Daystar Founder Joni Lamb Dead at 65: A Legacy in Christian Broadcasting

Nearly four decades on the air came to an end when Joni Lamb, co-founder and president of Daystar Television Network, passed away on Thursday, May 7 at age 65. The announcement from the Daystar Board of Directors came with an acknowledgment of her long struggle with health challenges, which were compounded by a back injury that ultimately led to her decline.

Lamb’s trajectory in Christian broadcasting is hard to overstate. Alongside her late husband Marcus, she transformed Daystar from a single station into what the network describes as one of the world’s largest faith-based television operations. Today, Daystar reaches over 2.3 billion homes worldwide across major cable and satellite systems, touching more than 7 billion viewers globally. That kind of reach doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of decades of relentless commitment to a mission. The board’s statement captured something of her drive:“Joni’s love for the Lord and for the people we serve shaped this ministry from the beginning.”

What’s striking about how Daystar announced her passing is the emphasis on continuity. Rather than painting this as a turning point or crisis moment, the network made clear that there’s already an executive leadership team in place. Programming will continue as scheduled. There’s something both practical and quietly hopeful about that message—an indication that while Lamb’s personal presence is gone, the infrastructure she helped build won’t skip a beat.

Lamb is survived by her husband Doug, three children—Jonathan, Rachel, and Rebecca—and their families. The network has promised to air tributes to her and will announce memorial details later, respecting her family’s request for privacy during this time.

In the landscape of American religious broadcasting, Joni Lamb represented a particular kind of visibility—bold, uncompromising, and unapologetically committed to her message. That legacy will outlive her in the network she stewarded for more than three decades.