About TBN Pacific

TBN Pacific

TBN Pacific is the Australian and Pacific feed of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the American Christian television network founded in 1973 that describes itself as the world's largest religious broadcaster. Carried in Australia as a religious narrowcaster on the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) platform, TBN Pacific delivers a 24-hour schedule of evangelical preaching, worship music, Christian talk programs and faith-based films to satellite viewers across Australia, New Zealand and the surrounding Pacific islands.

Overview

TBN Pacific functions as the regional arm of the Trinity Broadcasting Network for the South Pacific, adapting the network's global programming for audiences in Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring island nations. Like TBN's other international feeds, it draws on the parent network's extensive library of Christian programming while scheduling content for local time zones.

The Trinity Broadcasting Network is one of the longest-established and most widely distributed religious television operations in the world. Its flagship American channel has been broadcasting since the 1970s, and its international feeds extend that output across every inhabited continent. TBN Pacific represents the network's presence in the Australasian region, where it operates alongside other international religious channels on the VAST satellite service.

The channel's programming reflects TBN's broadly evangelical and charismatic identity. Its schedule combines preaching by prominent American and international ministers, contemporary Christian music, talk and interview programs, Christian films and children's content, all presented within a framework of evangelical Christian belief.

History

The Trinity Broadcasting Network was founded in 1973 by Paul Crouch and Jan Crouch in the United States. Beginning with a single television station in Southern California, the network expanded rapidly through the purchase of broadcast stations and the launch of satellite distribution, becoming by the 1980s and 1990s the most widely carried religious television network in America.

TBN's international expansion followed. The network launched regional feeds and partner operations across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, building a global footprint that the organisation describes as covering every inhabited continent. The South Pacific feed serving Australia and New Zealand developed as part of this international growth, giving the network a dedicated presence in the region.

In Australia, TBN's history has included a notable partnership with Hillsong Church. TBN operated the Hillsong Channel, a linear channel carrying programming from the Sydney-founded megachurch, in Australia and other international markets. Following an internal investigation at Hillsong Church and the resignation of its co-founder Brian Houston as senior global pastor in March 2022, TBN began rebranding its international Hillsong Channel operations as TBN Inspire in April 2022, removing Hillsong programming from the schedule. The version of the channel operated by TBN Pacific, which was available in Australia, followed suit on 28 April 2022. TBN told carriage providers that the rebrand was intended to speak more clearly to how the network was programming the channel. The change marked the end of the Hillsong Channel brand on international linear television, with the church's own online service continuing separately until 2023. The Hillsong Channel was subsequently removed from the Foxtel platform on 25 February 2024.

TBN Pacific continues as the network's dedicated feed for the region, carried on VAST alongside the separate TBN Inspire channel. Its presence on Australia's free-to-air satellite platform gives the network reach into regional and remote households beyond the subscription television footprint.

Programming

TBN Pacific's schedule is drawn from the Trinity Broadcasting Network's global program library, which is among the largest collections of Christian television content in the world. Preaching and teaching programs by well-known evangelical ministers form the core of the output, with sermons recorded at churches and conferences in the United States and around the world.

The network's signature program is Praise, a long-running nightly talk and music program featuring interviews, musical performances and prayer. This format of Christian talk television, combining conversation with worship music, has been central to TBN's identity since the network's early years.

Christian films constitute another significant strand of the schedule. TBN has produced and distributed a number of faith-based feature films over its history, and the Pacific feed carries movies alongside its regular series programming. Children's programming, Christian music videos and televangelistic ministry programs round out the line-up.

As a regional feed, TBN Pacific schedules this content for Australian and Pacific time zones, giving viewers in the region a service timed to their day rather than to American broadcast hours. The channel's output is in English, consistent with TBN's other international English-language feeds.

Coverage and Audience

In Australia, TBN Pacific is available through VAST, the Viewer Access Satellite Television service, where it appears among the platform's religious channels. VAST is the Australian Government-funded satellite service that delivers free-to-air digital television to viewers in areas where terrestrial reception is unavailable or unreliable, including remote communities across regional Australia.

Any household equipped with a VAST-certified satellite receiver and dish can receive TBN Pacific at no subscription cost. The religious bouquet on VAST includes TBN Pacific alongside TBN Inspire, 3ABN International, Daystar, GOD TV, Hope Channel, SBN International, ADTV, Amazing Facts, Angel TV and the Victory Channel, giving satellite viewers a wide choice of faith-based channels.

Beyond Australia, the feed serves New Zealand and the surrounding Pacific islands, distributed by satellite across the region. Satellite distribution has long been central to TBN's international strategy, a legacy of the network's early adoption of satellite technology to carry its signal beyond its original American terrestrial stations. TBN's global distribution also makes its programming available online, extending the network's reach to viewers with internet access.

The channel's audience consists primarily of evangelical Christians and viewers interested in Christian preaching, worship music and faith-based films. In Australia, VAST carriage gives TBN Pacific particular reach into regional and remote areas, complementing the network's online streaming services.

Ownership

TBN Pacific is part of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the American non-profit religious broadcaster founded by Paul and Jan Crouch. TBN is organised as a non-profit ministry and is funded principally through viewer donations rather than commercial advertising, a model it shares with other major religious broadcasters.

The network's headquarters are in Tustin, California, in the United States, where its main studios and operations are based. Its international feeds, including TBN Pacific, operate within the network's global structure, drawing on centrally produced programming while serving their regional audiences.

TBN's official corporate materials list TBN Pacific among the network's family of channels and services, alongside its American networks, European, African and Asian feeds and other international operations. This confirms TBN Pacific's status as an official regional arm of the network rather than an independent licensee.

Digital Presence

The Trinity Broadcasting Network maintains a comprehensive digital presence through its global website at tbn.org, which offers live streaming of its channels and on-demand access to programs. TBN's streaming platform carries the network's feeds to viewers worldwide, including audiences in Australia and the Pacific who prefer to watch online rather than by satellite.

TBN is active on social media, where its channels share program clips, devotional content and announcements of special broadcasts. The network's YouTube channels carry highlights from its flagship programs and conferences, extending the reach of its content to online audiences.

For Australian viewers, TBN Pacific is accessible through a VAST satellite installation or through the network's online streaming platforms. The combination of free-to-air satellite carriage and digital streaming gives the channel a multi-platform presence in the region, consistent with the broader trend in religious broadcasting toward simultaneous delivery across broadcast and internet platforms.