Word: religion
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...number on people," says Armstrong, "but it's the viewer with his hand on the dial who controls the system." People who hope TV Gospel will fade when today's stars are gone, says Armstrong, "do not understand that the real key is grass-roots people, dying for personal religion and traditional values...
There is little doubt that many Americans are yearning for meaning and moral anchorage, which evangelical religion has ardently and successfully provided. Critics add that people find it easier to acquire simple answers to complex personal and social ills via television than to commit themselves to solving real-life troubles...
...Bakker (pronounced baker), 46, is the boyish-faced Pentecostal proprietor of the PTL (for People That Love or Praise the Lord) Network in Charlotte, N.C. The network ranks second to Robertson's CBN in Christian cable (13 million households, 24 hours, all religion). The featured offering is the daily Jim and Tammy show, a variety-and-talk program with Bakker and his wife as hosts on an opulent, hacienda-style set with orchestra, singers and live audience. Bakker's receipts exceed $100 million a year. Much of the money is eaten up by his Heritage USA theme park, opened...
...viewership has tripled since 1981, when Robertson switched from an all-religion schedule to a family entertainment approach, combining Christian shows with wholesome reruns (Flipper, Father Knows Best), westerns, old movies and game shows. Two weeks ago the network premiered CBN News Tonight, a regular evening newscast produced in Washington, with special emphasis on right-wing issues...
Even in CBN's flourishing state today, fund raising is pervasive, as it is on all Gospel TV. Sometimes the pitch is blatant, as with California Neopentecostalist Paul Crouch, 51, operator of the all-religion Trinity Broadcasting Network (nine stations, 6 million cable homes, $35 million budget). He tells viewers that a widow has donated her life savings of $7,000 and comments, "Do you realize what an awesome responsibility it is for me to stand here and encourage people to literally give all they have to God? I'm either the biggest fool and idiot...