Introducing the first authoritative guide to cover every aspect of religious broadcasting from its inception in 1921 to the present. Prime Time Religion contains over 430 entries chosen for their historical importance, national or international impact, exemplary nature, and longevity in the field of religious broadcasting. The book covers all religious groups who have turned to radio and television to promote their messages.
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.
His areas of research include major religious traditions, new religions and alternative religions, Occultism and Parapsychology, New Age, and vampirology.
Melton has been criticized by several scholars for what they see as conflicts of interest in his reporting of some of the groups he studies.