{
  "id": 12317168,
  "title": "Jim Bakker, who built ‘PTL Club’ televangelism empire, has died at 86",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/jim-bakker-who-built-ptl-club-televangelism-empire-has-died-at-86-12317168",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-06T06:20:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News (US)",
    "slug": "abc-news-us",
    "url": "https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/jim-bakker-built-ptl-club-televangelism-empire-died-137024206"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Jim Bakker, co-founder of the televangelism empire known for the popular \"The PTL Club\" TV show, has passed away at the age of 86. Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye, built their ministry around the successful show that aired up to 13 million nightly viewers at its peak in the 1980s. The pair also operated a theme park, Heritage USA, and Bakker hosted the Christian talk show \"The 700 Club\" on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. However, their empire crumbled in the 1980s following a sex scandal involving Bakker and a church clerk, for which he was convicted and sentenced to prison. Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992 while he was incarcerated, later marrying another man before marrying Bakker's second wife, Lori, in 1998. Bakker settled a lawsuit in 2021 related to false claims about a COVID-19 health supplement.",
  "summary": "Jim Bakker, who along with his first-wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful “The PTL Club” TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Ynetnews",
        "title": "Jim Bakker, televangelist whose Christian TV empire collapsed in scandal, dies at 86",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/jim-bakker-televangelist-whose-christian-tv-empire-collapsed-in",
        "published": "2026-10-06T04:09:12.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "Jim Bakker, who built ‘PTL Club’ televangelism empire, has died at 86",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/jim-bakker-who-built-ptl-club-televangelism-empire-has-died-at-86",
        "published": "2026-10-06T04:22:55.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CBS News",
        "title": "Jim Bakker, televangelist who co-founded \"The PTL Club\" empire, dies at 86",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/jim-bakker-televangelist-who-co-founded-the-ptl-club-empire-dies-at-86",
        "published": "2026-10-06T04:37:56.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "NPR",
        "title": "Jim Bakker, who built 'PTL Club' televangelism empire, has died at 86",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/jim-bakker-who-built-ptl-club-televangelism-empire-has-died-at-86-12318043",
        "published": "2026-10-06T05:57:34.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}