Televangelism

===Television===
[[File:Bishop Fulton J. Sheen 1956.JPG|thumb|[[Archbishop Fulton Sheen]], the first televangelist.]]
[[File:Pat Robertson Paparazzo Photography.jpg|thumb|[[Pat Robertson]], founder of the [[Christian Broadcasting Network]].]]
[[File:Graham at NRB 1977.jpg|thumb|right|Evangelist [[Billy Graham]] speaks at the NRB convention, 1977]]
Although [[television]] also began in the 1930s, it was not used for religious purposes until the early 1950s. [[Jack Wyrtzen]] and [[Percy Crawford]] switched to TV broadcasting in the Spring of 1949. Another television preacher of note was [[Fulton J. Sheen]], who successfully switched to television in 1951 after two decades of popular radio broadcasts and whom ''Time'' called "the first 'televangelist'".<ref name="time19520414">{{cite news|title=Bishop Fulton Sheen|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,857161,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825222406/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,857161,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 25, 2013|access-date=2011-01-21|newspaper=Time|date=1952-04-14}}</ref> Sheen would win numerous [[Emmy Awards]] for his program that ran from the early 1950s, until the late 1960s.

In 1951, producer Dick Ross and [[Baptist]] evangelist [[Billy Graham]] founded the film production company [[World Wide Pictures]], which would make videos of his preaching and Christian films. <ref> John Lyden, ''The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film'', Taylor & Francis, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2009, p. 82 </ref>

[[Image:Joel Osteen Preaching At Lakewood Church.jpg|thumb|upright|200px|Televangelist [[Joel Osteen]] at [[Lakewood Church]], a [[megachurch]] in [[Houston]], [[Texas]]]]
After years of radio broadcasting in 1952 [[Rex Humbard]] became the first to have a weekly church service broadcast on television. By 1980, the Rex Humbard programs spanned the globe across 695 stations in 91 languages and to date the largest coverage of any evangelistic program. [[Oral Roberts]]'s broadcast by 1957 reached 80% of the possible television audience through 135 of the possible 500 stations.<ref>David E. Harrell Jr. "Healers and Televengelists After World War II in Vinson Synan," ''The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal'' (Nashville: Nelson, 2001) 331</ref> In Uruguay, [[Channel 4 (Uruguay)|Channel 4]] airs the Roman Catholic Church mass since 1961.<ref>[https://icm.org.uy/icmtv-produce-la-misa-canal-4/ ICMtv produce la Misa de Canal 4] - Iglesia Católica Montevideo, 21 September 2017</ref>

[[Christian Broadcasting Network]], the first Christian channel, was founded in 1961, by [[Baptist]] Pastor [[Pat Robertson]].<ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 157</ref> Its show ''[[The 700 Club]]'', is one of the oldest on the American television scene and was broadcast in 39 languages in 138 countries in 2016.<ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''[[Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States]], Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 469</ref>

The 1960s and early 1970s, saw television replace radio as the primary home entertainment medium, but also corresponded with a further rise in [[Evangelical Christianity]], particularly through the international television and radio ministry of [[Billy Graham (evangelist)|Billy Graham]]. Many well-known televangelists began during this period, most notably [[Oral Roberts]], [[Jimmy Swaggart]], [[Jim and Tammy Faye Ministries|Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker]], [[Jerry Falwell]], and Pat Robertson. Most developed their own media networks, news exposure, and political influence. In the 21st century, some televised church services continue to attract large audiences. In the US, there are [[Joel Osteen]], [[Joyce Meyer]] and [[T. D. Jakes]].<ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 2275-2276</ref> In Nigeria, there are [[Enoch Adeboye]] and [[Chris Oyakhilome]].<ref>P. Thomas, P. Lee, '' Global and Local Televangelism'', Springer, USA, 2012, p. 182</ref> [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] is the world's largest religious television network.<ref name = WashPost2013-12-02>{{cite news|title=Paul Crouch dies at 79; founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/paul-crouch-dies-at-79-founder-of-the-trinity-broadcasting-network/2013/12/02/68e1856e-5b6d-11e3-a66d-156b463c78aa_story.html|author=Elaine Woo|date=December 2, 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|quote=He bought more television stations, then piled on cable channels and eventually satellites until he had built the world's largest Christian television system...|access-date=July 6, 2014}}</ref>