The World Tomorrow is a radio and television half-hour program which had been sponsored by the Radio Church of God. It originally ran from 1934 to 1994. A 15-minute version of the radio program was broadcast in the French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish languages. In 2004, a new version of The World Tomorrow television program began production.
Radio
secured a temporary 15-minute slot on KORE, Eugene, Oregon, on October 9, 1933. That became a permanent half-hour slot on January 7, 1934. Armstrong founded the Radio Church of God with the first broadcast in 1934, to serve as the home church for his pioneering broadcast-based ministry. Armstrong's radio program "eventually reached millions with its message of the imminent end of the world to be followed by the second coming of Christ." Following the 1939 World's Fair in New York City, the broadcast was renamed The World Tomorrow, inspired by the theme of the fair, "the World of Tomorrow". In 1968, the Radio Church of God changed its name to the Worldwide Church of God.
Television
There have been three eras of The World Tomorrow on television.
The second era began in 1967, beginning with black-and-white television broadcasts before changing to color in 1968. They continued well into the 1980s. The presenter was originally Garner Ted Armstrong, youngest son of Herbert Armstrong. Following his ouster from his father's church in mid-1978 and his subsequent founding of his own church, the Church of God International, Herbert W. Armstrong resumed the presentation. The broadcasts largely involved analysis of how current events in the world tied into the church's views of Biblicalprophecies. Both the radio and television broadcasts of The World Tomorrow invariably told their audience how to receive the church's magazine, The Plain Truth, the content of which was largely similar to that of the broadcasts. At its peak, the radio program was broadcast worldwide on 360 stations, and the television program was viewed by 20 million people on 165 stations. Following Herbert Armstrong's death in 1986, the television program was presented by David Hulme, David Albert, Richard Ames, and Ronald Kelley, on a rotating basis until 1994, when doctrinal shifts in the Worldwide Church of God, and declining revenues led, to the program's cancellation.
2004
The third era began in 2004, with the acquisition of The World Tomorrowtrademark by The World Tomorrow Evangelistic Association. Episodes of this run of The World Tomorrow television program have been presented by Leon Daniels, Bruce Horne, and other hosts. In the spring of 2014, broadcasts hosted by Herbert W. Armstrong began to air once again.
Format
The programs originated daily in a half-hour format, primarily from a studio located on the campus of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, which was owned and operated by the church as a then-unaccredited liberal arts institution. Other studios were located at Ambassador College, Bricket Wood, Herts, England, and Ambassador College at Big Sandy, Texas, USA. In 1958, Garner Ted Armstrong and his wife Loma Armstrong, took over the narration of the half-hour all-talk presentation. The program was introduced and concluded by the voice of Hollywood radio and television announcer Art Gilmore. The World Tomorrow concluded with an early Hollywood-produced music jingle over which Art Gilmore gave the program address which varied according to the country that it was being aired in, or where its broadcast was intended to be received.
International versions
A 15-minute and usually once-a-week version of the same program, was broadcast by various speakers in the French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish languages.
French: The French language edition was primarily aired in parts of Canada and Haiti over several local stations and in Europe over the super-power station Europe 1. The presenter was Dibar Apartian who recorded the programs in the same studio used by Herbert W. and later Garner Ted Armstrong on the Pasadena, California campus of Ambassador College. The program was also supported by a French-language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.
German: The German language edition was primarily aired in Europe over Europe 1. The presenter was a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was recorded. The program was supported by a German language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.
Italian: The Italian language edition was primarily aired in Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario in Canada over two local stations. The presenter was also a graduate of Ambassador College in Pasadena where the program was also recorded.
Russian: The Russian language edition was primarily aired for a short period of time in the 1950s-1960s over the super-power station Radio Monte Carlo, which was beamed towards the USSR. The presenter was a Russian-language Hollywood presenter who translated the English scripts and then recorded the programs.
Spanish: The Spanish language edition was primarily aired in parts of South America, although it was also aired from Porto, Portugal. The original presenter was Dr. Benjamin Rea who was Vice-Chancellor of Ambassador College at Bricket Wood in Hertfordshire, England which is where he recorded the programs in the radio studio located on the campus. The program was also supported by a Spanish language edition of The Plain Truth magazine.
A new trademark for the television program name The World Tomorrow was registered in 2004 by Earl and Shirley Timmons. The Timmons, members of the WCG, and Garner Ted Armstrong's Church of God International and Intercontinental Church of God, split from the Armstrong organization after the death of Garner Ted Armstrong, forming a breakaway independent group named Church of God, Worldwide Ministries, with its headquarters in Sevierville, Tennessee.
