Jim Bakker’s death brought back many memories of the PTL (Praise the Lord) Club.
Southern Baptists had a Radio and TV Commission (RTVC) based in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1984, the SBC launched the American Christian Television System (ACTS).
From 1986–89, I was the southeast region manager for ACTS, which was based in Atlanta. In 1987, Bakker had an affair with Jessica Hahn and the network began to decline in viewers.
Meanwhile, I — along with three other ACTS representatives Rod Moerer, Jim Robinson and a northeast rep — continued to contact cable companies asking them to carry ACTS.
Our vice president at the time was Mike Wright, my predecessor. We had 1.2 million homes carrying ACTS. When Bakker was convicted of fraud and other crimes in 1988, those cable companies I had been contacting called me telling me they replaced the PTL Club with ACTS.
Immediate impact
We went from 1.2 to 2.7 million households nearly overnight. Hundreds of communities now had ACTS.
All those contacts with cable operators paid off. Then the cable companies forwarded their complaining callers to my phone.
One lady told me, “Jim and Tammy Faye said if I gave them money it would keep them on the cable.” However, by having ACTS on local cable, dozens of churches got access to cable TV through ACTS and personalized it to their community.
Other moves
ACTS eventually sold to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Network and then to Charles Stanley’s Inspiration Network.
In 1997, the RTVC commission merged with two other entities to form the SBC’s North American Mission Board. In 1989, I left ACTS to become the global media consultant for what is now the International Mission Board.
See related article on Snowden’s ministry.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This article was written by Mark Snowden of Snowden Ministries International and
Http://TruthSticks.us. Snowden is former director of missional leadership for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association.
