Pat Robertson Seeks Lower Office

‘I hear America singing,” wrote Whitman, “the varied carols I hear.” And now, thanks to cable television, we can see the singers. PBS with its animals and Englishmen. Athletes from Jack Nicklaus to Hulk Hogan. Rock musicians wreathed in clouds of dry ice and narcissism. Ralph Kramden and James T. Kirk. Black Jews speaking Hebrew with Harlem accents. Naked porn stars interviewing ugly exhibitionists. Gene Burns in a fire chief’s hat explaining the proportions of the Great Pyramid. C-Span, patient and passive, recording a press conference of the Draft Iacocca committee. Herbal Essence, Jiddhu Krishnamurti, Sybil Bruncheon. And also carrying its part in this chorus—rather, this collection of simultaneous soloists—is the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Not that CBN is your typical network. It is much richer than most, and it reaches far more people. Depending on how you count, it is anywhere from the fifth to the second largest cable network in America. Its top show, according to Nielsen, reaches one in five television households at least once a month. This year, according to its president, it should bring in $230 million in donations—“give or take $30 million.” CBN News has bureaus in New York, Washington, London, Jerusalem, and Beirut. Much of CBN’s programming consists of old black-and-white re-runs—Burns and Allen, You Bet Your Life, The Rifleman —artifacts from the pre-Babel days when there were only the three networks, and they all expressed a wholesome cultural consensus. But CBN’s flagship show, The 700 Club, is brand new, beaming out ninety minutes a night, five nights a week. Its host, the Reverend Pat Robertson, wants to be President of the United States.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Presidential Election

‘I hear America singing,” wrote Whitman, “the varied carols I hear.” And now, thanks to cable television, we can see the singers. PBS with its animals and Englishmen. Athletes from Jack Nicklaus to Hulk Hogan. Rock musicians wreathed in clouds of dry ice and narcissism. Ralph Kramden and James T. Kirk. Black Jews speaking Hebrew with Harlem accents. Naked porn stars interviewing ugly exhibitionists. Gene Burns in a fire chief’s hat explaining the proportions of the Great Pyramid. C-Span, patient and passive, recording a press conference of the Draft Iacocca committee. Herbal Essence, Jiddhu Krishnamurti, Sybil Bruncheon. And also carrying its part in this chorus—rather, this collection of simultaneous soloists—is the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Not that CBN is your typical network. It is much richer than most, and it reaches far more people. Depending on how you count, it is anywhere from the fifth to the second largest cable network in America. Its top show, according to Nielsen, reaches one in five television households at least once a month. This year, according to its president, it should bring in $230 million in donations—“give or take $30 million.” CBN News has bureaus in New York, Washington, London, Jerusalem, and Beirut. Much of CBN’s programming consists of old black-and-white re-runs—Burns and Allen, You Bet Your Life, The Rifleman —artifacts from the pre-Babel days when there were only the three networks, and they all expressed a wholesome cultural consensus. But CBN’s flagship show, The 700 Club, is brand new, beaming out ninety minutes a night, five nights a week. Its host, the Reverend Pat Robertson, wants to be President of the United States.