Re: EWTN.
I've read some of the criticism, and I understand the view that the
program could be more "entertaining," but I don't think that is EWTN's
focus.
Could some of the people who said make it more entertaining tell us exactly what they mean?
A Catholic situation comedy? A game show? A Catholic satire / comedy
program a la Saturday Night Live? A Catholic Simpsons? A Catholic Star
Trek?
I don't think EWTN is trying or even wants to compete with tv land network television.
First, they certainly don't have the budget to pay all those actors or
ante up the money for game shows. Your talking about a mini-Christian
Catholic outfit in Alabama versus NYC Network Behemoths loaded with
zillions of advertising dollars.
And paid commercials can always affect the content, quality, and the
subject matter of the programs. Cable TV, when it initially started out,
had some quality / educational (even commericial free!) television on
Bravo, A & E, TLC, and the Discovery Channel; now it's almost 100%
junk. The whole of commercial Cable TV is simply to attract eyeballs for
commercials. Even the History Channel is has almost gone sour.
I think their model for their programs is Fulton Sheen. EWTN's programs
are essentially the equivalent of a college lecture on a topic
concerning the Catholic faith: history, politics, doctrine, and then
they have the interview programs.
While other stations provide "entertainment," EWTN preaches and teaches
the truths of the Catholic faith. The goal of the program isn't to
entertain you, such as having Captain Kirk fight the alligator-headed
alien, but to instruct and inform you about Catholic Truth. Since EWTN
is carried by cable providers as a free service (as far as I know), I
don't think EWTN wants to try to "dumb down" the programming to reach a
mass audience.
It could be done, but you would essentailly be running a fourth TV
network. That would mean you'd have to get commercial revenue from
advertising. You'd need a lot of money to compete directly with NBC,
ABC, CBS, and FOX.
I think EWTN just sticks with the basics. Just like a Fulton Sheen
program. Despite the vanilla flavoring of the programs, if one was to
sit down and actually watch the programs, I think you'd start to
understand the the programs deal with the "things that matter most," and
in every regard, are better programs than the garbage out there in tv
land.
Jun 16, '07, 9:05 pm
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Regular Member
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Join Date: August 14, 2004
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 1,513
Religion: Catholic
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Re: EWTN.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwyer
I've read some of the criticism, and I
understand the view that the program could be more "entertaining," but I
don't think that is EWTN's focus.
Could some of the people who said make it more entertaining tell us exactly what they mean?
A Catholic situation comedy? A game show? A Catholic satire / comedy
program a la Saturday Night Live? A Catholic Simpsons? A Catholic Star
Trek?
I don't think EWTN is trying or even wants to compete with tv land network television.
First, they certainly don't have the budget to pay all those actors or
ante up the money for game shows. Your talking about a mini-Christian
Catholic outfit in Alabama versus NYC Network Behemoths loaded with
zillions of advertising dollars.
And paid commercials can always affect the content, quality, and the
subject matter of the programs. Cable TV, when it initially started out,
had some quality / educational (even commericial free!) television on
Bravo, A & E, TLC, and the Discovery Channel; now it's almost 100%
junk. The whole of commercial Cable TV is simply to attract eyeballs for
commercials. Even the History Channel is has almost gone sour.
I think their model for their programs is Fulton Sheen. EWTN's programs
are essentially the equivalent of a college lecture on a topic
concerning the Catholic faith: history, politics, doctrine, and then
they have the interview programs.
While other stations provide "entertainment," EWTN preaches and teaches
the truths of the Catholic faith. The goal of the program isn't to
entertain you, such as having Captain Kirk fight the alligator-headed
alien, but to instruct and inform you about Catholic Truth. Since EWTN
is carried by cable providers as a free service (as far as I know), I
don't think EWTN wants to try to "dumb down" the programming to reach a
mass audience.
It could be done, but you would essentailly be running a fourth TV
network. That would mean you'd have to get commercial revenue from
advertising. You'd need a lot of money to compete directly with NBC,
ABC, CBS, and FOX.
I think EWTN just sticks with the basics. Just like a Fulton Sheen
program. Despite the vanilla flavoring of the programs, if one was to
sit down and actually watch the programs, I think you'd start to
understand the the programs deal with the "things that matter most," and
in every regard, are better programs than the garbage out there in tv
land.
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I agree. Most tv shows have tripped over themselves to do the
lowest common denominator of reality shows...stupid stuff really. EWTN
offers us information about the only reality that counts: God Himself.
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