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Paul Franklin Crouch (; March 30, 1934 – November 30, 2013) was an American Televangelism. Crouch and his wife, Jan Crouch, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in 1973; the company has been described as "the world’s largest religious television network."
Crouch also received three honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Litterarum (D.Litt.) on May 29, 1981, from the California Graduate School of Theology, Glendale, California; a Doctor of Divinity on May 29, 1983, from the American Christian Theological Seminary, Anaheim, California; and a Doctor of Laws degree on May 5, 1985, from Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Crouch and Janice Bethany met in 1957 and were married in Missouri. They have two sons, Paul Crouch, Jr. and Matthew Crouch.
In 1961, he was appointed by the general council of the Assemblies of God to organize and operate their newly formed Department of Television and Film Production in Burbank, California, a position he held for four years. Crouch was responsible for the ongoing production of films focusing largely on foreign missions and foreign missionary works, as well as the Assemblies of God's large inventory of audiovisual materials and children's teaching aids.
From 1965 to 1970 Crouch was general manager of KREL radio in Corona, California. In 1966, he purchased a minority stock interest in KREL. During his time at KREL, he successfully completed the station's application for an increase in power to 5,000 watts.
After leaving KREL in 1970, Crouch was invited to serve as general manager for KHOF-FM and KPXN-TV in San Bernardino, California.
TBN is viewed globally on 70 satellites and over 18,000 TV and cable affiliates. TBN is also seen on the web globally. TBN is carried on over 287 television stations in the U.S. and on thousands of other cable television and satellite systems around the world in over 75 countries, where their programming is translated into over eleven languages. He was also executive producer for such Christian films as China Cry (1990), The Omega Code (1999), (2001), (2001), and Time Changer (2002).
In the U.S., TBN's coverage grew through agreements with national cable operators. TBN is viewed via major cable and satellite companies such as Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Verizon FIOS, DirecTV, AT&T, Dish Network, and Charter.[2]
In addition to TBN, Crouch and his wife developed and oversaw operations for TBN's affiliated television networks: Smile of a Child – children's channel, JCTV – youth network, The Church Channel, TBN Enlace USA – Spanish language network,[3] TBNE-Italian, The Healing Channel – Arabic language network, TBN-Russia, TBN Nejat TV – Persian language-language channel, and TBN-HD, TBN's new high definition network.
In September 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported that in 1998 Crouch paid Enoch Lonnie Ford, a former employee, a $425,000 formal settlement to end a wrongful termination lawsuit. The paper also reported that Ford had alleged a sexual relationship between the two men. TBN officials denied the allegations. On March 15, 2005, Ford appeared at the taping of the ION Television show Lie Detector. The show's producers decided not to air the show, and the outcome of the lie detector test was never released.Lloyd Grove, "Born again: Evangelist sex scandal," New York Daily News, March 31, 2005
A May 2012 New York Times article reported on the personal spending of Paul and Jan Crouch, including "his-and-her mansions one street apart in a gated community" in Newport Beach, California. Paul Crouch received $400,000 in executive salary as president and his wife $365,000 as first vice president of TBN. Brittany Koper, a granddaughter of the Crouches who had authority over finances, claimed that TBN appeared to have violated the IRS ban on "excess compensation" by nonprofit organizations.Eckholm, Eric Family Battle Offers Look Inside Lavish TV Ministry New York Times May 4, 2012
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