Pat Robertson Stepping Away From '700 Club'

Pat Robertson, who turned a tiny Virginia television station into a global religious broadcasting network, is stepping down after a half-century running the “700 Club” on daily TV, the Christian Broadcasting Network announced on Friday.

The Associated Press reports the 91-year-old Robertson said in a statement that he hosted the network’s flagship program for the last time on Friday, and that his son Gordon Robertson will take over the weekday show starting Monday.

“I will no longer be the host of the ‘700 Club,’” Robertson said on the show Friday, although he vowed to return from time to time, if he’s had a “revelation” he needs to share. “I thank God for everyone that’s been involved. And I want to thank all of you.”

Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network started airing on Oct. 1, 1961 after he bought a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. The “700 Club” began production in 1966.

Now based in Virginia Beach, CBN says its outreach extends to more than 100 countries and territories in dozens of languages through TV and video evangelism, online ministry and prayer centers. The “700 Club” talk show can be seen in the vast majority of U.S. television markets.

“Pat Robertson had an enormous impact on both American religion and American politics,” said John C. Green, an emeritus political science professor at The University of Akron.

One of Robertson’s innovations with the “700 Club” was to use the secular talk-show format, which was a break from more traditional broadcasts of revival meetings or church services.