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Revelation TV

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Revelation TV
Programming
Picture format16:9 SDTV
Links
Websitewww.revelationtv.com
Availability
Terrestrial
FreeviewChannel 264

Revelation TV is a UK Protestant Christian television channel started by Howard and Lesley Conder in 2003. It broadcasts on Freesat channel 692, Freeview HD channel 264, Sky channel 581, the Roku box and is also available online on iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Samsung and LG Smart TVs. The channel is based in Spain, with a small studio and office in England.

History

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Howard Conder (an ex-Jehovah's Witness) and his wife Lesley began the TV station in 2003 by forming a private company and remortgaging their home to put their own money into it. They built trust with their viewership and know their most ardent viewers by name.[1]

Between 2004 and 2014, the station was censured five times by Ofcom, for homophobic comments made on air, and for graphic depiction of aborted fetuses in an item aired before a children's programme.[2] In a 2007 interview with The Guardian, Howard Conder said that the regulator Ofcom had received complaints from viewers about the channel's views of homosexuality.[3]

In 2007, following the lifting of Ofcom restrictions, the channel was allowed to ask for funds on air.[4]

On 10 February 2010, American evangelist Justin Peters was interviewed live on Revelation TV. Peters is an outspoken critic of the Word of Faith movement and, during the interview, mentioned several prominent proponents of this doctrine by name such as Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Copeland. The programme was taken off-air before its scheduled end time, due to concerns that making accusations against specific individuals who were not present breached Ofcom rules on fairness. Lesley Conder criticised Peters the following morning,[5] but the incident was widely discussed online.[6][7]

On 1 December 2011 evangelist and preacher Jacob Prasch announced on his website that he had left Revelation TV after the channel began broadcasting a weekly Jesse Duplantis show. Prasch accused Duplantis of being a heterodox preacher of the Word of Faith doctrine.[8] Presenter Bob Mitchell subsequently also left,[9] and Prophetic Witness Movement International also pulled out of the station.[10]

The channel moved to Spain in 2010.[2] As of 2012, Revelation TV had a permanent television studio base in Spain. An underground car park space was converted into a new television studio, from which several programmes are now transmitted.

In November 2014 the Charity Commission for England and Wales said that Revelation TV was under investigation, after it identified regulatory concerns about trustees' benefits, conflicts of interest and a "potential significant loss of charitable funds".[11] The Revelation Foundation said it welcomed the inquiry and would cooperate fully with proceedings.[12][13] On 16 June 2015, the channel released a statement which said that the Charity Commission had identified no loss or misappropriation of charitable funds by the trustees.[14] In October 2020, the Charity Commission for England and Wales closed the enquiry into Revelation TV. Although the enquiry did find failings in the structure and governance of the Revelation Foundation (the charity behind Revelation TV) it found no evidence of mis-appropriation of funds.[15]

From around early 2015, fundraising commenced for the purchase of land and the building of a new purpose built television studio complex for the channel in Spain, as their current studio facilities, located in an underground car park space was deemed unfit for purpose, due to the lack of studio space, office space and restrictions imposed on them by their landlord.

By March 2019, the land was bought, and construction of the new television studio and complex nearing completion with final fitting out work being completed to install cameras, sound and other equipment. The new complex is expected to house three new studios, one of which will be a dedicated music studio. The full completion of the new studio complex was expected to be made by the end of 2019 or early 2020.[16]

British politician Nigel Farage was interviewed on Revelation TV in November 2019. He talked about "globalists" and a "new world order".[17][18]

Genesis TV

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Another channel, Genesis TV, was formerly broadcast on Sky channel 592. It used to play much of the same content from RMusicTV, and a music show, The One to One Show, produced and hosted by presenter Michael Owusu. In February 2010 a Genesis TV presenter read off a message from a prankster who called himself 'Repmykipz', which claimed to be a story of salvation, but was merely an adaptation of the theme song of the American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The presenter then went to another message from the same person consisting of the plot of Star Wars. A posting of the prank on YouTube went viral and as of 2015 had been viewed over one million times.[19][20]

On 22 March 2010, Genesis TV allowed a debate between the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin and the leader of the Christian Party, George Hargreaves, as the two were competing against each other for the Barking constituency in the 2010 General election.[21][third-party source needed] Genesis TV was closed down and merged with Revelation TV on 1 April 2010. Revelation TV later moved to Sky channel 581 after the slot was given up by GOD TV.

On 10 March 2010, the station announced that Genesis TV and Revelation TV would be merging into a single channel, to be called Revelation TV, with effect from 1 April 2010.[22][third-party source needed]

References

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  1. ^ Paul Backholer (16 November 2020). "The Revelation TV Story: Hey Howie, Howard Conder & Gordon Pettie". ByFaith.org. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Chris Green (11 November 2014). "Revelation TV: Britain's first televangelist station facing investigation into misuse of funds". The Independent. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. ^ Barkham, Patrick (2 March 2007). "The show is like a coffee morning in slow motion". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Television evangelists given blessing to pass collection plate round viewers"[dead link‍]. Times Online. Article dated 2007-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
  5. ^ "Revelation TV's Lesley Condor Rebukes Justin Peters After He Discussed Word-Faith Teachers With Doug Harris - 11th February 2010 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  6. ^ terriergal (12 February 2010). "Justin Peters rebuked by Revelation TV for naming names". Purpose Drivel. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Justin Peters 'Wrong To Name Names on Revelation TV' | Real Christianity". Realchristianity.wordpress.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  8. ^ MorielCarol (1 December 2011). "Jacob Prasch and Revelation TV | Moriel Archive". Moriel.org. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  9. ^ STATEMENT FROM BOB MITCHELL REGARDING REVELATION TV. Archived 3 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Stephens, Neville (15 December 2011). "The Blog Of The Newport Branch Of Prophetic Witness Movement (Pwmi) In Wales' Third Largest City. : Dr Paul Wilkinson Of The Pwmi Pulls Out Of Revelation Tv As Well!". Propheticwitnessnewportbranch.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. ^ Goodfellow, Christopher (7 November 2014). "Charity Commission opens statutory inquiry into religious channel Revelation TV". Third Sector. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Announcement relating to the Charity Commission's inquiry into Revelation Foundation | Rnews". Revelation TV. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. ^ Carey Lodge (12 November 2014). "Revelation TV 'horrified' by misuse of funds allegations | Christian News on Christian Today". Christiantoday.com. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Charity Commission finds no loss of charitable funds | Rnews | Revelation TV". www.revelationtv.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Charity Inquiry: Revelation Foundation". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  16. ^ "The building fund". Revelationtv.com. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  17. ^ Walker, Peter (21 November 2019). "Farage under fire for conspiracy claims linked to antisemitism". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Nigel Farage accused of perpetuating conspiracy theories linked to antisemitism". The Jewish Chronicle. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  19. ^ Moore, Matthew (12 February 2010). "Christian TV presenter reads out Star Wars plot as story of salvation". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  20. ^ "The Fresh Prince of the Dark Side Pranks Christian TV". YouTube. 11 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  21. ^ "News.php". Revelation TV. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  22. ^ "News.php". Revelation TV. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
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