For UPtv's Charley Humbard It's Not About 'Me' It's About the Mission

UP Entertainment, a leading source of entertainment for passionate and diverse audiences, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary on Wednesday. And to celebrate the big day, the company has established October 30th as National UPlift Someone Day.

What is National UPlift Someone Day you ask? Quite simply, it is a way to raise awareness about food scarcity and share how people can get involved by donating or volunteering at more than 200 food banks across the country. For more information, please visit Feedingamerica.org.

For UP Entertainment founder and CEO Charley Humbard, the thought of helping others comes naturally. Growing up as the son of pioneering televangelist Rex Humbard, Charley saw firsthand the needs of so many who were struggling emotionally, spiritually, and financially. It seems only natural that he has dedicated his life to creating an uplifting media brand that exists to have a positive impact. Thus, creating something like National UPlift Someone Day is a natural extension of what Humbard and UP Entertainment believe in.

I recently sat down with Charley to reflect on the first 20 years of UPtv, what has shaped him as a media executive, and where he sees the future of faith-based entertainment heading over the next 20.

As we get started today, I’m always fascinated to hear about people’s journey to the place they have arrived at in the present day. Could you share a bit about your story and how you got into the entertainment industry?

My story goes back to birth and getting into this business. My father was Rex Humbard, who was the first televangelist and the first one to put a weekly church service on TV back in the 1950s. He was broadcasting around the world for over 30 years. So, I was really born into the Christian media ministry business. I've really never done anything else but working in this industry. At age six, I did my first TV show. My sister Liz, who was nine, and I hosted “Charley and Elizabeth Visits the Holy Land”. We were the first to take a worldwide audience on a tour of the Holy Land in the footsteps of Jesus back in 1967. From there, I was involved in a lot of broadcasts after that. We were the first to do a live satellite transmission from Israel on Christmas Eve. I spent my life growing up on that side of the business, in the ministry, working for my father until I was nearly 20 years old. Then I left his ministry and got into the cable industry. I was always an audio engineer. So, I got into the cable side of things. I worked at Turner Broadcasting for many years, and then the Discovery Channel for many years. And then started what is today UPtv back in 2004. We're celebrating 20 years this year.

Congratulations on that. I should note, my parents were big fans of your dad and his ministry, and they watched his broadcast a lot. As you mentioned, you're the son of legendary television evangelist Rex Humbard. So, you've certainly grown up in an environment that mixes together faith and broadcast. Do you think that has helped you as an entertainment executive in the space you currently occupy?

Absolutely. You know, it shaped what I value. It shaped my understanding of the passionate audience and the need in the marketplace. It really informed me that Dad had such an influence on me, studying his character and who he was and what he was about. The inclusiveness that occurred at our church and in the services was really good. We would have Johnny and June Carter Cash on and then we'd turn around and have Andre Crouch and the Disciples. And so, I grew up in a diversity of music and a very inclusive church. It has shaped the way we are as a brand today and how I run this company as far as our employee base is concerned. So, growing up in this has absolutely had an influence on me, how I think about things, and what I value.

Did you ever have aspirations to pursue a career in something else or was it always broadcasting or bust for you?

Most aspirations to pursue something else happened during board meetings. (laughs) I often think about whether there was something else to do? When I was at Discovery Channel, I had been there 10 years. I was one of the first employees to start their international broadcasting arm for them. Then I went over and helped start all the digital networks and the channels that are still on today. But when 9/11 happened. I think a lot of us paused and thought about our lives, and that's really when I rethought what I wanted to do. At that point, I wanted to take my entrepreneurial feelings that I had, and that passion, to start something that would have an impact. So I really didn't directly leave the media side or the broadcasting side, but I certainly moved away from being in the very secular world of Discovery, Turner, and other places. I dedicated my life to creating an uplifting brand that would have a positive impact.

This year you are celebrating 20 years of UPtv. It's very much a network that's dedicated to faith-based family content. That is a vital mission for an organization that's broadcasting, to be able to provide that type of entertainment. What's the key difference between faith-based family content being made today and the programming that was made in the past? 

I think Christian broadcasting in the past was more overt. I think it was more pronounced and more evangelical. I think we have the opportunity today, as we do here at UP Entertainment, to create stories that affirm your faith and affirm your beliefs. They don't always have to be evangelical in nature. What we want to do is tell stories that impact hearts, help people change their perspectives, think about their perspectives, and think about their relationships. Today, a lot of people will say, ‘Well, that's just a watered down message.’ But you know what? Everybody has their role. Today, there's different kinds of churches for different kinds of people. I think our role, at least at UP Entertainment, is to provide stories that inspire and uplift people and our uplifting brand. That's what we stand for. In doing so, we’re part of the journey, part of the understanding, and certainly stand for our beliefs and Christian values.

You've been in this business a long time as we've been discussing. What is one thing you would like to see happen in the faith-based and family entertainment industry over the next five years?

I really think it's time for all the disparate parts to roll up and consolidate, especially in the video business. We have a streaming service called Up Faith in Family that people can get. It's essentially Netflix. You can get it everywhere without all the dark stuff you see on Netflix. I think it's time for our streaming service and others to come together and really work in harmony,  especially the producers. There are some great producers out there today. Jon Erwin, who did “Jesus Revolution” is a good example. I think a consolidation in this space gives real strength and purpose to everyone's message. I think everybody could still be creative, but I think coming together to have a total impact is what is necessary to really do the work we need to do.

Right now, the future for network properties like UP seems to be the streaming platform. Of course, as we all know, some new technology may supplant it as we move into the future. How has streaming and On Demand TV changed the face of the television industry?

You follow consumers and consumers usually are allowed to go places because of technology. Technology has given consumers three things. I think they've always wanted what I want, when I want it, and where I want it. We follow consumers. We have 40 plus million Americans who qualify as consumers. We've studied persons that want to have content that affirms their values, affirms their faith, and their relationships. We have studied consumers who have a belief in family. So, we follow that audience, but that audience has gone to new places. They're not all linear cable television watchers anymore. Linear cable has come down dramatically since 2012. It's actually been losing subscribers. A lot of people don't know that, but it's been descending for quite some time. And with the rise of streaming, what it gives people is their choice when they want something on their schedule, where they want to watch it and when they want to watch it.

So, we have to go there. You think differently about the kinds of things you can produce, the business model is different in the streaming space. For many of us, we do not have advertising, so we don't have that to subsidize it. So it's a different approach to how you fund the content. It's a different approach to the kind of content you can make. You're not beholden to advertisers in these ecosystems with walled gardens which is actually good. It allows us to really have a free voice in what we want to produce, what we want to put on. And it allows consumers to buy into faith and family for as much as they want. Great shows like “Heartland” and other things, but they can also get rid of what they don't want, right? They buy us because they don't want the darkness of Netflix in their home.

Many years ago, I had a movie executive tell me that the major Hollywood studios have absolutely no problem making faith-based content. Their one requirement has been and continues to be that they must be profitable. And for a long time they weren’t. But in recent years, we have certainly seen evidence that they can be profitable. Can faith-based content be sustainable in Hollywood long-term?

I absolutely believe it can. And you say Faith-based … I go back to stories that affirm your faith, that affirm your beliefs, that have characters with character in their storylines, I think it is absolutely sustainable. I think you see it all the time in the ratings of movies. Number one, when you say family friendly G-rated movies and PG movies, they far out gross R-rated movies on a regular basis. And for a studio executive to say that, look, one out of 10 movies are profitable for Hollywood, let's face it. So, if they say if these faith-based movies are profitable, that's kind of a strange statement when most of the things they make are not profitable. I think it's proven. I think for some reason Hollywood just loves that edgy trend to go to Rated-R and try to really shock the audience. I think the Bible can be the Marvel comics of great stories. The Bible has stories that you couldn't make up. And the more people that are great producers who come to this business and directors and writers, the more we can take these amazing stories that can transform lives and really help people think differently about matters and change the world.

You are celebrating 20 years of broadcasting excellence with UPtv. Moving forward, what is your greatest hope for the network?

I think my greatest hope for UPtv is that we continue to move into these new spaces and build popular brands. We need hit shows. I think that is a requirement for any brand out there. My biggest hope is that we can uplift others and have a great impact with these five brands and maybe some new brands in the future that collectively in the programming we're making, the commitment we have to being a leader in uplifting entertainment, that it will really help impact hearts and change our world.

WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT NATIONAL UPLIFT SOMEONE DAY: