LeSEA
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LeSEA is an acronym that stands for "Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association."
LeSEA Broadcasting, also known as World Harvest Television, is an American Christian television network with over 40 affiliate stations in a number of U.S. markets, on the Fixed Service Satellite Galaxy 16 C band transponder 15, and on satellite overseas.
LeSEA is based in South Bend, Indiana and broadcasts Christian programming. Two primary shows broadcast from the studios are their flagship program The Harvest Show and Live from Studio B. Pete Sumrall, son of the network's founder the late Dr. Lester Sumrall, serves as its president and chief executive officer.
The Harvest Show, a one-hour talk show which has a format that is somewhat similar to the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club and is hosted by Kelly Morgan, Stefan Radelich, Debra Maffett, and Chuck Freeby. Guests have included Millard Fuller, Dominic Mance, Michael Landon, Jr. and Susie Scott Krabacher. Some of the program hosts serve other functions within the organization; Radelich is executive director of one of the LeSEA ministries, Feed The Hungry.
Live from Studio B is a 30-minute in-studio concert show from studio B, which features performances from various contemporary and alternative Christian artists and bands. They have hosted such artists as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, the late Rich Mullins, Newsboys and others.
Also, like TBN, FamilyNet and participating local stations, LeSEA airs The 700 Club every weekday. And overnights each weekend, they air The Best of Harvest, a rebroadcast of a previously-aired program. In addition to its many LeSEA-owned stations, network television affiliates in different parts of the country began airing The Best of Harvest and Live from Studio B among different programs from LeSEA. At other times the output consists of shows such as ('Green Acres', 'Hawaii Five-0' etc.), paid advertising (such as for animated Christian children's cartoon series available on various video formats, health supplements and products, etc.).
[edit] History of LeSEA
| 1957 | Lester Sumrall establishes the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LeSEA). |
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| 1968 | LeSEA Broadcasting's flagship station, WHME Harvest 103.1 FM, begins broadcasting as the result of the vision Lester Sumrall had that a time would come when Christian broadcasting would much more difficult to air. |
| 1970 | Prayerline is established to provide twenty-four hour help for people seeking comfort and encouragement from fundamental Christian 'prayer counselors'. |
| 1972 | LeSEA acquired a defunct Indianapolis, Indiana religious station, WURD channel 40 (which was only on the air briefly in 1971), and re-called it "WHMB-TV". ([1]) |
| 1976 | LeSEA acquires Miami based religious station WFCB channel 45, re-naming the station "WHFT". |
| 1977 | WHME-TV 46 goes on the air in South Bend, Indiana. |
| 1980 | WHFT was sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network. |
| 1985 | Short-wave radio is added to LeSEA Broadcasting when World Harvest Radio (WHRI), Angel 1 signs on the air, covering Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. |
| 1985 | KWHB-TV 47 goes on the air in Tulsa, Oklahoma. |
| 1985 | KWHE-TV 14 goes on the air in Honolulu, Hawaii. |
| 1987 | WHRI (Angel 2) goes on the air covering Europe, Central and South America. First year of LeSEAs outdoor Christian music festival, World Harvest, hosted by WHME-FM for free for all their listeners. Fire destroys LeSEA Broadcastings headquarters in South Bend, Indiana. Two years later, the new building is completed and dedicated. WHKE in Kenosha, Wisconsin goes on the air. |
| 1990 | KWHD-TV 53 goes on the air in Denver, Colorado and KWHS-LP51 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. |
| 1993 | KWHR (Angel 3) goes on the air covering China and Eastern Asia.
LeSEA's full-service tour agency is established, LeSEA Tours. |
| 1994 | WHNO-TV 20 goes on the air in New Orleans, Louisiana. |
| 1995 | LeSEA Internet Services is opened from South Bend, Indiana.
WHKE was sold to Paxson Communications, who would re-call the station as "WPXE". |
| 1996 | Dr. Lester Sumrall passes away at age 83 (April 28). |
| 1997 | KWHR (Angel 4) goes on the air covering the South Pacific. |
| 1998 | WHRA (Angel 5) goes on the air covering Africa and the Middle East. |
| 2000 | First phase of Spread the Word campaign is launched to distribute 100,000 Bibles. LeSEA's Annual Christian music festival draws record numbers of 50,000+ for the first time. |
| 2001 | LeSEA acquires Middle East Television (METV), a Cyprus-based family channel, from the Christian Broadcasting Network. |
| 2002 | Second phase of Spread the Word campaign is launched to distribute 50,000 Bibles. LeSEA's stations begin converting into a digital format regulated by the FCC. |
| 2005 | WHNO-TV 20 knocked off the air due to Hurricane Katrina. The station has since returned to the air. |
LeSEA also operates three shortwave locations, including Maine, South Carolina and the Big Island of Hawaii.
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