MAXXSOUTH cable channel 21; Comcast cable channel 228, channel 8(CornithMS). Local UHF channel 24. MISSION STATEMENT: “Unity Broadcasting Network seeks to operate a Christian corporation in a manner worthy of God’s calling; to encourage: reconciliation with God, mature spiritual growth and to maintain the unity of the Spirit with God’s people by equipping the saints and spreading the gospel using
broadcast media.” Ephesians 4:1-32 / Romans 12:18 / Amos 3
Bro. Lealon had been broadcasting his "Glory to God Hour" at the station for two years, when God gave him the vision of full-Christian programming on TV-53. Lealon originated his idea of Christian television in 1987, after the management of the secular station announced that the station would be closing. Just as the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in a cold manger in Bethlehem, so was the birth of Christian television in Booneville, MS. Coming into this world was not an easy task. In December 1987, in a little 10'x 20' tin storage building, Christian television programming was given to local viewers. TV-53 was only an UHF station with a one hundred (100) watt transmitter. Lealon and several dedicated volunteers found a way to make a dream come true. The owners of the station agreed to let Bro. Lealon Owens hold a "Praise-a- Thon" for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for, not coincidentally, 53 days. "It was 53 days for TV-53". Volunteers manned the phones while many preachers and singing groups took their messages and music to the people and success was achieved. One person called near the end of the Praise-a-Thon and pledged $53.00 for TV-53 starting a trend that took TV-53 beyond their goal. At the end of the 53 days, supportive viewers and volunteers had donated money and auction items to accumulate twenty-six thousand three hundred dollars ($26,300). In January 1988, Unity Broadcasting Network and a board of directors were formed to oversee the management of the station. Through continued support from viewers and others, TV- 53 has grown by leaps and bounds. After this time the Lord blessed us with a 20 x 28 addition to the tin building for a temporary studio to continue broadcasting until March 1990. UBN purchased 5.4 acres of land, including a house. This purchase enabled the station to expand to two offices and a studio. On April 26, 1996, UBN was granted income tax exemption under the Internal Revenue Code, 501 ( c ) (3) and became a government sanctioned non-profit organization. Today, Unity Broadcasting is a full media company with huge dreams and visions on the horizon. Continuing Bro. Lealon Owen's mission, Unity TV was branded to create new and original content on local television to bring the community together in unity and to call people to unity with God.
