By The Universe: Scores of Catholics who pay thousands of pounds a year to watch cable television are frustrated at being denied access to the dedicated Catholic channel EWTN.
And it is looking increasingly unlikely that communications giant ntl:Telewest has any plans to resume negotiations aimed at broadcasting the network. This may mean many Catholics leaving cable for Sky, which shows the free-to-view channel, according to EWTN’s European manager Ian Murray.
Mr Murray has called on Catholic viewers to make one final attempt to change ntl:Telewest’s mind.
“As many people as possible should bombard the company with requests for it to show EWTN,” he said.
Andy Tollock, head of St Claire Media, which broadcasts the American-based channel, said: “We receive frequent requests from cable viewers for EWTN to be broadcast on ntl:Telewest but nothing so far has happened from them.
“I have ntl:Telewest myself and it has a large number of channels, including the pay-for-view God Channel, so one presumes the problem is not a restricted number of channel bands available.”
Pay-for-view God Channel? Shouldn’t that be Pray-for-view? Some of course do try to channel God or say make me a channel of your peace, but the God Channel just seems more like a parody idea than an actual name. This channel though is actually not pay-per-view, they charge a 5 pound premium per month for access. Checking up on this channel I found that they started off with a really dumb idea for Billboard advertisements with "God the Father, God the Son and god the tv channel." Again more like parody then an actual Christian cable television ad campaign.
Now they have a new ad campaign for their future availability in the U.S. with "GOD is coming to AMERICA." Apparently God is now writing press releases for them in this long rambling piece.
“And I shall light a TORCH, a TORCH, a literal TORCH of the fire of My saints of America – a torch that shall set ablaze the world, for it is time to look OUT America, beyond your cities, beyond your towns. Look out, Look OUT, America, for the nations have need of you. Rise up from the bondage of complacency, for the East cries out to you and the North travails and the South calls to you in the spirit. And so My fire shall fall and from the East Coast to the West and from the West across the seas it shall go, and from the North it shall rise, north, north even to Russia, it shall burn, and to the South – the South, a flame of fire shall rise."
It seems by the quality of this writing that God is either suffering writers block since the completion of the New Testament or somebody else wrote it. Though I have heard that he hired a Holy Ghost writer for the Bible in the first place.
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Here in Dublin, Ireland, I have EWTN and the God Channel on my TV set. My cable operator is a firm called ntl Ireland, which, presumably, has a business relationship of some kind with ntl:Telewest.
Other Dubliners have Sky (part of the Rupert Murdoch empire) as their cable operator, and they offer EWTN as well. I’m not sure if they have the God Channel on their line-up.
I don’t pay any extra for EWTN or God Channel; just the “normal” subscription fee; though I do choose to pay extra for some sports channels, including one on which I have just been watching the conclusion of Miami Dolphins at Detriot Lions.
I regularly get junk mail in my letterbox from SKY seeking my custom; they advertise based on channel “packages”; e.g., Movies, Sports, Culture, Kids, etc. Never, once, has any of their publicity made any reference whatsoever to EWTN.
Is the God Channel a Catholic channel?
We just got DirecTV and I was intrigued by our God TV channel, but of course it’s just another Protestant channel. We also have The Church Channel which is I think from Trinity Broadcasting Network and advertised to be programs from all faiths, but as far as I can see, Jews and Catholics get 30 minutes each a week–the rest Protestant. I just keep EWTN on my favorites list and omit the rest.
We have a nasty similiar situation with Cox cable here in California. ETWN is only available to those with the extended cable (which costs quite a bit more than basic) even though ETWN is nonprofit.
For now I watch the live internet broadcast of the channel via its website. *sigh*
We have Cox in Oklahoma as well. I watch EWTN over the Internet, even though it gets choppy sometimes.
I long for the day when EWTN will be broadcast on non-cable TV so that I can pick it up with my rabbit ears.
Oh, Mr. Brendan, why would you pay to see the Detroit Lions lose? I had to console myself with cold duck (the drink, not the bird) afterwards. Wait… please don’t say you’re a Dolphins fan. 😉
No Miss Jean, frankly I do not claim to be a fan of any NFL team, though I do watch the coverage at weekends. But I had to get these extra channels to get my fix of horse racing, and REAL football – or as you Americans call it, soccer!