PTL Satellite Network
| Type | religious broadcasting network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | National |
|
Key people
|
Jim Bakker—President Richard Dortch—Chairman |
|
Launch date
|
1974 1990: as The New Inspirational Network (INSP) 2015: as PTL Television Network |
The PTL Television Network – often referred to as simply PTL – was a global evangelical Christian television network based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, founded by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in 1974. PTL Satellite Network was dedicated in April 1977. During PTL's fourteen-year history, the Bakkers, as hosts of the network's flagship talk show, The PTL Club, became two of the most recognizable and highly rated televangelists in the United States. However, the PTL ministry would collapse in 1987, after a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn, accused the evangelist of rape, and later financial scandals purported that the couple had used the non-profit PTL's donations to fund an opulent personal lifestyle. Bakker would be sent to prison for embezzlement in 1989.
After PTL declared bankruptcy, the cable network was sold in 1989 to Morris Cerullo World Evangelism of San Diego, California and came to be known as The Inspiration Network, now headquartered at new facilities that were recently constructed in nearby Indian Land, South Carolina. The Inspiration Network operates as a separate and distinct entity chaired by Morris Cerullo's son David.
In 1960, Jim Bakker met Tammy Faye LaValley while both were students at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tammy Faye worked in a boutique for a time while Jim found work in a restaurant inside a department store in Minneapolis. They were married on April 1, 1961, and left the Bible College to become itinerant evangelists.
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