The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initialism EWTN, is an American television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It was founded by Mother Angelica, PCPA, in 1980 and began broadcasting on August 15, 1981, from a garage studio at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, which Mother Angelica founded in 1962. She hosted her own show, Mother Angelica Live, until suffering a major stroke and other health issues in September 2001. Repeats now air as either the Best of Mother Angelica Live or Mother Angelica Live Classics. From then until her death on Easter Sunday of 2016, she led a cloistered life at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.
The network, through diocesan television channels in other Catholic countries, advertises itself as the EWTN: The Global Catholic Network. Regular programs include a daily Holy Mass and sometimes Tridentine Mass format, the traditional Stations of the Cross, a taped daily recitation of the Rosary, and daily and weekly news, discussion, and Catechetical programs for both adults and children. Christmas and Easter programming; the installation Masses of bishops and cardinals; coverage of World Youth Days; and papal visits, deaths, funerals, conclaves, and elections are also presented. EWTN also has a presence on satellite and shortwave radio. Spanish language broadcasts are available on all platforms. On December 8, 2009, EWTN began broadcasting in high-definition.
The network's current chairman of the board and chief executive officer is Michael P. Warsaw. While the network has trustees, it does not have shareholders or owners. A majority of the network's funding is from viewer donations to which it advertises 100% viewer supported, which keeps it from advertising secular or non-Catholic programming. Its traditional plea for donations is "Keep us between your gas and electric bill".
The EWTN network also contributes in the publication of the National Catholic Register newspaper, which was acquired in January 2011, and the Catholic News Agency. The network maintains a web presence through its primary website, EWTN.com, and it also has a dedicated commerce site, EWTNReligiousCatalogue.com.
As of 2017, it is led by Michael Warsaw, who was named a consultor to the Vatican's Secretariat for Communications.
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Development
Mother Angelica made her profession of vows in 1953. In 1962, she established the Our Lady of the Angels monastery. During the 1970s, she was an in-demand lecturer and produced educational pamphlets and audio and video tapes. She had been a guest on local station WBMG (currently WIAT, Channel 42), and on shows on the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. After she gave an interview on then-Christian station WCFC (Channel 38) in Chicago, she decided she wanted her own network. "I walked in, and it was just a little studio, and I remember standing in the doorway and thinking, 'It doesn't take much to reach the masses'. I just stood there and said to the Lord, 'Lord, I've got to have one of these'".
Mother Angelica purchased satellite space and EWTN began broadcasting on August 15, 1981, with four hours of daily programming, which included her own show, Mother Angelica Live (aired bi-weekly), a Sunday Mass, and reruns of older Catholic programs such as Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's Life Is Worth Living. The remainder of the time was filled with shows produced by dioceses across the country, shows from Protestant sources which Mother Angelica determined were in concert with Catholic teachings, and children's shows such as Joy Junction and The Sunshine Factory. About one-third of programming time consisted of secular content, such as re-runs of The Bill Cosby Show, public domain films, and cooking and western-themed shows. EWTN eventually increased its broadcast schedule to six hours per day and then to eight hours per day by 1986. Secular content was gradually reduced from 1986 to 1988, and satellite distribution was expanded late in 1987, after which EWTN acquired a far more desirable satellite channel and began broadcasting around the clock. At this point, EWTN began broadcasting the praying of the rosary on a daily basis and added a number of educational shows. In-house production of original programming gradually increased. The Mass became televised daily in 1991 from a chapel on the monastery grounds. Most shows from non-Catholic sources were eliminated and a more theological image gradually developed.
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Radio
In 1992, EWTN established the largest privately owned shortwave radio station, WEWN, in the Birmingham area.
In 1996, Mother Angelica announced that EWTN would make its radio signal available via satellite to AM and FM stations throughout the country free of charge.
In 1999, programs included Mother Angelica Live and "Life Is Worth Living" with Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. WGSN in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was an affiliate. Current radio programs include Open Line, in which callers can get answers about the Catholic Faith.
In 2004, EWTN announced an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio which has since merged with XM Radio to become Sirius XM Radio. EWTN broadcasts on Channel 130 on SiriusXM.
As of 2016, EWTN radio has over 350 affiliate stations throughout the US and over 500 stations worldwide.
Newspapers
In January 2011, EWTN acquired the National Catholic Register, a newspaper founded in Denver, Colorado, in 1924 as a periodical for local Catholics and which became a national publication three years later. EWTN officially assumed total control on February 1. EWTN also owns 'Catholic News Agency' which is a Catholic news service with bureaus across America, Latin America and Europe.
News coverage
The EWTN news department produces a daily news service for television and radio, featuring news sources including Vatican Radio. They also produce The World Over Live, which covers relevant current events. It is hosted by journalist and author Raymond Arroyo, who is also EWTN's news director. The program is conservative in its political orientation and generally conservative in its religious orientation. Notable guests have included Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, author and activist George Weigel, political commentator Laura Ingraham, conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan, and the late columnist and commentator Robert Novak, a Jewish convert to Catholicism.
History of programming
In its early history, EWTN broadcast Catholic-produced programming from a wide variety of Catholic sources. This ranged from Catholic charismatic programming such as Fr. Michael Manning, to shows focusing on social reform and social justice, such as Christopher Closeup, to doctrinal teaching shows hosted by various clergy.
In the early 1990s, EWTN began producing more of its own shows. This marked a distinctive conservative shift in the network's overall orientation, with programs featuring topics on social reform and justice gradually being phased out and replaced with general doctrinal teaching and discussion programs. This shift was apparent in the daily televised Masses, which, in 1992, began incorporating Latin into the liturgy and gradually no longer featured contemporary music. Some non-televised Masses are in all English and some have more contemporary music. On Christmas Eve 1993, Mother Angelica and the nuns of her order reverted to traditional habits. From 1992 on, the Latin portions of the Mass included the Gloria, introduction of the Gospel readings, the Sanctus, and the rest of the mass after the Great Amen, beginning with the Lord's Prayer.
Among its notable weekly programs are The Journey Home and Life on the Rock. The Journey Home, hosted by Marcus Grodi, presents converts to the Catholic faith. Grodi himself is a former Presbyterian minister who converted to Catholicism in 1992. Although most guests are former Protestants, former adherents of non-Christian faiths (such as Judaism) and former atheists have occasionally appeared. Life on the Rock is hosted by Fr. Mark Mary, MFVA and Doug Barry.
The HD feed first became available to Comcast customers in Richmond, VA and vicinity on May 11, 2010.
In October 2011, EWTN became available through the Roku streaming player. The player provides six live channels of EWTN for free (including English, Spanish and German languages), allowing users to watch the channel on their television. In addition, select EWTN programs can be viewed as a video on demand option as well as a live feed of EWTN Radio is available.
Often, EWTN airs special programming: holiday-specific programs as well as coverage the deaths of popes; papal conclaves, elections, inaugurations and visits; Easter, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses; the installations of bishops, archbishops, and cardinals; and World Youth Day.
Criticism
In a 1993 episode of Mother Angelica Live, Mother Angelica harshly criticized a mimed re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado, which was attended by Pope John Paul II. Mother Angelica was particularly upset that a woman was playing Jesus. Archbishop Rembert Weakland of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee called Mother Angelica's comments "...one of the most disgraceful, un-Christian, offensive, and divisive diatribes I have ever heard". Mother Angelica responded by saying, "He didn't think a woman playing Jesus was offensive? He can go put his head in the back toilet as far as I am concerned!"
In 1997, Mother Angelica publicly criticized Cardinal Roger Mahony, then the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for his pastoral letter on the Eucharist called "Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass", which she perceived had a lack of emphasis on transubstantiation: "I'm afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero. And I hope everybody else's in that diocese is zero". Cardinal Mahony regarded her comments as accusing him of heresy. Mother Angelica later issued a conditional apology for her comments.
In 1999, Bishop David Foley of the diocese of Birmingham, Alabama issued a decree prohibiting priests in his diocese from celebrating Mass ad orientem (which literally means "to the east", but in this case means with the priest and the people facing to the apse of the church so that the people do not view the face of the priest) under most circumstances. Although the decree did not specifically mention EWTN, the wording of the decree, which stated that "...any Mass that is or will be televised for broadcast or videotaped for public dissemination", supporters and critics alike generally agreed that the decree was written with EWTN specifically in mind. Bishop Foley stated that the practice of having the priest's back to the people "amounts to making a political statement and is dividing the people."
Papal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award
In 2000, Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico performed an apostolic visitation of EWTN. Nieves determined that there were three distinct problems: the actual ownership of the network, the monastery's right to give property to EWTN, and, since she had never been elected, the legitimacy of Mother Angelica's authority.
Subsequently the matter was resolved when, in 2009, EWTN was given the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice directly by the Holy See. This award was given to Mother Angelica and the EWTN leadership as an expression of gratitude for their service to the Church.
Viewership statistics
EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world. As of 2015, its programming reached more than 250 million homes in 140 countries and territories. Because EWTN does not record TV ratings measurements in the US, no direct ratings are available. An article in Real Clear Politics, as well as other articles, cites "millions of viewers". Many programs on EWTN attract large audiences in primetime. On YouTube and other social media platforms, EWTN has more than 1,000,000 active followers and online viewers. EWTN is also available on demand on Roku, Kindle and Apple TV. EWTN's website is viewed 2-4 million times each month, according to SimilarWeb. In the United States, EWTN is available through most cable and satellite providers, reaching close to 84 million homes (Fios, DirecTV, Dish, Spectrum, etc.). The organization had annual revenues of $52,640,778 in 2015.
List of programs
Branding
EWTN's logo has incorporated a globe in some form since the network's launch in 1981.
In 1995, the logo was changed to "EWTN International Catholic Network" which later becomes "EWTN Global Catholic Network" in 1996
In 1996, the Ident was slightly redesigned in gold with a 4-color background of Gold, White, Purple and Green. The 2001 main Ident was updated with uppercase "EWTN" typeface in gold. The globe was also updated to provide a more mature look.
Images of several stained glass windows (taken from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL) have been used with the 2001 EWTN Ident.
In the original version of this 2001 logo, we see a spinning globe, inside of which is a shining monstrance. Several surrounding panels have video clips of the rosary, saints, Pope John Paul II, Franciscan Sisters, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the late Mother Angelica. The camera zooms out to shining monstrance, and then we see another globe inside the satellite dish and dome. The words "EWTN" in uppercase letters spinning around and then the globe changes to gold as the previous logo zooms in and later dissolve. And again, we see the words "EWTN" in uppercase letters circling and straighten itself with the golden EWTN globe. All of these were accompanied by a majestic fanfare starting off with a choir singing "Pange Lingua Gloriosi".
In the 2005 version of this 2001 logo, we see the same concept as the original version, but the video clips are different including the late Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the late Mother Angelica, saints and the rosary, and we see the rest of the logo with the shining monstrance, and then we see another globe inside the satellite dish and dome. The words "EWTN" in uppercase letters spinning around and then the globe changes to gold as the previous logo zooms in and later dissolve. And again, we see the words "EWTN" in uppercase letters circling and straighten itself with the golden EWTN globe.
In 1991, EWTN celebrating its 10th anniversary with a new slogan "Turn to Us" featuring the classic EWTN logo with a golden box and a majestic orchestra theme
The new EWTN logo was first introduced in late fall of 2015 and later made its on-screen EWTN logo in 2016.
Several video backgrounds have used the current EWTN ident with the slogan "Live truth. Live catholic"
Network slogans
Logos
List of EWTN Broadcast Affiliates
- K16HY-D channel 16.2, St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN
- WORO-DT channel 13.2, Fajardo/San Juan, PR
- KDEO-LD channel 23.1, Denver, CO
- W08EM-D channel 7.1, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA
- KJCS-LD channel 38.1, Colorado Springs, CO
- K17KW-D channel 17.1, Gettysburg/Pierre, SD
See also
Notes
References
- Citations
External links
- EWTN - Official website
- EWTN online broadcast
Source of article : Wikipedia
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