Local (Florida) Comcast takes Catholic T.V. off the air!

Sarasota Catholic ^ | October 28, 2011 | Thomas Yanoti

[NYer]

For many local (Catholic) Southwest Floridians, EWTN, The Eternal Word Television Network, formerly channel 17 in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral area Comcast lineup, was a blessing! It was a place of prayer, a place of solidarity with Catholics all around the world, and it was a place where the family could join together around the television for family Tradition.

www.ewtn.com

EWTN was especially important for the local Catholic around Christmas, bringing pertinent faith programming concerning the birth of our Lord. How ironic it is that Comcast yanks EWTN right before Christmas season for an extra 'Home Shopping Network,' which proudly displays '58 shopping days til Christmas' on the right hand corner of the screen!

Southwest Florida Catholics affected by this change, along with Southwest Floridians not affected--but in solidarity with wronged people of faith, should immediately contact Comcast via telephone and e-mail and demand that this travesty be fixed immediately!

Putting three ‘Home Shopping Networks’ within a five channel range is overkill and reveals the greed of our society. Christmas, furthermore, is robbed of its true meaning, as its true meaning is pushed aside for profit in an ever growing secular society!

And are local Catholics to stand by and do nothing?

Go immediately to www.comcast.com or call 1-800-Comcast (1-800-266-2278) and strongly urge Comcast to reconsider. Is it necessary to have three shopping networks (all within a five-channel spacing) and no Catholic Television…especially around the coming Christmas season? Are they kidding?

It’s time to take action! But be compassionate and respectful of the representatives of Comcast. Remember, usually the low people on the totem pole aren’t responsible. Maybe the greed which drove them to a third ‘shopping network’ will work in our favor when they see our response…and fear the loss of our business!

[NYer]

I'm sticking up for you Mama!

[NYer]

Ping!

[TEXOKIE]

Bump to the top. Who is in charge of COMCAST? I wonder if this is tied in with the Mark Lloyd control-the-local-media types?

Pinging wagglebee

[VeniVidiVici]

They probably had to make room for yet another Spanish language channel.

[SumProVita]

God will be there for her too! ;-)

(Sad commentary on our culture....this situation)

[sagar]

It is not a right to be on a provider’s lineup. If the channel was popular, it would have remained in the lineup.

[aimee5291]

I am sticking up for Mother...

Does anyone have a response from Comcast on what the reasoning was?

[steve86]

If the channel was popular, it would have remained in the lineup.

B.S. My cable compay has yet to poll me on which channels I watch or like. Follow the money.

[Salvation]

Doesn’t EWTN have some Spanish programming? I know our local radio station does.

This is an outrage!

[Salvation]

If they do it in one area, will Concast then decide to do it in other areas?

Florida
Archdiocese of Miami
9401 Biscayne Boulevard MiamiShores, FL  33138 . . .	Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski Archbishop of Miami Bishop Agustín A. Román Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora Archbishop Emeritus of Miami
Diocese of Orlando
P.O. Box 1800 Orlando, FL  32808-1800 . . .	Bishop John G. Noonan Bishop of Orlando Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey C.P. Bishop Emeritus of Orlando
Diocese of Palm Beach
9995 N. Military Trail PalmBeachGardens, FL  33410 . . .	Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito Bishop of Palm Beach Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell Bishop Emeritus of Palm Beach Bishop J. Keith Symons Bishop Emeritus of Palm Beach
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee
11 North B Street Pensacola, FL  32502 . . .	Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Bishop John H. Ricard SSJ Bishop Emeritus of Pensacola-Tallahassee
Diocese of St. Augustine
11625 Old St. Augustine Rd. Jacksonville, FL  32258 . . .	Bishop Felipe J. Estévez STD Bishop of St. Augustine Bishop Victor B. Galeone Bishop Emeritus of St. Augustine Bishop John J. Snyder Bishop Emeritus of St. Augustine
Diocese of St. Petersburg
6363 9th Avenue N. StPetersburg, FL  33710 . . .	Bishop Robert N. Lynch Bishop of St. Petersburg
Diocese of Venice
1000 Pinebrook Road Venice, FL  34285 . . .	Bishop Frank J. Dewane Bishop of Venice Bishop John J. Nevins Bishop Emeritus of Venice

[sagar]

“B.S. My cable compay has yet to poll me on which channels I watch or like. Follow the money.”

Do they really have to poll YOU to get the answer to whether or not that channel is popular enough to be in the lineup?

I guess follow the money is right, because that channel is apparently not adding value to the provider’s content.

[tlb]

I believe the shopping channels pay the cable company, instead of the carrier paying the channel for carriage rights. Easy to see why they offer so many of the damn things.

The question I’d have asked is why does the local cable system have to replace one channel with another, instead of simply adding the extra shopping channel to the total offered. Keep everybody happy.

Myself I program the remote to remove both the religious channels and the shopping channels. Less clutter.

[NYer]

They probably had to make room for yet another Spanish language channel.

According to the article, they added 3 more shopping channels.