EWTN no longer on cable tv

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Kay_Henson

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Unless you have a satellite reciver or digital cable you may no longer be able get EWTN. We in Jefferson county, Al. (home county to EWTN studios), lost our feed this past week. When contacting Charter cable I was told EWTN forced them to change by going to a digital signal. I guess we are to believe ABC, ESPN or MTV dosn’t broadcast on a digital signal, they are all still on the regular line-up. Next call I was told EWTN requested to be placed on a digital signal in order to make more money.(Broadcast companies pay studios in order to carry their signal). EWTN is free, always has been. Mother Angelica set it up that way. Why should we pay more for what they get free? There are a lot of people on fixed incomes that can’t afford to pay more fo T.V. There are also a lot of people who for whatever reason cannot physically attend mass, at least this way they can watch it. Each call I make I get a slightly different answer. My husband spoke to the marketing manager at EWTN. That’s when we found out this is being done all over the country.EWTN has not changed anything according to their manager. In speaking with a sympathetic Charter cable employee I found out Catholic stations were not the only ones one the chopping block. Trinity Broadcasting is sceduled to be taken off the first of next year. I am pleading with eveyone to help save EWTN for all those who can’t afford to pay extra. Charter cable told me if I wanted to see EWTN I would have to get a digital box. I am responding by canceling my cable and getting a satellite dish. Please call your cable company, not just once, but 10 times a day if possible. Tell everyone you know what is going on and enlist their help. I can’t do this alone just as George Washington couldn’t win the Revolutionary War alone, but with the help of others he forged a new nation. Let’s get EWTN back! By the way, in this area there is now MTV-2 where there was once EWTN. Makes one wonder who is really running the cable companies, could it be…SATAN??? God bless you all.
 
Kay_Henson said:
Unless you have a satellite reciver or digital cable you may no longer be able get EWTN. We in Jefferson county, Al. (home county to EWTN studios), lost our feed this past week. When contacting Charter cable I was told EWTN forced them to change by going to a digital signal. I guess we are to believe ABC, ESPN or MTV dosn’t broadcast on a digital signal, they are all still on the regular line-up. Next call I was told EWTN requested to be placed on a digital signal in order to make more money.(Broadcast companies pay studios in order to carry their signal). EWTN is free, always has been. Mother Angelica set it up that way. Why should we pay more for what they get free? There are a lot of people on fixed incomes that can’t afford to pay more fo T.V. There are also a lot of people who for whatever reason cannot physically attend mass, at least this way they can watch it. Each call I make I get a slightly different answer. My husband spoke to the marketing manager at EWTN. That’s when we found out this is being done all over the country.EWTN has not changed anything according to their manager. In speaking with a sympathetic Charter cable employee I found out Catholic stations were not the only ones one the chopping block. Trinity Broadcasting is sceduled to be taken off the first of next year. I am pleading with eveyone to help save EWTN for all those who can’t afford to pay extra. Charter cable told me if I wanted to see EWTN I would have to get a digital box. I am responding by canceling my cable and getting a satellite dish. Please call your cable company, not just once, but 10 times a day if possible. Tell everyone you know what is going on and enlist their help. I can’t do this alone just as George Washington couldn’t win the Revolutionary War alone, but with the help of others he forged a new nation. Let’s get EWTN back! By the way, in this area there is now MTV-2 where there was once EWTN. Makes one wonder who is really running the cable companies, could it be…SATAN??? God bless you all.
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I understand your frustration, but I have to ask… wouldn’t it simply be easier to rent the digital box from the cable company for the $3-$5 a month it would cost rather than install satellite and rent their equipment? I understand if it’s the principle you’re fighting for, but we are only speak of a few extra bucks a month (well worth having the quality of programing that EWTN provides).
 
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has ruled that all major television stations in the U.S. must be broadcast in digital by Feb. 17, 2009. You can get a voucher worth $40 toward the purchase of a digital-to-analog set-top converter box. Please check out this site from the FCC for more information.

fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html

BTW, my cable company offers digital cable free of charge.
 
Tonks40 said:
BTW, my cable company offers digital cable free of charge.
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Yes, cable companies do, however if I understand it correctly in order to get the free digital you need to have the cable company’s cable box. My cable company at least, charges a rental fee for the box. It’s nominal however, it exists.
 
If you have cable and have their cable box then you don’t have to get a digital box.
The cable companies should keep the channel and keep broadcasting them.

We have cable, but not the box so we might have to get it and pay the monthly fee. I think it was few dollars per month.
 
Tietjen said:
I understand your frustration, but I have to ask… wouldn’t it simply be easier to rent the digital box from the cable company for the $3-$5 a month it would cost rather than install satellite and rent their equipment? I understand if it’s the principle you’re fighting for, but we are only speak of a few extra bucks a month (well worth having the quality of programing that EWTN provides).
Click to expand...
 
In my area it would cost $15-$25 more a month to get digital cable. There are a lot of Americans who would have a hardship coming up with an additional $5 more a month.After some investigation I have found the cost of satellite, after the one year trial period, is about the same or cheaper than digital cable. It became a battle for principle when Charter representatives began to lie about why EWTN was being moved to digital.
 
Kay_Henson said:
In my area it would cost $15-$25 more a month to get digital cable. There are a lot of Americans who would have a hardship coming up with an additional $5 more a month.After some investigation I have found the cost of satellite, after the one year trial period, is about the same or cheaper than digital cable. It became a battle for principle when Charter representatives began to lie about why EWTN was being moved to digital.
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You may be correct; however, I suspect that those households who could not come up with an additional $5 a month more than likely do not subscribe to cable at all. I know that if I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t come up with 5 extra dollars a month, I would be cutting EVERYTHING that wasn’t necessary from the budget. TV isn’t a priority and therefore would be one of the first things to go.

Please don’t get the impression that I am against what you are saying, because that is not the case. I believe that the cable companies gouge prices and overcharge at every opportunity. I would absolutely love to see congress mandate that the public has a right to “a la carte” cable programming. In other words, I can choose ONLY the channels I want and not have to accept and pay for channels I don’t watch (IE - MTV, Lifetime, Soap, etc.) Just give me the 4 major networks, EWTN, and the educational channels (IE - Learning Channel, Discovery Channels, History Channels, & maybe A&E). Oh… and of course Fox news, the ESPN channels and the NFL channel. 😃 All that other stuff never gets watched in my house anyway.
 
There’s no such thing as a free lunch and our US Constitution nowhere states that we have the right to life, libery and free television.

I have no problem paying for things I enjoy, but I wish I could pay for each channel separately. We end up getting about seventeen million channels and I only watch maybe ten.
 
Basic DISH Network has always carried EWTN. I pay 31.52 a month and have had it for over five years. No real compaints.
 
Can you bury a cable in the ground and walk it over to EWTN since your right there. You could place a couple of webcams around the place and get it for free…😛

Obviously kidding. I justify my cable now just to get EWTN. Cutting it is not an option anymore. I need to be catechised after leaving for 17 years. So pay up or just use the internet until you figure it out.
 
Kay,

We do everything we can not to support the sewage pipe, called, cable TV. As such, we only have the very basic cable of $9/mo. and we watch EWTN on the Internet for free (well we try to donate)😉 It works like a champ, once it is set up and is the best way to vote with your wallet. Maybe a family member or friend could help set it up.
 
Chances are good that the Customer Service rep you spoke to was not lying to you “on purpose”, they are sitting in a call center somewhere in the world and have some standard answers to the reasons for changes.

With the move to digital, many people are going to have to make the same decisions you made.

Checking out the competetion was the smart thing to do.
 
All very good points about the cost of cable vs cost of the dish vs internet viewing, but I think the OP was also pointing out that it’s the Catholic channel that got the axe first - not MTV or even TBN.
 
We have regular Cable, and still get EWTN. I just had it on a few hours ago (they were saying the Rosary).
 
I think a lot of who-carries-what depends on someone’s local cable provider.
 
I found this article online that sums up the problem quite nicely. I am not from the area described in the article, but I was searching for any information that might give us a clue on how to fight.

Comcast Angers Area Catholics

I have already emailed EWTN and I am really looking for some kind of direction from them. I would expect them to give us contact names of decision makers at local cable providers throughout the country that we can start to call and email to voice our complaints. Then those of us so motivated could help to organize such a campaign at our local parish level.

The money we will need to spend on upgrading our subscriptions, and/or buying or renting equipment would be much better spent donating directly to the network. I really don’t want to import more of the sewage into my home.

I spoke to a customer service rep at Comcast and I was told that EWTN requested this change. I find this very hard to believe.

What other ideas are out there?

We can’t let this happen without a fight.
 
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