Victory Television Network

For the airport in Valentine, Nebraska assigned the ICAO code KVTN, see Miller Field (airport).

Victory Television Network (VTN)

Central and northeastern Arkansas United States
City	KVTN-DT: Pine Bluff, Arkansas KVTH-DT: Hot Springs, Arkansas KVTJ-DT: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Channels	Digital: see table below Virtual: see table below
Programming
Affiliations	Religious independent
Ownership
Owner	Victory Television Network, Inc.
History
First air date	December 1, 1988 (1988-12-01)
Former channel number(s)	see table below
Call sign meaning	All stations: Victory Television Fourth letter: See table below
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	see table below
Class	see table below
ERP	see table below
HAAT	see table below
Transmitter coordinates	see table below
Translator(s)	see table below
Links
Public license information	Television Network (VTN) Public file table below LMS
Website	www.vtntv.com

The Victory Television Network, Inc. (VTN) is a state network of religious independent television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. Serving as the broadcasting arm of the Little Rock–based Agape Church Christian ministry, it holds the licenses for the three stations that comprise the network: flagship station KVTN-DT (channel 25) in Pine Bluff, and satellites KVTH-DT (channel 26) in Hot Springs and KVTJ-DT (channel 48) in Jonesboro. Although all three stations operate under commercial licenses, VTN—which is the only Christian-oriented television network headquartered in Arkansas—operates as a non-profit entity reliant on viewer-contributed monetary donations to fund its operations. It is also one of the few religious independent stations that is located outside of a major U.S. television market.

In addition to its broadcast stations, VTN's programming is available on more than 225 cable systems across Arkansas, while KVTN is carried on satellite through DirecTV and Dish Network within the Little Rock–Pine Bluff market. Through their over-the-air, cable and satellite distribution, the VTN stations reach 1.2 million homes across the state of Arkansas, western Tennessee (including portions of the Memphis area), the bootheel of Missouri and portions of northwestern Mississippi. The main offices, production facilities and network operations of the Victory Television Network are located at the Agape Church campus on Napa Valley Drive (west of Interstate 430) in western Little Rock.

History

The network was founded by husband-and-wife Howard "Happy" Caldwell II (who had become a born-again Christian in 1972) and Jeanne Caldwell, who co-founded the Agape Church in 1979; the Caldwells served as pastors of the church until their semi-retirement in December 2013. In 1987, the Caldwells began developing a television ministry that would utilize the church's production facilities to distribute the church's weekly services and other ministerial programs, including programs leased to other local ministries, along with acquiring brokered daily and weekly religious programs from non-Arkansas-based ministries that were available in syndication. The network's origins trace to April 28, 1987, when KIXK Inc. (operated by Charles Ray Shinn, owner of El Dorado radio station KIXK, now KMRX) donated the construction permit for KZRQ (channel 25), an unbuilt commercial television station licensed to Pine Bluff, to the Agape Church for $40,611. The transaction was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 30. The station, which was assigned the call letters KVTN, signed on the air on December 1, 1988, broadcasting from a transmitter near State Highway 161 in western Jefferson County (located 4.5 miles [7.2 km] west of England).

By the early 1990s, the Caldwells made plans to expand their television ministry—which they branded as the "Victory Television Network"—into other sections of Arkansas. On February 17, 1993, PPD&G, Inc. donated the license assets of KRZB-TV (channel 26) in Hot Springs to the Agape Church for $75,000. KZRB, which originally signed on as a commercial independent station on February 7, 1986, had been silent since March 29, 1988, when it ceased transmissions for planned transmitter upgrades intended to expand its signal deeper in Central Arkansas; however, its proposed return was halted as PPD&G and its parent, Bell Equities, underwent financial difficulties that led to a protracted bankruptcy reorganization that was dismissed in court in November 1989.) The sale received FCC approval on November 16, 1993 and was finalized on February 8, 1994. The Caldwells filed to increase the power of the former KRZB transmitter—located atop Jack Mountain (6 miles [9.7 km] south of Hot Springs)—which would expand channel 26's signal countour deeper into Clark, Montgomery, Pike and Dallas counties (extending it into cities such as Arkadelphia, Gurdon and Mount Ida). Channel 26 returned to the air on April 2, 1995, as KVTN satellite station KVTH.

On October 18, 1994, the Arkansas Rural Television Co. (operated by Evanston, Illinois media executive Paula Pruett, who owned KASN [channel 38] through MMC Television Corp. from 1988 to 1991) donated the construction permit for an unbuilt proposed commercial station assigned to UHF channel 48 in Jonesboro to the Agape Church for $50,000. The sale received FCC approval on October 6, 1995 and was finalized on December 11, 1995. Channel 48 signed on as KVTJ on June 1, 1998, becoming the last of KVTN's satellites to sign on; it broadcasts from a transmitter near Judd Hill (approximately 1.1 miles [1.8 km] northwest of the intersection of U.S. Route 63 and State Highway 214).

Agape Church also filed permit applications for two additional satellite stations during the mid-1990s, with the intent of expanding the network into portions of northwest and south-central Arkansas: the church filed applications to operate satellites on UHF channel 31 in Harrison (on July 28, 1995) and on UHF channel 43 in El Dorado (on June 28, 1996). However, the Harrison application was dismissed by the FCC on April 3, 1998, while the El Dorado application was dismissed at auction on March 21, 2000. (Little Rock-based Equity Broadcasting Corporation was awarded the channel 31 permit and signed on WB affiliate KWBM, now a Daystar owned-and-operated station, on that assignment in January 2001; KM Communications was granted the channel 43 permit, signing on KEJB, now defunct, as an America One affiliate on that assignment in October 2003.) With its broadcast coverage limited to Central and Northeast Arkansas, VTN relies on cable and satellite carriage to distribute its programming to other areas of the state.

On October 14, 2015, the elder Caldwells and their son, Ronnie Caldwell, filed to transfer the VTN stations to Victory Television Network, Inc., a separate licensee operated in conjunction with the Agape Church, for the assumption of liabilities. The transfer received FCC approval on December 14. (The network had been overseen by Scott and Loretta Stewart, who became senior pastors at Agape Church in December 2013, as Happy and Jeanne Caldwell transitioned into pastor emeritus roles.)

Stations

The Victory Television Network comprises three full-power digital transmitters that cover most of Central and Northeast Arkansas:

Station	City of license (other cities served)	Channels (VC / RF)	Fourth letter call sign meaning	First air date	Former channel number(s)	ERP	HAAT	Facility ID	Transmitter coordinates	Public license information
KVTN-DT	Pine Bluff (Little Rock)	25 24 (UHF)	Network (flagship station)	December 1, 1988 (1988-12-01)	Analog: 25 (UHF, 1988–2009)	725 kW	355.5 m (1,166 ft)	607	34°31′55.7″N 92°2′41.6″W	Profile LMS
KVTH-DT	Hot Springs	26 16 (UHF)	Hot Springs	April 2, 1995 (1995-04-02)	Analog: 26 (UHF, 1995–2009) Digital: 14 (UHF, 2005–2009) 26 (UHF, 2009–2018)	52.6 kW	263 m (863 ft)	608	34°22′20″N 93°2′49″W	Profile LMS
KVTJ-DT	Jonesboro	48 18 (UHF)	Jonesboro	June 1998 (1998-06)1	Analog: 48 (UHF, 1998–2009) Digital: 49 (UHF, 2005–2009) 48 (UHF, 2009–2018)	420 kW	296 m (971 ft)	2784	35°36′13.16″N 90°31′18.49″W	Profile LMS

Notes

• 1. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KVTJ signed on June 6, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on June 26.
• 2. KVTN, KVTH and KVTJ incorporated the "-DT" suffix into their respective callsigns on June 22, 2009.

Programming

Programming on VTN consists primarily of Christian programming syndicated by various national ministries and purchased through time-brokerage agreements, including programs from televangelists such as Joel Osteen (Lakewood Church with Joel Osteen), Jesse Duplantis (Voice of the Covenant), Kenneth Copeland (Believer’s Voice of Victory), Joyce Meyer (Enjoying Everyday Life), James Robison (Life Today), Joseph Prince (Destined to Reign), Marilyn Hickey (Today with Marilyn and Sarah), Andrew Wommack (The Gospel Truth) and Dr. Charles Stanley (In Touch, which airs in both its daily half-hour and weekly one-hour versions); as well as religion-oriented news and talk shows (such as The 700 Club, CBN Newswatch, Christian World News and Your Health with Dr. Richard and Cindy Becker) and gospel music programs (such as the Gaither Homecoming Hour and Great American Gospel).

Along with offering syndicated religious programs, the network also offers original programming (including two programs hosted by VTN founder Happy Caldwell, the flagship interview and biblical teaching program Arkansas Alive and the weekly Happy Caldwell Ministries, and In His Presence, a gospel and biblical teaching program hosted by network co-founder Jeanne Caldwell) and programs produced by other Arkansas-based ministries (such as Words to Empower, hosted by Pastor Frank H. Stewart of North Little Rock-based Agape Community Temple of Servants, which is unrelated to the Agape Church; 2CYR TV, a program profiling stories of youth in Arkansas's foster care and adoption system, hosted by Perry Black of the Bryant-based Second Chance Youth Ranch; and Heart of a Servant, hosted by Apostle Craig and Pastor Sheryl Banks of Pine Bluff-based Canaan Christian Center). Syndicated faith-based children's programs compliant with Children's Television Act guidelines (such as Dr. Wonder's Workshop, Kids Like You and Donkey Ollie) are also broadcast on weekday mid-afternoons in a half-hour block and on Saturday mornings from 6:00 to 7:30 a.m.

Technical information

Subchannel

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP callsign	Programming
xx.1	1080i	16:9	VTN	Main VTN programming

Analog-to-digital conversion; spectrum repack

KVTN, KVTH and KVTJ shut down their analog signals at 10:00 a.m. on February 9, 2009, eight days before the original federal deadline for American full-power television stations to transition exclusively to digital broadcasts (which Congress had moved the previous month to June 12). The post-transition channel allocations for the Victory Television Network stations are as follows:

• KVTN's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 24, which is displayed as virtual channel 25 on digital television receivers.
• KVTH's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 14 to channel 26 for post-transition operations.
• KVTJ's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 49 to channel 48 for post-transition operations.

As a part of the broadcast frequency repacking process following the 2016–17 FCC incentive auction, both of KVTN's satellite stations were required to change their digital channel assignments, which were assigned to the 600 MHz UHF band (corresponding to channels 38–51) that was being reallocated for wireless telecommunications use:

• KVTH's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 26 to channel 16, which is displayed as virtual channel 26 on digital television receivers.
• KVTJ's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 48 to channel 18, which is displayed as virtual channel 48 on digital television receivers.

External links

• Official website
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