Far East Broadcasting, Inc. Records

Collection

Identifier: CN 059

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Collection contains materials relating the ministry of Far East Broadcasting, Inc., including reports of Director's Conference, President's correspondence and feasibility studies; literature and publication, broadcast policies, promotional brochures, program schedules, program sponsorship, Russian Micro New Testament, and other miscellaneous items.

Dates

Created: 1947-1979

Creator

Far East Broadcasting Company. (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research, and there are no access restrictions on any of the folders in the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

The copyright to books, articles, magazines, and brochures created by Far East Broadcasting is retained by FEBC and permission is required to reproduce, publish, or distribute these materials.

Biographical Information

During World War II, a group of Filipino young men, active in the Japanese underground and who understood the value of mass communication, met for prayer and Bible study with I Samuel 10:26 as the basis for faith. These men asked God for a post-war gospel radio station in the Philippines.

In 1945, three men of faith and vision, former naval officer John C. Broger, gospel singer Robert H. Bowman, and Pastor William J. Roberts pooled their resources of one thousand dollars to form a non-commercial, interdenominational Christian broadcasting organization. Far East Broadcasting Corporation (FEBC) was incorporated in California on December 20, 1945, as a non-profit corporation, and it had no financial backing and not even a permit to build a radio station.

In early 1946, an engineering survey of mainland China indicated the inadvisability of starting any broadcasting stations there. As a result, another survey was done in the Philippines by John C. Broger. On September 4, 1946, FEBC Manila was granted a Philippine franchise to build two ten-thousand watt stations (mediumwave and shortwave). On June 4, 1948, at 6 p.m. the one thousand watt transmitter of FEBC went on the air in Manila for the first time. John C. Broger announced the first broadcast over the then-called KZAS, the "Call of the Orient" station. By 1948, the power of the transmitter has been increased to ten thousand watts.

Between 1948 and 1978, other facilities were added. Twenty-one stations were located in the Philippines, with transmitter powers ranging from one thousand watts for local stations to two hundred fifty thousand watts for broadcast targets around the world; three stations in Okinawa (two of the stations opened in Okinawa in 1957 and 1958 were later closed); two in California; two in Seychelles; two in Korea; and one in the Marianas.

As of 1978, FEBC broadcasted to target areas using seventy-two different languages and dialects, and utilizing three hundred program hours daily. With twenty-eight transmitters having a combined power of 1.4 million watts, 652 staff members worked around the clock to air gospel messages to over three quarters of the earth's peoples in Asia, the Middle and Near East, South Africa and Latin America. The message was also broadcasted to listeners in countries closed to open Christian witness, like China and the Soviet Union.

The programs of FEBC radio stations contained a large percent of Evangelical Protestant religious programming including Bible teaching and correspondence courses. Regularly aired were periods of public service releases such as musical programs, information and news, cultural and civic education, language, agriculture and public health instruction. Many programs were also produced by other agencies for broadcast over FEBC facilities.

Extent

1 document case

0.5 Linear Feet

1 other format (Photographs)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement of Material

[NOTE: In the Arrangement description, the notation "folder 2-5" means box 2 folder 5.]

The collection contains correspondence, reports, studies, broadcast policy statements, promotional material, programs schedules, and photographs which document the FEBC's work from 1947 to 1979. In the collection are found the agenda and records of the Annual Field Director's Conferences held in Manila in 1975 and 1978 (folders 1-1,2). These conferences were attended by representatives from the Home Office, KGEI, in California and from each country where FEBC broadcast facilities are located. A typical Director's report contains information on personnel, public relations, programming, finance, property and equipment, goals and problems, etc. These conference records also contain Robert H. Bowman's report (FEBC president).

Another conference report (folder 1-3) is from the Programming conference held in Taiwan in 1972, which discussed and finalized plans for the programming of Radio station HLDA, Cheju, Korea, in the Russian, Chinese, and Japanese languages. This planning conference laid the groundwork for the planned transmitter at Zambales, Philippines.

Also in the collection is a feasibility study (folder 1-25) prepared by William E. Haney for FEBC, describing Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan as possible locations for the production of radio programs in Mandarin Chinese.

There is some correspondence (folder 1-4), and they are mostly from Robert H. Bowman between 1975 and 1979. These letters were mostly intended as a general letter to friends of FEBC. These is also a copy of a second quarter Listener's Letters for 1975 prepared in Manila. The letter (folder 1-5), which is several pages long, contains selected statements of listeners to FEBC radio stations all over the world.

There are a number of miscellaneous items found in this collection. Among them are: FEBC bookmark (folder 1-7); KGEI banners (folder 1-9); Philippines and Overseas Services (chart) (folder 1-10); and Worldwide Outreach of FEBC (poster) (folder 1-12). There are also three calendars produced by FEBC. The 1975 calendar Asian Faces depicts four faces in Asia in painting. These are reproductions of the original paintings done in oil by Eleanor Bowman, artist and wife of Bob Bowman, president of FEBC. An item of interest is a copy of a Russian Micro New Testament printed on fifteen pages (both sides) of a special kind of paper size 8-1/4 x 5-1/4 (folder 1-11). FEBC received many requests for Bibles and literature from the USSR. Printed by Marshburn Press (FEBC Manila), these easy-to-mail testaments were sent into the Soviet Union.

Finally, other items in the collection are the: Annual Report of FEBC Philippines for 1971-1972 (folder 1-24); FEBC Broadcast Policies (folder 1-13); Program Sponsorship (folder 1-15); Program Schedule and several promotional brochures of broadcast ministries of Micronesia, Russia, Japan, Southeast Asia and Korea (folders 1-14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20). The brochure Thirty Years of Gospel Broadcasting, contains a brief history of FEBC (folder 1-21).

Accruals and Additions

The records in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Far East Broadcasting, Inc. in March 1979.

Accession 79-23

March 15, 1979

Abraham Labiano

R. Shuster

G. Gallup