| The 700 Club | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Christiannews/talk |
| Presented by |
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| Narrated by | Wendy Griffith, Gordon Robertson |
| Theme music composer | Jeremy Sweet |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Production location | Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Christian Broadcasting Network/Syndicated (1966–) Freeform (1977–) |
| Release | April 1, 1966 (1966-04-01) – present |
The 700 Club is the flagship television program of theChristian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in theUnited 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 byJim Bakker,[1] now hosted byGordon Robertson,Terry Meeuwsen,Ashley Key,Wendy Griffith and Andrew Knox. Previous co-hosts includePat 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 actressSusan Howard, while Pat Robertson ran unsuccessfully for President in the1988 campaign.[2]
In 1960, Pat Robertson, the son of former U.S. SenatorAbsalom Willis Robertson, purchased the license forWTOV-TV, channel 27 inPortsmouth, Virginia (unrelated to the currentWTOV-TV inSteubenville, Ohio), which had ceased operation because of poor viewership. Renamed WYAH-TV (known today asindependent stationWGNT), the station began broadcasting Christian programming to theHampton 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 $104 in 2024), which was enough to support the station.[3] Robertson referred to these members as the "700 Club" and the name stuck. Thetelethon 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 wasJim Bakker, who, along with his then-wifeTammy Faye Bakker, also hosted a children's show on WYAH calledCome On Over (later retitledJim 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 theTrinity 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 his700 Club by cutting back on music and preaching and heading toward the talk show format developed by Bakker. Robertson transformed the700 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 inAtlanta (WANX-TV) andDallas (KXTX-TV), and laterBoston (WXNE-TV). The program enterednational syndication in 1974, as CBN purchased airtime on stations such asWPIX inNew York City,KTLA inLos Angeles,WPHL-TV inPhiladelphia, andWDCA inWashington, 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 launchedCBN 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 neighboringVirginia Beach, from where the program continues to originate. During the 1980s, the show evolved into more of a format resembling a magazine show likeGroup W'sPM 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'sToday and ABC'sGood 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 ofInternational Family Entertainment toNews Corporation and television producerHaim Saban in 1998. The channel was renamed Fox Family Channel, but only three years later Fox Family was sold toThe Walt Disney Company and was subsequently re-branded ABC Family. Disney later rebranded ABC Family asFreeform on January 12, 2016; Freeform was laterreunited with many of its former corporate siblings from News Corporation in 2019. As of 2005[update],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 called700 Club Interactive, which utilizes Internet user-generated videos and comments by viewers of the show.[citation needed] Longtime host Pat Robertson announced his retirement fromThe 700 Club on October 1, 2021.[8]
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 Clubstrongly supports Israel, especially in itsconflicts with the Palestinians and theUnited Nations.[9]
Hosts
| CBN News reporters
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Hosts
| CBN News reporters
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As a commentator and minister onThe 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 offeminism,[13] activism regardinghomosexuality,[14]abortion,[15] and liberal college professors.[16] Critics claim Robertson had business dealings in Africa with former presidentsCharles Taylor[17] of Liberia andMobutu Sese Seko[18] ofZaire, both of whom had been internationally denounced for claims of human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call forHugo Chávez's assassination[18] and for his remarks concerningAriel Sharon's ill-health as an act of God.[19]
Former700 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 aContras camp in theNicaraguan jungle during theNicaraguan Civil War, claiming that the camp was actually a "prop" built by an airfield specifically for Robertson's visit.[20]
The week ofSeptember 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks withJerry Falwell, who said that "theACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "thepagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and thelesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen". Robertson replied, "I totally concur".[21] Both evangelists were seriously criticized by PresidentGeorge W. Bush for their commentary,[22] for which Falwell later issued an apology.[23]
In October 2003, while interviewingState Department critic Joel Mowbray about his bookDangerous Diplomacy, Robertson appeared to suggest that destroying theHarry 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 thecommunist party, members of somefascist group".[28]
Robertson's response to the2010 Haiti earthquake also drew worldwide controversy and was met with international condemnation.[29][30] Robertson claimed thatHaiti's founders had sworn a "pact tothe Devil" in order to liberate themselves from theFrenchslave 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 byDutty Boukman atBois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French".[33][34] Various figures inmainline andevangelical[35] Christianity have on occasion disavowed some of Robertson's remarks.[29][36]
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