-largest cable network, reaching 67 million households. Pat Robertson said that "We expect to continue to benefit from The Family Channel's growing family entertainment franchise." The channel was then sold to
The Walt Disney Company in 2001, which renamed it as
ABC Family later that year, and again to
Freeform in 2016. In October 2002, CBN launched
CBN NewsWatch, a new half-hour weekend program. On April 29, 2008, the 24-hour CBN News Channel was launched as an online-only channel. On October 1, 2018, the CBN News Channel was relaunched and became available over the air via 15 stations in the United States, as well as continuing online. It was based in Virginia Beach, with bureaus in Washington, D.C., and Jerusalem. In addition to its networks in the US, CBN has expanded into international television. On April 10, 1982, a Christian-based television station in
South Lebanon, Hope TV, was donated to CBN and became
Middle East Television (METV). At this time, METV broadcast from
Marjayoun. In Israel, METV was known for broadcasting
WWF wrestling, which was not available on Israeli TV. The station also broadcast news, sports, family entertainment, and religious programming. On June 5, 1997, METV launched its 24-hour programming broadcast on the
Israeli satellite Amos 2. This allowed it to reach a potential audience of 200 million people in 15 nations, including Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Cyprus. •
Le Club 700 for
Francophone Africa in 2002 •
Club 700 for German speakers in 2007 (renamed
Erlebt TV in December 2019) •
The 700 Club with Paul and Fiona for UK audiences, hosted by
Paul Jones and
Fiona Hendley in 2004 In 2001, a youth-oriented show,
One Cubed, began in Asia. In 2004,
Club 400 Hoy began as a daily program for Spanish speakers throughout the Americas. In October 2021,
Club 400 Hoy was relaunched as a weekly US-focused program. The affiliated charity
Operation Blessing was established on November 14, 1978. It was initially intended to help struggling individuals and families by matching their needs for items such as clothing, appliances, and vehicles with donations from viewers of
The 700 Club. Coordinating with local churches and other organizations, Operation Blessing expanded its matching funds program to include food provisions and financial assistance for low-income families. CBN launched its first website in March 1995. CBN Deutschland in 2007, and CBN India in 2000.
CBN Asia was established in the Philippines and Hong Kong on October 1, 1994. Since then, CBN Asia has launched the children's program
A.S.T.I.G. (All Set to Imitate God); ==Programs==