India, Oct. 6 -- US televangelist Jim Bakker has died at the age of 86. Bakker became famous after building a large Christian television and media empire before his career collapsed following a sex scandal and a fraud conviction.

Bakker's biggest success was The PTL Club, a Christian television programme he started with his then-wife Tammy Faye in 1974. The show became the centre of the couple's growing religious media business, according to BBC.

The PTL Club became hugely popular in the US. At its peak, the programme attracted about 13 million viewers every day, making Bakker one of the best-known televangelists in the country. PTL stood for "Praise the Lord" and was also known as "People That Love". The programme helped cement Bakker ...