Addition to Portland triples

TV ministry's potential reach

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
     PORTLAND — A ribbon cutting at a transmitter site in Portland’s West Hills on Oct. 20 celebrated the arrival of another Christian television signal in the Rose City.
     With the debut that day of KEVE-TV Channel 36, the potential audience for Grants Pass-based Better Life Broadcasting Network suddenly tripled from 1 million to 3 million viewers. Even though classified by federal authorities as a low power station with 15,000 watts, its signal from a transmitter at 225 N.W. Skyline Blvd. reaches some locations as far north as Battle Ground, Wash., and as far south as Salem.
    “This is something that we’ve been praying about for 10 years,” said Ron Davis, Better Life’s general manager since 2000. “We see it as part of the fulfillment of the directive God has given us to go throughout Oregon and northern California. We are blessed to be using Better Life to help share the Gospel with as many as we can, as quickly as we can.”
     Better Life, which marked its 20th anniversary last month, is the largest and oldest affiliate of Three Angels Broad-casting Network (3ABN), a worldwide network with close ties to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In addition to 3ABNs mix of programming for all ages, Better Life offers more than 16 hours of local programming produced each week at its Grants Pass headquarters. But the overall operation remains lean, with only five employees and about 100 volunteers.
     Founded by Delmer Wagner, Better Life began in a borrowed school room and aired, among other things, the City Council meetings of Grants Pass, then expanded to serve Medford, Ashland, Klamath Falls and most surrounding communities.
     It has grown to include 21 transmitters covering most of western Oregon, including Roseburg, Eugene, Springfield, Corvallis, Coos Bay and North Bend, as well as into northern California communities including Crescent City, Yreka, Weed, Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir. Expansion into Redding is also in the works, said Davis. Two of Better Life’s signals are full-power stations — KBLN Channel 30 in Grants Pass and KTVC Channel 36 in Roseburg.
    The newest station was originally licensed to the Longview, Wash., area, but previous owner Fiori Media had gained federal approval to transfer the signal to Portland-Vancouver. It was purchased by Better Life for $600,000.
Davis said God’s hand on the Portland project has been clear. For example, a 30-foot antenna was needed for the new station, but would normally cost about $20,000. But an engineer in Portland informed Better Life that he had an antenna in storage that had been purchased 10 years ago, was never used, and was even still in the box.
     And it just happened to be tuned to Channel 36 — exactly what was needed. The engineer sold the antenna for $500 to Fiori Media, who in turn, gave it to Better Life.
     For more information, go to www.betterlifetv.tv.