[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tbn_logosvg.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"This is TBN".]]

->''The following program is paid for by you, the TBN Partners, and is only made possible with your generous support''.
-->-- '''TBN Announcer'''

->''From coast to coast and around the world, it's time to Praise the Lord!''
-->-- '''''Praise the Lord'' opening'''

The [[https://www.TBN.org Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)]] is a non-profit [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Christian]] network launched by Paul and Jan Crouch in TheSeventies, and has since grown to become the largest religious broadcaster on the planet. It has dozens of affiliated stations in practically every corner of the globe. Despite its wide reach, it isn't that well-known outside of the non-inclusive world of the evangelical Christians in its target audience, or people who grew up in evangelical Christian homes (whether or not they still identify as evangelical and/or Christian).

TBN is largely responsible for giving many televangelists their first national exposure. It was the first national broadcaster to carry Pat Robertson's ''The 700 Club'', and launched pastors like Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley, Paula White, and T.D. Jakes to international prominence. Apart from daily sermons and Bible readings, TBN also airs Christian movies and videos; documentaries about Creationism or America's "Christian heritage"; and [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday Morning Cartoons]] with a religious slant. Occasionally it will also air concerts featuring Christian musical artists.

The network is best known for its often-controversial TV preachers and constant fundraising through telethons. The latter has drawn criticism for helping justify the lavish lifestyle of the Crouch family. The "prosperity gospel" they preach claims that God rewards Christians with material blessings if they donate large amounts of money to TBN. Christian critics, financial watchdogs, and even Crouch family members have accused TBN of using the "prosperity gospel" message to make desperate followers part with their money, which is allegedly used to buy mansions, jets, and luxury cars for the owners. (This has earned it the nickname "[[FunWithAcronyms The Blasphemy Network]].")

!!TBN's subsidiary networks
All of these networks are usually carried on the digital subchannels of TBN's stations:
* '''TBN Inspire''': A network which previously operated as '''The Church Channel''' (devoted to church services and instructional programming) until 2016, although some of its previous programming has remained in off-peak hours. The network was then rebranded as the '''Hillsong Channel''' as part of a partnership with the [[Music/{{Hillsong}} Australian megachurch of the same name]] until 2022, when it was renamed TBN Inspire partly as a result of multiple controversies involving a number of Hillsong-affiliated churches and pastors since 2020.
* '''TBN Enlace USA''': A feed of the Costa Rican-based, Spanish-language religious network Enlace.
* '''Smile''': Formerly '''Smile of a Child''', it primarily carries children's programming.
* '''Positiv''': Formerly '''JCTV''' and '''JUCE TV''', a channel devoted to Christian films.
* '''TBN Salsa''': Launched 2015, it is targeted towards English-speaking Hispanic Americans. Following the launch of Salsa, due to technical limitations with TBN's digital transmitters, the over-the-air feeds of JUCE and Smile were merged -- with Smile airing in the daytime and JUCE airing at night (they were still 24-hour channels on digital platforms). As of 2022, the channel is available on most cable providers.

!!Shows aired by TBN and its affiliates:

[[index]]
TBN-produced shows include:

* ''Inside the Trinity Family of Networks'', hosted by Matt & Laurie Crouch
* ''Christian Celebrity Showcase'' - a half-hour weekly program showing archival footage of celebrity testimonials.
* ''Praise'' (formerly ''Praise the Lord'') – a two-hour talk/teaching/variety program, formerly hosted by Paul and Jan Crouch.
* ''Travel the Road'' – a show featuring two missionaries visiting war-torn locations in search of converts.
* ''Series/VirtualMemory'' - a GameShow focusing on Bible-related trivia questions, yet oddly mixed with a computer theme.

Programs carried by TBN and its sister channels include:

* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins''
* ''The 700 Club'' - with Pat Robertson
** ''Christian World News'' - a weekly newscast from Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network
* ''ACLJ This Week'' - with Jay Sekulow
* ''Believer's Voice of Victory'' - with Kenneth Copeland
* ''Series/TheBigGarage'' - one of the few non-Christian shows aired by TBN's Smile subchannel.
* ''Breakthrough'' - with Rod Parsley
* ''Coral Ridge Hour'' - with D. James Kennedy
* ''Creflo Dollar'' - yes, that is his last name.
* ''WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath'' - possibly the only program presented by a mainline denomination (broadcast rights expired in 2018)
* ''End of the Age'' - with Erwin Baxter
* ''Enjoying Everyday Life'' - with Joyce Meyer
* ''Ever Increasing Faith'' - with Frederick Price
* ''Evidence'' - with Dwight K. Nelson
* ''WesternAnimation/GodRocks''
* ''God's News Behind The News'' - Joe Van Koevering
* ''Hal Lindsey Report''
* ''Hour of Power'' - with Robert Schuller
* ''Huckabee'' - arguably the "black sheep" of [=TBN=]'s schedule, being a transplant from Fox News that has little-to-nothing to do with Christianity or the Bible
* ''It's Supernatural'' - with Sid Roth
* ''John Hagee Today'' and ''Cornerstone with John Hagee''
* ''Joseph Prince''
* ''Series/{{Lassie}}''
* ''Life Today'' - with James Robison
* ''WesternAnimation/MissBG'' - one of the few non-Christian shows aired by TBN's Smile subchannel.
* ''Series/MustardPancakes''
* ''Patta Potta Monta'' (''Going Wild, Going Green'') - an anime series aired on Smile TV.
* ''Paula White Today''
* ''Potter's Touch'' - with T.D. Jakes
* ''Series/StBearsDollsHospital'' - aired on TBN's Smile subchannel.
* ''Series/SwampCritters''
* ''[[Anime/TheSwissFamilyRobinsonFloneOfTheMysteriousIsland Swiss Family Robinson]]''
* ''[[Anime/AiNoWakakusaMonogatari Tales of Little Women]]''
* ''This Is Your Day!'' - with Creator/BennyHinn
* ''Turning Point'' - with David Jeremiah
* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales''
** ''WesternAnimation/LarryBoyTheCartoonAdventures''
* ''Way of the Master'' - with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort
[[/index]]

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!!This network contains examples of:

* AdoredByTheNetwork:
** The Crouches themselves, as well as some of their frequent guests (usually popular televangelists like Creator/BennyHinn).
** In the summer of 2013, TBN dropped most of its Saturday morning kiddie shows in favor of running hours of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins''. As of 2021, they currently air the former on their Saturday lineup.
* BerserkButton: For Paul Crouch, "heretic hunters" who criticized the prosperity gospel.
* BigFancyHouse: The Crouches own about a dozen, which has done little to silence their critics.
** TBN's headquarters in Costa Mesa -- known locally as "Jesus' Wedding Cake" -- counts as one. Here is the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/TCC-TBN.jpg exterior]] and [[http://dont-even-go-there.blogspot.se/2010_04_01_archive.html interior]]. TBN has a lot of other studios and properties like this, including the former [[Music/ConwayTwitty Twitty City]].
** Before major remodeling in the mid-2000's, TBN's sets were made to resemble Big Fancy Houses and were [[http://treasure.org/tbn_dallas.jpg obnoxiously]] [[http://www.automation-drive.com/EX/05-14-14/tbnprayer.jpg lavish]].
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Crouches, as divulged through numerous court documents between feuding members made public over the last few years.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Averted during airings of ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''. In marked contrast to the rest of its programming, which is rated TV-G, TBN airs ''The Passion'' uncut and slaps it with a TV-MA rating and an on-air disclaimer.
** Oddly enough, TBN edits the much milder ''Series/JesusOfNazareth'' miniseries.
** Smile TV (as well as other religious stations that carried children's tv content) does this with some of the originally-secular children's shows on its schedule. (''The Reppies'' has its songs redubbed to mention God, while ''Dooley and Pals'' adds "Fun Bible Facts".)
* ChristianRock: Frequently showcased, especially on JUCE TV.
* CreatorCouple: Paul and Jan Crouch, until their deaths in November 2013 and May 2016, respectively.
* DiedDuringProduction: Paul Crouch's death in November 2013 effectively canceled ''Behind the Scenes'', though his widow and children launched a similar show (''Inside the TBN Family of Networks'', which deals with ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin most of the time) in its place.
* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: Averted with ''Meggido'', the TBN-produced sequel to ''Film/TheOmegaCode'', which was released just four days before the 9/11 attacks. Afterwards, TBN decided to use the national trauma to market their movie and inserted fresh images of the burning World Trade Center into a trailer. When viewers wrote in to complain, Paul Crouch scoffed at them for taking offense and replayed the trailer on his show.
* EdutainmentShow: All of their children's programming qualifies as this, as all of them aim to educate kids on Christianity and the Bible to varying degrees. The shows aimed at the younger end of the age spectrum also teach letters, numbers, etc.
* GuestHost: Paul and Jan Crouch hosted ''Praise the Lord'' until the early 2000s, when old age and increasing health problems forced them to leave. The program is now hosted by their son Matt and his wife Laurie.
* HilariousOuttakes: In the mid-1990s, one show featured a clipreel of these featuring sets falling down, light bulbs exploding in the middle of fiery sermons, various pranks and hysterics - and managed to make a scriptural lesson out of it, too.
* ImpliedDeathThreat: How many people interpreted [[http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/05/tbns_paul_and_matt_crouch_god.php these comments]] by Paul and Matt Crouch not long after Brittany Koper (Paul's granddaughter and Matt's niece) started accusing TBN of fraud.
** According to Koper, the Crouches routinely dished these out. She has claimed in affidavits that Matt Crouch took out a gun during a confrontation with her, while Paul Crouch compared her to John the Baptist (who was beheaded).
** And there's also the times when Paul and his fellow televangelists threatened their critics on the air, such as [[http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/threat.htm this message]].
* {{Letterbox}}: When it airs older Bible films, like ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold''. This was somewhat amusing in the days before 1080p HD, as the opening credits for that movie were too small to read. This issue partly lies to do with the fact that TBN doesn't make its HD feed available over-the-air[[note]]TBN broadcasts in standard definition as the digital transmission equipment at its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates is not capable of transmitting five SD channels and one HD channel without impairing the quality of the main signal[[/note]], requiring a cable or satellite subscription, or access to its streaming service iTBN via its website and mobile app to receive it.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: TBN used to have a practice of repeating new episodes of ''Praise the Lord'' at least once, specifically so viewers could record an episode they liked. The advent of things like DVR, and the launch of an online video archive called iTBN, made this practice obsolete.
* MoralGuardians: The Crouches, specifically their son Paul Crouch, Jr., contributed to the "satanic panic" of TheEighties by famously claiming that Music/LedZeppelin's "StairwayToHeaven" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf0M1G1At28 contained demonic messages]].
* [[TheMoralSubstitute The Moral Substitutes]]: Two of its sister channels, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(TV_network) Smile TV]] (formerly known as [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/smile-of-a-child-tv,67136 Smile of a Child TV]]), advertised as an alternative to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, Creator/DisneyChannel, and Creator/CartoonNetwork; and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positiv Positiv]] (formerly JCTV and JUCE TV), a channel patterned after Creator/{{MTV}} and its ilk, aimed at teens/young adults.
* OldShame:
** TBN was actually co-founded by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, who later left the network and subsequently saw their own PTL Network be destroyed by a notorious fraud/sex scandal in TheEighties. In the wake of that, the Bakkers have been given the UnPerson treatment in TBN's official history, with the Crouches getting sole credit for founding the network.
** The decision in 2020 to drop longtime TBN staple Kenneth Copeland's broadcast appears to be this in light of Copeland's wealth and lavish spending - particularly on private jets - resulting in Copeland coming under increased media scrutiny in recent years.
* PatrioticFervor: The vanity/copyright image closing ''Praise the Lord'' shows an American flag superimposed over the Statue of Liberty.
** Its Fourth of July and Patriot Day programming is often of a right-wing and nationalistic bent.
** One more recent example of this was when TBN began airing ''Huckabee'', hosted by former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, which had [[ChannelHop Channel Hopped]] from Fox News.
* RealJokeName: More than one critic has commented on the irony of a wealth-and-prosperity preacher being named Creflo Dollar.
* ReligionIsRight: The main message of the pro-Creationism programs it airs.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: This happened to JUCE TV and Smile of a Child TV in June 2015, when both were reduced to 12-hour blocks on the .3 subchannel of its broadcast stations to make room for the new TBN Salsa (which took over Smile's former .5 slot). Both networks still operate as 24-hour networks, but it requires subscribing to a cable or satellite provider that carries either network (some of which, as TBN has even noted in some promotions, have dropped Smile and JUCE since 2014) or watching them online via TBN's website and mobile apps. This apparently was the result of TBN's transmission equipment not being capable of adding a sixth subchannel, even though the main TBN feed wasn't broadcast in HD over-the-air at that time.
** TBN Salsa[[note]]Which targets the same audience — Latino Americans — as TBN Enlace USA, but broadcasts in English, whereas Enlace is a Spanish-language network[[/note]] itself was screwed from the get-go by having its distribution limited to subchannels of its over-the-air stations, not even being made available on its iTBN streaming service. TBN hasn't even bothered to make its programming listings available online, either via its main website or that of TBN Salsa, or via online/mobile television listings services (which still incorrectly still list 24-hour listings for Smile and JUCE on separate subchannels in their broadcast station listings in TBN's OTA markets).
** On a couple of occasions, TBN refused to air programs for political reasons. Hal Lindsey, a controversial End Times evangelist, left TBN when the network objected to his Islamophobic commentary, but later returned in a different format[[note]]Hal's original show was titled "International Intelligence Briefing" and was produced by (and thus aired exclusively on) TBN. The current version is titled "The Hal Lindsey Report" and airs on a few other Christian networks, launching on TBN over a year after its debut[[/note]]. A few years later, Jack Van Impe, another End Times evangelist, removed his program from TBN after they pulled an episode in which he criticized other evangelists, which reportedly violated a TBN policy forbidding personal attacks.
** After Paul Crouch passed away in 2013, TBN axed most of the prophecy-related programming on its schedule at the alleged behest of Jan Crouch, who unlike Paul did not support the pre-tribulation (read: Rapture) interpretation of Bible prophecy. Most of the shows were moved to the less-viewed Church Channel while the main TBN schedule became lighter and more centrist[[note]]Curiously, one of the few to survive this topical purge was "The Hal Lindsey Report", owing largely to the controversy over Hal's ouster in 2005[[/note]].
** Jan Crouch's death in 2016 spelled the end for the Church Channel, which was pushed aside for a new collaboration with Australia's Hillsong Church known as the Hillsong Channel[[note]]later known as the TBN Inspire[[/note]]. Traditional programs were done away with in favor of the more cheerful and youth-skewing views of Hillsong, which seemed especially jarring as it launched the day after Jan's death.
* SpoofedWithTheirOwnWords: Averted in TheNineties, when TBN wanted to book Music/{{Genesis|Band}} to appear after they released the song "[[Music/WeCantDance Jesus He Knows Me]]". TBN apparently thought, what with the title of the song and the biblical significance of the band's name, that "Jesus He Knows Me" was a praise song. Instead, it turned out that the song was Music/PhilCollins' savage satire of recent televangelism scandals. Once they figured this out, TBN dropped any interest in hosting a performance.
** ''Series/TheDailyShow'' had a segment during Craig Kilborn's tenure called "[[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-13-1999/god-stuff---skull-crushing God Stuff]]", which often poked fun at Paul and Jan Crouch by playing weird clips from their TV appearances.
--> '''John Bloom (a.k.a. Joe Bob Briggs):''' That was Jan Crouch reminding us that God can sometimes be a harsh mistress. [[UncannyValleyMakeup As well as a rotten hairdresser]].
* StepfordSmiler: It has long been alleged, first by the ''Los Angeles Times'' and then by their granddaughter, that Paul and Jan Crouch lived separately for years despite still appearing on television as a devoted married couple.
* TheRival: Currently it's Creator/{{Daystar}}, another megachurch-focused cable network. Other rivals have come and gone:
** [=PTL=] was founded by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, the original TBN founders, but their scandals in TheEighties brought it down.
** Christian Broadcasting Network ([=CBN=]) was a friendly rival -- Pat Robertson's ''The 700 Club'' aired on both channels -- but that channel eventually switched to mostly-secular programming, got bought and sold a couple of times, and is now known as Creator/{{Freeform}}.
** Odyssey, a channel formed from the merger of two smaller nets, made a similar switch to secular shows (at first as a joint venture between Hallmark and [[Creator/JimHenson The Jim Henson Company]]) and eventually became The Hallmark Channel at the TurnOfTheMillennium.
** One channel that ''has'' stuck around however is the Creator/TCTNetwork, which even provides the same kinds of programming and also exists as an over-the-air network; while many personalities such as Laverne and Edith Tripp began migrating to that network when the younger Crouches began taking an increased role in TBN's operations in the mid-2000s.
* {{Telethon}}: Ten-day/afternoon-long "Praise-a-thons" in the spring and fall, and smaller-scale "Macedonian Calls" during the summer. Similar fundraising pitches turned up whenever Paul Crouch said God told him to start one.
* TroubledProduction: In the very beginning. When it debuted on a California UHF station in 1973, the money was so light that the ministry nearly tanked on the very day it launched. Paul Crouch admitted in an autobiography that he [[MetaphoricallyTrue bluffed his viewers into thinking that an anonymous donor (really himself) had bailed out the ministry]], which persuaded them to donate more and more money.
* UncannyValleyMakeup: Jan Crouch, [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr4meuOkbk1qe6put.jpg a particularly notorious case]]. Allegedly, Jan Crouch and Tammy Faye Bakker didn't like each other when the Bakkers worked at TBN, with makeup being just one of the ways they tried to compete with each other.
* UnPerson: The network's founders, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, due to their fall from grace in TheEighties (see the Trivia page for more).
** Before the PTL scandal; much of this began when Paul Crouch (who had once been Jim Bakker's youth pastor in Minnesota) and Jim Bakker had an unspecified falling-out shortly after TBN launched that resulted in the Bakkers leaving to strike out on their own.
** A more recent UnPerson is Paul Crouch, Jr., who was the heir apparent until his familial relation to Brittany Koper led to him allegedly becoming collateral damage in the legal battle between her and the rest of the Crouch family. While he was the regular host of ''Behind the Scenes'' before his firing, TBN has barely mentioned him since. He now works for the Word Network.
* ViewersLikeYou: Phrased as "Because of your generous support".

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