About SBN

SBN

SBN, the SonLife Broadcasting Network, is the 24-hour Christian television network of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, broadcasting Bible teaching, live church services and southern gospel music from the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In Australia, the network's international feed, SBN International, is carried as a religious narrowcaster on the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) platform, giving satellite viewers free access to its Pentecostal programming.

Overview

The SonLife Broadcasting Network operates as the television arm of one of American Pentecostalism's longest-running broadcast ministries. All programming for the network originates from the platform of the Family Worship Center, the ministry's home church in Baton Rouge, and from the ministry's onsite television studios. The schedule runs around the clock, combining live services and call-in programs with pre-recorded teaching series and classic crusade broadcasts.

SBN's theological identity is Pentecostal, reflecting the ministry's roots in the Assemblies of God tradition and its emphasis on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing and evangelistic preaching. Its flagship teaching centres on what the ministry calls the Message of the Cross, an exposition of salvation through Christ's work on the cross that runs through much of its programming.

In Australia, SBN International appears among the religious channels on VAST, the government-funded satellite service for areas beyond reliable terrestrial television reception. It sits alongside other faith-based channels including 3ABN International, Daystar, GOD TV, Hope Channel and TBN Pacific, contributing a Pentecostal voice to the free-to-air satellite line-up.

History

The SonLife Broadcasting Network grew out of a broadcast ministry that began in the early 1970s. Jimmy Swaggart, born on 15 March 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana, started his full-time ministry in 1955 as a Pentecostal preacher and gospel musician. He began broadcasting with a radio program, The Camp Meeting Hour, in 1969, and launched the Jimmy Swaggart Telecast on television in 1973.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Swaggart became one of the most prominent televangelists in the United States. His weekly program was carried by hundreds of television stations, and his crusade meetings filled stadiums in America and around the world. He also built a substantial gospel music recording career and founded the Family Worship Center church and Jimmy Swaggart Bible College in Baton Rouge, with the church opening its doors in 1984.

The ministry established the SonLife Radio network in 1995, extending its broadcast footprint in audio. The SonLife Broadcasting Network itself was launched in 2010, after what the ministry describes as fifty-five years of Swaggart's full-time ministry. The new network consolidated the ministry's television output into a dedicated 24-hour channel, with all programming generated from the Family Worship Center platform and the ministry's Baton Rouge studios.

Jimmy Swaggart died on 1 July 2025 at the age of 90, after a ministry career spanning seven decades. His passing marked the end of an era for one of televangelism's pioneering figures, but the SonLife Broadcasting Network continues as the broadcast expression of the ministry he founded, carrying forward its programming from Baton Rouge.

In Australia, SBN International is listed among the religious channels carried on VAST, giving the network a place in the country's free-to-air satellite offering for regional and remote viewers.

Programming

SBN's schedule is built around a core of studio programs produced at the Family Worship Center, supplemented by live church services and archival broadcasts. A Study in the Word, the ministry's flagship daily teaching program, works through the Bible verse by verse, covering genealogy, history, prophecy and end-time events. The program continues a teaching lineage that dates back to the early 1980s.

The Message of the Cross is a live panel discussion in which Swaggart family members and ministry teachers examine biblical topics and passages in a round-table format. Frances & Friends, hosted by Frances Swaggart, is a live two-hour broadcast that addresses current events and answers viewers' doctrinal questions, with callers invited to phone in. Generation of the Cross, hosted by Gabriel Swaggart, brings the network's teaching to younger viewers, examining social and cultural issues from a biblical perspective.

The schedule also includes Insight, a news program presented from a biblical perspective; The Story Behind the Song, hosted by Donnie Swaggart, which explores the background of gospel music; and Jimmy Swaggart Crusade Classics, archival broadcasts from the ministry's historic stadium crusades. Live services from the Family Worship Center, featuring preaching and southern gospel music, anchor the weekly schedule.

Southern gospel music is woven throughout SBN's output, reflecting Jimmy Swaggart's own career as a gospel pianist and recording artist. Musical performances by the ministry's singers and musicians feature in services, dedicated music programs and the crusade archives.

Coverage and Audience

In Australia, SBN International is available through VAST, the Viewer Access Satellite Television service, as part of its religious channel bouquet. VAST is the Australian Government-funded platform delivering free-to-air digital television by satellite to households in areas where terrestrial reception is unavailable or unreliable, covering remote and regional Australia.

Any household with a VAST-certified satellite receiver and dish can receive SBN International at no subscription cost. The channel appears alongside 3ABN International, ADTV, Amazing Facts, Angel TV, Daystar, GOD TV, Hope Channel, TBN Inspire, TBN Pacific and the Victory Channel in the religious section of the VAST line-up.

Internationally, the SonLife Broadcasting Network is distributed by satellite and cable in the United States and in other countries, and its programming streams live online. The ministry's broadcast infrastructure in Baton Rouge supports this distribution, sending the Baton Rouge-produced schedule to audiences in multiple time zones.

SBN's audience consists primarily of Pentecostal and evangelical Christians drawn to its Bible teaching, gospel music and live ministry programming. In Australia, VAST carriage gives the network particular reach into regional and remote communities, while its online stream serves viewers with internet access.

Ownership

The SonLife Broadcasting Network is owned and operated by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, the non-profit religious organisation founded by Jimmy Swaggart and based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The ministry's complex spans extensive facilities including the Family Worship Center church, television studios and educational institutions.

As a ministry-owned broadcaster, SBN operates on a donor-supported funding model rather than relying on commercial advertising. Viewers are invited to support the ministry financially, and the network's programming includes appeals consistent with this model. The ministry also generates revenue from its music recordings, publications and educational activities.

Following Jimmy Swaggart's death in July 2025, the ministry continues under the leadership of the Swaggart family, with Donnie Swaggart, Gabriel Swaggart and Frances Swaggart prominent in its on-air programming. The network remains headquartered at the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, where its studios produce the full broadcast schedule.

Digital Presence

SBN maintains an online presence through its website at sonlifetv.com, which provides program schedules and live streaming of the network's broadcast. Viewers can watch SBN live over the internet, giving the Baton Rouge-produced schedule global reach beyond its satellite and cable distribution.

Jimmy Swaggart Ministries operates a broader digital footprint that includes the ministry's main website, online store and social media channels. SBN program segments, musical performances and teaching clips are shared on social media and video platforms, extending the network's content to online audiences.

For Australian viewers, SBN International is accessible through a VAST satellite installation or through the network's live stream. The combination of free-to-air satellite carriage and online streaming gives the channel a multi-platform presence in Australia, carrying the Baton Rouge ministry's Pentecostal programming to viewers across the country.