Robertson founded the network in 1960 and used the flagship program The 700 Club for prayer offerings and political commentary.
In 1980, the show helped to galvanise support among Christian conservatives for Ronald Reagan's successful campaign for president.
Nicknamed "Pat" by his older brother, he was born Marion Gordon Robertson in Lexington, Virginia, in 1930.
A former Southern Baptist minister who said God had inspired him to run for US president, Robertson made a strong start in his campaign for the 1988 Republican nomination, stunning better-known opponents, including vice president George HW Bush, the eventual nominee, by finishing near the top in Iowa and other early contests.
Although poor showings in later primaries soon forced him to withdraw, Robertson's campaign became a political springboard.
In 1989, he founded the Christian Coalition, which gave conservative Christians a voice in the US capital and helped turn religious conservatives into a well-organised political movement.
"He saw the possibilities," said Laura R Olson, a Clemson University political science professor and expert on religion and politics.
"Pat Robertson was absolutely brilliant at taking his success from the presidential race and transforming that into a powerful interest group."
A Yale law school graduate and son of a US senator, Robertson had the education, media skills and political experience to build on the foundation laid by another group with conservative Christian roots.
In 1979, the Reverend Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which rallied once-apolitical fundamentalist and evangelical Christians into an electoral force.
By 1989, amid lacklustre fundraising, it was disbanded and the Christian Coalition was born.
with DPA
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