The story I heard before and when I first arrived at 3ABN was that Kenny Shelton, not Danny, was the one who received the impression to build the network. That Kenny then talked to Danny and their mother. Danny agreed to help. Once Kenny was fired the story changed to Danny received the impression (vision) and Kenny was written out of the story.
youngwarrior, I've got a 1987 version of the 3ABN Story, featuring an interview of both Kenny and Danny. It has Danny being told by a voice to start the station, and Danny calling Kenny to tell him. It does have Kenny previously telling Danny that God had impressed him that he and Danny should unite their ministries.
But what you remember about Kenny being the first one to have the impression could still be true. It's just that the story could have morphed a little earlier than Kenny's firing.
Evangelist Oscar Lane began his evangelistic meeting in a big tent in New Orleans on Sept. 9, 1984, and finished sometime in October. During that crusade, Danny and Melody Shelton came through and did a program at our church north of new Orleans. Danny and Melody then showed up at Oscar Lane's meeting. During that meeting, Oscar Lane took up an offering for Danny's new TV venture. The next meeting or so Oscar Lane told the huge crowd in the newly rented church that Danny had come to him the morning that Danny was leaving town, and had given him the money back. I recall that Oscar Lane said it would be put toward the purchase of a church bus.
1984 is a long time ago, and so I don't recall for sure what exactly the TV venture was, but I've always thought it was starting 3ABN, not just a studio. At any rate, it seems a little strange to start the 3ABN Story on Nov. 14/15, 1984, when in October Danny was already promoting a new TV venture publicly, and money was being collected for it.
What I recall is that Oscar Lane would be working with Danny on the venture, and it puzzled me when I did not hear Lane's name associated with 3ABN as things got going.
When I asked Danny about all this in November 2006, he provided no satisfactory answer.
By the way, I was told that Kenny admitted having the affair that led to his firing, but was puzzled about why Danny made it an issue, since Danny had known about the affair for years.