Daystar Television Network

Daystar Television Network

Type	Religious broadcasting
Country	United States
Availability	National (broadcast, cable, satellite); Worldwide (satellite)
Owner	Word of God Fellowship
Key people	Marcus Lamb (founder, president, CEO) Joni Lamb (vice-president, executive producer)
Launch date	December 31, 1997
Official website	www.daystar.com

The Daystar Television Network is an American evangelical Christian television religious broadcasting network headquartered near Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Bedford, Texas. Its founders are Marcus Lamb and his wife, Joni Lamb.

History

Daystar's roots can be traced back to 1993, when Marcus Lamb and his Word of God Fellowship ministry purchased a formerly defunct UHF station in Dallas called KMPX, broadcasting Christian programming. Marcus is a Georgia native who first began preaching at age 15 and finished Magna Cum Laude from Lee College at age nineteen. In 1982, he married Joni Trammel, and together they began to travel the US, preaching in churches, conventions, and crusades.

In 1984, they moved to Montgomery, Alabama to begin a television station. In less than a year, WMCF-TV 45 became the first full power Christian television station in the state. Marcus and Joni built the station for the next five years. In 1990, Marcus and Joni sold TV 45 to Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and moved to Dallas, Texas, where, in 1993, the Lamb’s launched their first station in the Dallas market. Channel 29 ran for three years. Then, in 1996, with a large contribution from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, they were able to purchase a station in Colorado, officially turning them into a network. In August of 1997, the small staff moved into a 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) facility that included production studios. On New Year’s Eve, later that year, Daystar was officially launched. The first broadcast featured Bishop T.D. Jakes from the Potter’s House in Dallas. ^[1][2]

Since 1993, Daystar facilities have tripled in size, and their broadcast signal reaches 200 countries and 670 million households globally. In 2010, Daystar became the first full time Christian network to build a TV station in Israel. ^[3]

Even with monumental growth, Daystar has not escaped the difficulties of the recession. On March 21, 2011, Daystar announced that it planned to downsize its production studios in Ashland, Kentucky; Houston, Texas; and Denver, Colorado, effective the following month; the facilities would continue to be used as transmitters, but not broadcasting centers. The downsizing, with studios run by a limited technical staff, led to layoffs of an unknown number of Daystar employees.

Programming

Daystar’s programming features influential ministers and speakers from around the world. The majority of Daystar's broadcasts are from groups and individuals aligned with various charismatic and Pentecostal movements. It airs paid programs from ministries such as John Hagee, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, David Reagan, Zola Levitt, Kerry Shook, Sid Roth, Jack Graham, Hal Lindsey, Jonathan Falwell, and the Pensacola Christian College program Rejoice in the Lord. In addition to the paid programmers that air on Daystar, Daystar produces several programs and broadcasts them from their Texas headquarters. These shows feature Marcus and Joni , and their children, as hosts.

Celebration

Celebration is the flagship program of the Daystar network. It began with the first channel that Marcus and Joni began in Alabama in the late 1980’s and continues as a daily one hour show. Celebration uses a talk show format and is hosted by Marcus and Joni Lamb. Celebration is a forum for sharing news about the network, biblical issues, performances by Joni and The Daystar Singers, and interviews with their guests, which have included many influential Christian leaders from both traditional and Charismatic ministries. Among those, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Brian Houston, actor Stephen Baldwin, director Michael Landon Jr., Francine Rivers, former heavy-weight Champion George Foreman, and Joyce Meyer. ^[4]

Joni

Joni Lamb’s daily show, The Joni Show: Table Talk, features Joni and co-hosts who are her personal friends. They come from various backgrounds including professional counselors, ministers, and members of the Daystar Singers. This panel interviews guests from diverse backgrounds. The subjects covered include topics such as Christian spirituality, secular culture, music, health and fitness, marriage enrichment, recovery from various addictions, alternative lifestyles, parenthood, and psychological disorders.^[5]

Check the Sound

Check the Sound is a half hour program featuring interviews and music for young adults. Airing on Friday and Saturday night, Marcus and Joni’s three children, Jonathon, Rachel, and Rebecca, host the program in front of a live audience. Often, the program is devoted to introducing the audience to new Christian music videos. At other times, musicians and bands are brought into the studio for live concerts and interviews, covering topics about music, Christianity, and issues that impact the culture. ^[6]

Gospel Music Showcase

Gospel music star Tammy Underwood hosts the Gospel Music Showcase every Saturday on Daystar. Showcase has been on the air for seven years. Guests are primarily from traditional Southern Gospel genres. ^[7]

Special Programming

Occasionally, Daystar airs special shows featuring the Lambs at church speaking engagements or broadcasts events such as Christians United for Israel summits. For purposes of fundraising, Daystar airs a week-long, semi-annual telethon called "Share-a-thons". Day Star Is the sponsor of The #81 Blake Koch

Controversies

FCC investigation

In 2003, Daystar underwent investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), centering on allegations that Daystar has sold air time on its non-commercial educational (NCE) stations to for-profit groups. The investigation had complicated Daystar's $21.5M bid for KOCE-TV, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member public television station in Huntington Beach, California, which at the time mainly served the suburban area of Orange County,^[8][9] and other license renewals.

After a lengthy process Daystar and KOCE-TV eventually came to an agreement where Daystar would lease a digital subchannel of KOCE, and thus broadcast over KOCE-DT3 to bring the network critical coverage in Orange County and further into the Los Angeles market. This agreement continues to the present day, with KOCE since becoming the flagship Los Angeles area member station of PBS in January 2011, replacing KCET.

On December 22, 2008, for the purposes of settling the investigation, the FCC and Daystar entered into an agreement in which the two organizations would work closely together to solidify and maintain a compliance plan. According to the plan, Daystar will continue to utilize a multi-level review process for all content aired and Daystar will make additional good faith efforts to review all content received from content providers prior to the content’s broadcast on Daystar’s NCE stations. In the agreement Daystar will make a *voluntary* contribution of $17,500 to the United States Department of Treasury.^[10]

Israel

Daystar faced controversy in Israel when it became the first foreign Christian network to be given a broadcasting license by its government in 2006. The announcement drew criticism from Jewish leaders in both Israel and the United States, who believed the network aimed at converting Jews in Israel through its numerous Messianic Jewish programs. In 2007, the Israeli cable provider HOT announced it would drop Daystar from its lineup. HOT claimed that the decision was made after the company received complaints about Daystar's content. Daystar filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court to hear the case, accusing HOT of religious discrimination.^[11]

Lawsuits

On December 1, 2010, Marcus Lamb appeared on Celebration and admitted to having an affair several years prior, telling viewers that unidentified individuals attempted to extort him over the affair. He also claimed that he had since reconciled with Joni over the matter; the Lambs subsequently appeared on Good Morning America and Dr. Phil to discuss their experiences with marriage counseling.^[12] However, on December 6, former Daystar executive Jeanette Hawkins filed a lawsuit against the network, claiming that her knowledge of the affair caused "great emotional pain". ^[13] Daystar filed a counter-suit against Hawkins and two other individuals, claiming the they were part of the extortion scheme.

Lamb's confession and Hawkins' lawsuit sparked a series of legal actions against Daystar. In February 2011, Jennifer Falcon, a former Daystar employee, filed a lawsuit claiming to have suffered sexual harassment by Bill Trammell, Joni Lamb's father and Daystar's administrator of special projects. Falcon further claimed to have been demoted and defamed by the Lambs.^[14] The following month, Karen Thompson, a former producer for Joni, sued Daystar for wrongful termination, claiming to have been harassed and fired for dating a male co-worker. Thompson, who was married at the time, was asked to stop dating a co-worker, but would not comply.^[15] Daystar denied the allegations of both lawsuits.

Local police in Bedford, Texas began a criminal investigation into the Lambs' extortion claims, but ended the investigation several days later due to lack of evidence. Jim Fisher, a lawyer representing Hawkins, claimed that the Lambs made the extortion claims after he moved for an out-of-court settlement with the network.^[16]

Availability

Daystar is available on terrestrial and cable television in the United States and worldwide on DBS systems such as DirecTV and DISH Network, and as an unencrypted Free to Air satellite channel. The network is composed of 2 VHF and 36 UHF television stations, which each broadcast all or part of Daystar's program lineup.

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

Daystar owns a number of television stations nationwide, either directly or through a subsidiary, Word of God Fellowship, Inc. Daystar affiliates include:

Daystar Television Network affiliates

Call letters	analog channel	digital channel RF	PSIP virtual channel	City of license	Media market	Call letters' meaning	Notes
KDTN	—	43	2.1	Denton, Texas	Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex	K Daystar Television Network or K DenToN	Acquired from North Texas Public Broadcasting in 2004. Flagship station of the Daystar Television Network
KLTJ	—	23	22.1	Galveston, Texas	Greater Houston	Keep Looking To Jesus	Originally a TBN affiliate in Dallas, later Houston in the 1980s. Call letters assigned to Galveston in the 1990s.
KQVE-LP	46	—	—	San Antonio, Texas	San Antonio, Texas	Translator-style call letters randomly assigned by Federal Communications Commission (FCC), could possibly mean K-DOVE (Dove of Peace), since "Q" looks like O"
KOCM	—	46	46.1	Norman, Oklahoma	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
WDTA-LP	—	35	53.1	Atlanta, Georgia	Atlanta metro area	Daystar Atlanta
WYDN	—	47	48.1	Worcester, Massachusetts	Boston, Massachusetts	We're Your Daystar Network station
KOCE-DT3	—	50.3	48.3	Huntington Beach, California	Los Angeles metro area	K Orange County Education	Subchannel of PBS member station KOCE, allowed under FCC settlement between Daystar and KOCE, see article for details
WDTI-DT	69	44	—	Indianapolis	Indianapolis, Indiana	W Daystar Television Indianapolis
WELL-LP	8	—	—	Willow Grove	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Unknown, possibly randomly-assigned by FCC	Formerly a Class-A station
WKOB-LP	8	2	42.1	New York, New York	New York, NY	Unknown, possibly randomly-assigned by FCC
WRID-LP	48	see note	see note	Richmond, Virginia	Richmond, VA	W RIchmond Daystar	Has permit to convert to digital on 51
KSXC-LP	5	see note	see note	South Sioux City, Nebraska	Sioux City, NE	K SiouX City	Has permit to convert to digital on 12
WDPM-DT	—	23	4.1	Pensacola, Florida	Pensacola, Florida & Mobile, Alabama	We're Daystar Pensacola and Mobile	see article for why station uses PSIP 4.1
WCDN-LP	53	7	53.1	Cleveland	Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio	We're Cleveland's Daystar Network
WDMI-LD	—	31	62.1	Minneapolis	Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN	We're Daystar MIinneapolis or MInnesota
KWBM	—	31	31.1	Springfield, Missouri	Springfield, MO	K WB Missouri (former affiliation), or K We're Branson, Missouri (local city within broadcast area	Formerly with repeaters KWBM-CA 56 and KNJE-LP 58, which were not sold with KWBM-TV to Daystar
KUTF	—	12	12.1	Logan, Utah	Utah	K Utah TeleFutura (former affiliation)
WBIF	—	51	51.1	Marianna, Florida	Panama City, Florida	Unknown, possibly randomly-assigned by FCC
KCBU	—	3	3.1	Price, Utah	Utah	K Cocola Broadcasting Utah	Has construction permit to move to 11
WUDT-LD		8	23.1	Detroit, Michigan	Metro Detroit	We're Univision DetroiT or We're Univision Detroit Television (former affiliation under former owner, Equity Media)
WNYI	—	20	52.1	Ithaca, New York	Ithaca/Syracuse, NY and Elmira, NY	We're New York Independent or | We're New York Ithaca
KWDK	—	42	56.1	Tacoma, Washington	Seattle, WA	K Washington State Daystar K (calls assigned before Daystar came to existence)
KQUP	—	24	24.1	Pullman, Washington	Spokane, Washington	K Q UPN (former affiliation)	Has analog low-power repeater, KQUP-LP 47 serving Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
KWBN	—	43	44.1	Honolulu, Hawaii	Hawaii TV	Station failed to obtain WB Network affiliation
WBLU-LP	62	—	—	Lexington, Kentucky	Lexington metro area	W BLUegrass	Acquired from Equity Media Holdings after station went silent; license since revoked due to non-activity. Lexington receives nominal Daystar service from WBNA Louisville
KKJB	—	39	39.1	Boise, Idaho	Boise, Idaho	Unknown, possibly assigned randomly by FCC
WRTN-LP	6	7	6.1	Alexandria, Tennessee	Nashville, Tennessee	Former affiliate of the Retro Television Network
KOHA-LP	48	47	47.1	Omaha, Nebraska	Omaha, Nebraska		Silent since 2009 but license has not been deleted.
WDSF-LD	17	17		Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Sioux Falls, South Dakota		Has a permit to convert to digital on 17
WDCI-LD	—	30	57.1	Elgin, Illinois	Chicago, Illinois	Daystar of Chicago, Illinois	Acquired from TBN, was a translator of WWTO.
KKAP	36	36	36.1	Little Rock, Arkansas	Little Rock, Arkansas
WGBD-LP	49	See Note	See Note	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Green Bay, Wisconsin	Green Bay Daystar	Has a permit to convert to digital on 49
WPDN-LD	—	24	65.1	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh Daystar Network
WTSF	—	44	61.1	Ashland, Kentucky	Huntington/Charleston, West Virginia		Started as an independent, commercial station in 1982. Donated to a local religious group in 1983 and remained a religious independent station until it's purchase by Daystar in 2003.

• • On April 4, 2011, it was revealed that Daystar had agreed to purchase PBS outlet WMFE-TV (channel 24) in Orlando, Florida for a reported price of $5 million. The transaction is subject to final approval by the Federal Communications Commission.^[17]

International

Country	Platform	Channel	Notes
New Zealand	Sky Network Television	112	—
United Kingdom	Freesat	691	—
United Kingdom, Ireland	Sky	584	—

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]
6. ^ [6]
7. ^ [7]
8. ^ Arellano, Gustavo (2004-02-26). "Jesus, Meet Michael Powell". OC Weekly. http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/jesus-meet-michael-powell/20226/. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
9. ^ Castillo, Andrew (2006-10-23). "Governor stops sale of KOCE-TV station". Mt. San Antonio College Mountaineer. http://www.themountaineeronline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=c5fa3ef9-09ab-40f3-ba73-2b6168797309. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
10. ^ Consent Decree between FCC and Daystar. Retrieved on December 23, 2008.
11. ^ Ousted Christian TV Network Takes Case to Israeli High Court| Christianpost.com
12. ^ Televangelist says he cheated on wife, CNN.com, 1 December 2010
13. ^ Jabali-Nash, Naimah (December 3, 2010). "Rev. Marcus Lamb of DayStar TV Faces Unusual Lawsuit After Admitting Affair". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20024561-504083.html. 
14. ^ New Daystar Lawsuit Accuses Joni Lamb's Father of Sexual Harassment, The Christian Post, 20 February 2011
15. ^ Third Former Employee Sues Daystar, KXAS-TV (NBC 5), 28 March 2011
16. ^ Bedford police drop investigation into Daystar founders' extortion claim, Denton Record-Chronicle, 9 December 2010
17. ^ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/04/wmfe-sale-dallas-religious-broadcaster-is-the-buyer.html

External links

• Official Site
• Streamed content
• Glorystar Satellite Systems - North American satellite equipment distribution partner