Trinity Broadcasting Network is the largest Christian television network. TBN was founded in 1973 by James Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker with Paul Crouch and Jan Crouch. TBN is carried in over 70 countries.
TBN's network and flagship station are in the Orange County suburb of Tustin, California. It also owns numerous studios and stations: outside of Tustin its major studios are in Irving, Texas (the DFW suburb) and Hendersonville, Tennessee (outside Nashville, the studio was the former home of country music superstar Conway Twitty and was purchased from his estate).
TBN features 24-hours of evangelical Christian programming in addition to five speciality networks: Hillsong Channel (formerly the Church Channel, operated in partnership with the Australian-based Hillsong Church), JUCE TV, Enlace (a Spanish-language channel), TBN Salsa (an English-language channel tailored for Hispanic viewers), and children's channel Smile (formerly Smile of a Child).
TBN carries Christian programming from various conservative-leaning preachers, though the majority of it leans toward Pentecostal and charismatic teachers. It has been frequently criticized for its Word Faith teaching; a common pejorative is to refer to TBN as "The Blasphemy Network".
Categories: [Religious Broadcasting]