| Type | cable television network & media production company |
|---|---|
| Branding | The Inspiration Networks |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | United States, worldwide |
| Founded | by David Cerullo |
| Owner | The Inspiration Networks |
| Key people | David Cerullo |
| Launch date | 1990 |
| Official website | The Inspiration Networks |
The Inspiration Networks, is a group of networks and related entities. The parent company is Inspiration Ministries, an international ministry and inspirational media company, based in Indian Land, South Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte.
The Inspiration Networks has four cable television networks: The Inspiration Network (INSP), Halogen TV (Halogen), and the Spanish-language network La Familia Cosmovision (LFC). The Inspiration Networks also owns and operates the international network Inspiration Network International (INI), which is seen throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
The network began in 1990, when televangelist Morris Cerullo bought the PTL Satellite Network for $7 million.[1] PTL was founded in 1974 by televangelist Jim Bakker, a televangelist notable for his daily Christian variety program, The PTL Club; it had gone into bankruptcy after Bakker had been embroiled in a scandal.
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The major networks in the group are:
The family of networks are seen in more than 30 million homes in the U.S. and more than 55 million homes in the pan-European region.
The original facilities for producing the networks were relocated in the 1990s from Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina to a newly constructed production studio and headquarters in a business park in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2003, the Lancaster County Economic Development Corp. found the network some undeveloped property in the unincorporated area called Indian Land, in that county. The network applied for state relocation incentives, saying it would bring several hundred employees to a campus it called "City of Light", where it would combine its nonprofit enterprise with for-profit businesses. The state agreed to give the network tax credits worth at least $3.6 million over 15 years. In 2006, the state agreed to fund $1.2 million of improved road access to the campus. The network also got $560,000 through a program that allows state utility fees to be used for infrastructure improvements.[2]
In the fall of 2008, the State of South Carolina rejected the network's request for tax-exempt status. The rejection means that the network's land, buildings and equipment will all be taxed.[3]
As of mid-2009, about 200 of the company's 330 employees work at the site. Only two of nine promised projects have been completed or even started. Construction on condominiums, supposed to begin in July 2008, is now "long into the future" due to the effects of decreased giving and economic decline.[2]
Inspiration Ministries also owns and operates:
Throughout most of the 1990s, the network did not ask for donations on the air, unlike many other religious TV stations. Instead, it generated revenue by selling advertising and airtime for programs produced by other ministries. In 1999, the network began soliciting donations from the public. That year, gifts were about $200,000. By 2008, they were about $40 million.[5]
In 2007, the network's revenues were more than $69 million. Profits between 2002 and 2006 totaled $39 million.[3]
In 2007, chief executive David Cerullo, Morris Cerullo's son, was paid more than $1.5 million, making him the best-paid leader of any religious charity tracked by watchdog groups.[5]
His wife Barbara was paid $150,000 and their children Ben and Becky were also employed by the company;[3]; Ben was paid more than $100,000 that year.[2]
Cerullo and his wife Barbara are building a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) home, valued between 2 and 4 million dollars, near Salem, South Carolina. Critics say the construction is inappropriate given the financial resources of the network.[6]