Praying for good ratings

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Worldwide, he says, his program is heard on about 650 television stations and viewed by about 30 million persons each week.

This 20-year-old singer has become a television star in her own right. She is generally introduced as "Liz" on the programs which originate from the Humbard Cathedral of Tomorrow near Akron.

Programs that are produced there are typical of televised religion. Miss Humbard, backed by a skillful orchestra and performing in a colorful studio designed espe cially for television, had both celestial and worldly qualities, combined skillfully to attract viewers.

She was accompanied by a women's trio, similarly dressed and moving their bodies to the musical beat.

It was good entertainment, in fact, good enough for any of the musical variety shows on television and better than the fare on many of them.

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The performance was not unusual. It is what the followers of the so-called electronic church have come to expect from their doses of religion via television.

Many of the television preachers are unknown except in the area of the country in which they broadcast, but several of these preachers have become national stars. This is true especially of those who buy time on television across the nation.

Among the giants in video evangelism industry are the Rev. Mr. Humbard, the Rev. Oral Roberts, the Rev. Billy Graham, the Rev. Robert Schuller, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. M. G. (Pat) Robertson, the Rev. Jim Bakker and the Rev. Herbert W. Armstrong, the aging patriarch of the Worldwide Church of God.

Graham, often called the grandfather of the media preachers, runs the most low-key operation.

Each week, these eight men collectively preach on approximately 3,000 television stations, and, in addition, go into millions of homes wired to cable television. Their programs also are heard on radio, but it is television that makes the preachers superstars.

Several of them are heard or

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The Ploin Dealer/Davis 1. Andersen

The mixing board and music to be dubbed into a TV show at the Cathedral of Tomorrow.

seen on all continents, except Antarctica (because it is largely unhabitated).

They employ language experts who interpret their sermons, prayers, lyrics and their appeals for funds for funds into languages other than English.

They employ hundreds, perhaps thousands, to operate the expensive and sophisticated electronic equipment they own. These experts record the initial program for television, produce the tapes removing imperfections in the process and mix the sound so that when the program is heard and seen on the receiving sets it is of the highest possible quality.

The TV religious programs generally are showy, pious, colorfully packaged, and sometimes even sexy. And they always are expensive.

Such religious programing has become a giant industry in the United States and it continues

to grow.

Five years ago, an article in TV Guide, entitled "Old-Time Religion Goes Big-Time," estimated that one hundred million dollars was spent each year by the media preachers. That figure is now believed to be five times higher.

Television preachers come in different settings. One gives his message from Cypress Gardens, Fla., with a tranquil lake in the background.

Another sits on a set that looks like the living room of an average home. While he talks about his work and Jesus, the camera slips away to film clips of a burgeoning university, built largely by the

preacher, with his television-produced revenue.

In addition to those formats, the Rev. Mr. Robertson and the Rev. Mr. Bakker copy the popular and successful format of Johnny Carson on his "Tonight Show."

Except, instead of having Ed McMahon cry out at the beginning, "H-e-r-e's Johnny!" you half expect that an equally likable announcer is going to scream, "H-e-r-e's Jesus!"

Instead of interviewing show business celebrities, this pair of preachers interview persons who claim to have been "born again"

and to have received the Holy Spirit.

The Rev. Mr. Robertson, on one of his recent productions, showcased a former homosexual who claimed that Jesus had delivered him from being gay and from having sexual relations with men.

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In some of the shows the audience is invited to participate in a live call-in segment to seek prayers and counseling.

Some of the preachers, including the Rev. Mr. Robertson and the Rev. Mr. Bakker, have claimed that

physical healing has taken place during these calls.

Nearly all of the programs offer toll-free telephone numbers on which persons can call to make prayer requests, ask for free gifts or report healings. Listeners are also encouraged to write to the preachers.

Those who do call or write are then put on computerized mailing lists that result in their being contacted often through the mail with information about the program and with requests to donate money.