stanwyck@ihuxr.UUCP (Don Stanwyck) (04/14/84)
As promised, here is the summary of the replys on "Christian" broadcasters.
It didn't ever become what I expected. I had hoped to put together a list
of "Christian" stations around the coutry, and their tax-status. Instead,
most people simply pointed out to me the (already well-known) fact that the
tax-status of an organization is not a good basis for determining its
legitimacy.
I have edited the format of some of the replies, but (as far as I know) I
have not changed to content of any. The replies are below.
Contrary to the implication of many of the comments, I have found that the
stations I have listened to and enjoyed have been non-profit, low-income,
frequently no advertising (in one case very limited advertising), and have
not paid even average saleries to their owners/employees. Particulary
WMBI (Moody Bible Institue, Chicago), K... (Northwestern College, St.Paul, MN),
KPDQ (Portland, OR), and KPDQ's Albany, OR affiliate have all been good
stations over the years.
Replies follow:
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Your position on this seems a little disingenuous. Sure, the "Crystal Cathedral"
was built with nonprofit funds, but it's still a lot of money! All that
"nonprofit" means is that you can accumulate as much taxfree money as you want,
just so you don't pay dividends to anyone. There are still plenty of fat
salaries and lucrative contracts to go around. >>> Lew Mammel, Jr. ihuxr!lew
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How about the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) which is on many cable
franchises? They sell commercial time. Although, they do show shows which are
not strictly Christian oriented (Doby Gillis, Burns & Allen, lots of other
oldies, old movies, etc.) in addition to "700 Club" and other shows. I am sure
that they turn a tidy profit.
Don't get me wrong, though, I happen to like CBN quite a bit even though I am
not a Christian. Where else can I see Doby Gillis? (I hadn't seen it since I
was a child!) >>> Allen England
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I believe what Dave was referring to was Christian "networks" such as the
TPL (Texas Prayer League, I believe) and the 700 Club. And the point he was
trying to make was that Christian groups like these DO spend mega-bucks on
studios and equipment and property and saleries, and at the same time spend MUCH
LESS on feeding the poor. In fact every time the gentleman on the 700 Club
asked me for money he said it was "to further their ministery", and "to
communicate their faith to others". On one show they were even asking for
donation for a new transmitter in particular!!!
As to the high saleries these guys make, don't fool your self by thinking
that just because an organization manages to maintain a non-profit status that
nobody working there gets anything much. The only organization where I have
seen the figures is the famous United Way (or United Fund, or Crusade of Mercy)
where the president of that organization gets over $250,000.00 a year in salery.
And its the biggest non-profit organization there is.
(By the way I don't mean to single out the 700 Club or the PTL. These are
just the two BIG CHRISTIAN NETWORKS that come to mind. In this group I also
include the likes Ted Armstong, both junior and senior, and of course our local
Rex Humbard and his multi-million dollar "Cathedral of Tomarrow". In fact Rex
has taken so much off the top, that he almost lost his non-profit status twice.
In both cases he had to change the way he did BUSINESS. It seemed he had too
much of the assets IN HIS OWN NAME!)
Not that I'm against God, just those who use his name to make money for
themselves. (Kind of taking His name in vain, wouldn't you say?)
...we13!ll1!cej Chuck Jones Cleveland, Ohio
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I think you're confusing non-profit with "making no money". If I take in
$100,000, buy myself a $40,000 DeLorean (for business use only, of course), give
myself a $59,500 salary, and distribute $500 to the poor, that could be non-
profit if I did it in a certain way (as defined by the IRS).
It would also be non-profit if I took the same $100,000, gave myself $10,000
in salary, bought a $800 VW for business use, and distributed the remainder to
the poor. The difference between these two scenarios is obvious...and where the
controversy lies. >>> Don Davis JHU/APL ..decvax!harpo!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded
...rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!aplvax!ded
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Well, the Jim Bakker Show (formerly the PTL Club, until the joke about PTL
standing for "Pass The Loot" became so popular) rakes in truly obscene amounts
of money, thanks to Jim constantly assuring people that they should send money
even if they can't afford it because God (apparently acting as Jim's accountant)
will make it up to them. Last year, there was a major flap when his purchase of
a $400,000 Florida condo saw light. Among the charming features of this little
hideaway were gold-plated plumbing fixtures.
You are, however, correct that most Christian TV shows are put on by sincere
and honest preachers (well, actually, preachers tend to be a dishonest lot, but
not in any way that really hurts anyone -- their dishonesty is usually in their
refusal to admit it when they've made a mistake, as was so expertly demonstrated
by the Rev. Jackson recently, and in claiming that things happened which never
did [there IS a line between lies and parables, and it is not uncommon for
preachers to cross it]). You are also correct that most are registered as non-
profit. However, there are those who use their non-profit status as a way of
getting around taxes, and their religion as a means of inspiring donations.
Unpleasant to believers and nonbelievers alike, but true nonetheless.
>>> Tim Maroney, mcnc!unc!tim
<<All opinions expressed herein are completely my own, so don't go assuming
that anyone else at UNC feels the same way.>>
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When I lived in the SF Bay area, there was a sunday morning show
with some evangalistic fellow who made the wildest claims. I
don't know too much about the show, my grandma used to watch it,
but this guy and his organization built a cathedral that I have
seen matched by no other building. He brought in an incredible
sum of money. Too bad I can't remember his name. Maybe it was
the Crystal Cathedral that he built, I'm not sure. I personally
believe this guy lied through his teeth continuously, but how
would I know? Anyway, one thing is for sure, he was raking in
massive bucks. The good to which he used the money, I don't
know, other than funding a Christian college, I doubt he could
get away with keeping all that much of it. As I remember, his
cause was to promote Christian ideology, and that's where the
money went.
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I didn't see the original news article you were responding to, so perhaps
my response is inappropriate.
I do not have the call letters of profitable religious stations at hand.
However religious broadcasting is big business (I think 60 minutes had a segment
on this, but it seems to me that this statement is obvious). Also, "non-profit"
does not necessarily mean what you think it means. (I suppose these days that
AT&T may be "non-profit", but you probably didn't have that in mind either.)
The real question about a non-profit institution (from the viewpoint of a
potential contributor) is: what will be done with the money I contribute?
From the viewpoint of the IRS (this being my unauthoritative guess), an
institution is non-profit based on two criteria:
a. Is it involved in education, religious, or charitable work?
(there may be some other categories here)
b. Does it retain its profits, or spend them (there are no shareholders,
so there's nobody to distribute them to). I believe non-profit
organizations must spend essentially all their revenues.
Of course, non-profit organizations have expenses. For instance, salaries
and fees for services. You might find that some people involved with non-profit
organizations make very generous salaries, possibly heavily tied in to the level
of contributions received. <<NO_NAME>>
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Many Christian radio stations sell air time - maybe a majority.
Sell air time (or commercials):
KFAX, San Francisco KFIA, Carmichael CA (near Sacramento)
KGER, Long Beach CA KBRT, Los Angeles
WRBS, Baltimore (mainly sells commercials; with strong merchant and
church support, it is better able to pick and choose programs)
WWBT, Cocoa-Merritt Island, FL WABS, Arlington VA
Non-commercial (* indicates I may be wrong)
The entire Family Radio network (all listener-supported):
KEAR, San Francisco KVIP, Redding CA
KEBR, Sacramento WFME, Newark NJ
KECR, El Cajon (near San Diego) WFSI, Annapolis MD
KFRN, Long Beach WKDN, Camden NJ
KYFR, Shenandoah IA WYFR short-wave, Okeechobee FL
[Note: WYFR is the world's largest non-government-supported
short-wave facility in the world. Entirely listener-supported.]
*WCDR, Cedarville OH (Affiliated with Cedarville College)
*HCJB shortwave, Quito, Ecuador
*Trans-World Radio shortwave
KHOF, Los Angeles area
Hope this helps (And when you've been accustomed to Family Radio,
most commercial stations are a big come-down)
Larry Bickford
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--
________
( ) Don Stanwyck
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