broadcast Archives

A Life-Changing Adventure in Odyssey

I don’t know about you, but Jean and I found the Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) radio drama a real lifesaver this summer. Whenever we were on the road for a long trip, we found AIO a perfect way to entertain our boys, Trent and Troy, while also immersing them in a number of important life lessons.

The first AIO aired November 21, 1987, about two years before I joined the staff of Focus on the Family and long before we had kids.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, kids, promos September 5, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hope in a Bag

Have you ever experienced a sermon that was so powerful and so convicting you felt compelled to do something radical about the message? That’s what happened to Mike Yankoski. Last week on the Focus on the Family broadcast we aired a fascinating two-day conversation with Mike who, as a Christian college student living in Santa Barbara, California at the time, marched out of his pew and onto the streets to better understand the plight of the homeless.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast August 15, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

High Cost of Healthcare Reform

Thursday’s broadcast last week featured a conversation between Tony Perkins (president of Family Research Council), our own Senior Vice President Tom Minnery and myself on the topic of managing the nation’s healthcare. As you may know, the nation is engaged in a vigorous debate whether or not the government should step into the health care arena—or leave health coverage to private providers.

It strikes me that regardless of whether you come down on the side of handing the healthcare system to the government or keeping it privatized, we need to acknowledge there aspects of the current system that require our attention.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, news, policy, pro-life August 3, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Get Your Game On

Former NFL Head Coach Joe Gibbs knows a thing or two about football, having taken the Washington Redskins to the Super Bowl eight times, winning three. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this champion expanded his playing field to include the creation of his own NASCAR team. Driven by the pursuit of excellence, his Joe Gibbs Racing team captured three NASCAR Championships.

Joe stopped by Focus on the Family Monday to record a broadcast in which he tackled a different topic: doing life God’s way.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith July 15, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Focus on the World

When Dr. Dobson recorded his first 15-minute radio broadcast some thirty years ago, he had a hunch there might be an audience in the U.S. for insight into marriage and parenting issues. Never in his wildest dreams did he envision a day when his advice would be broadcast around the world. Today, Focus on the Family is heard from Alabama to Albania, California to the Congo, and New Jersey to Papua New Guinea. In fact, some version of a Focus program is heard in 149 countries in 26 languages!

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, events, staff June 2, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

From Vampires to Saving Faith

Last week best selling author Anne Rice was a guest on the Focus on the Family broadcast. For two days she and Dr. James Dobson had a conversation about her spiritual journey from “an unhappy atheist,” as Anne described herself, to a follower of Christ in 1998. If you missed these programs,you’ll want to carve out some time to hear Anne speak about the awesome way that God changed her heart.

I should point out that not everyone who heard these programs was pleased that Anne was on the Focus broadcast.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith October 15, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Hound of Heaven

English poet Francis Thompson lived a short, painful life. After attending college to study medicine, Francis figured he’d try his hand at writing poetry and essays rather than follow his training as a doctor. But Francis soon learned that the writing life is a tough business. Forced to live as a vagrant with few options to provide for his needs, Francis settled on selling newspapers and matches while working on his craft.

For years success evaded him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith August 6, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Monster in Your Modem

I heard a story that still breaks my heart. Joann Condie is a state-licensed counselor and member of our staff who speaks with those who call us with various needs. She shared the story of a mother whose eleven-year-old boy had been using porn on the home internet for quite some time. When this mom found out, she wisely and carefully dug a little deeper.

That’s when she learned that an eleven-year-old neighbor friend had introduced her boy to pornography on the computer.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting July 24, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Going Global

Here’s a piece of trivia you may not know.

In March of 1977, Dr. Dobson aired his first radio broadcast called, “Let’s Get Acquainted.” Unlike the daily 30-minute format we syndicate today, Dr. Dobson’s original broadcast was a snappy, 15 minute weekly family advice show. Today, thirty-one years later, the Focus on the Family broadcast is heard in 155 countries with an estimated global audience of 220 million listeners.

What’s more, we broadcast in 26 different languages: Albanian, Arabic, Afrikaans, Armenian, Cantonese, Croatian, English, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, and Zulu.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast February 27, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Focus on the GO!

You probably already know that Tony Dungy was the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl championship. What you may not know is that he’s been a big fan of the Focus on the Family broadcast. While coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1981 to 1989, Tony listened to our broadcast every day during his drive time to work. Recently, Tony was in the studio sharing with Dr. Dobson the impact that those days listening in the car had on him and his wife as they raised their children.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, events, technology December 13, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura