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. On Christmas Eve 1993, Mother Angelica and the nuns of her order reverted to traditional habits. From the mid 1990s until 2012, 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. Recently the Lord's Prayer was reinstated in vernacular along with the prayers after the Lamb Of God (which did remain Latin). They continue to say the Kyrie in Greek as well. But overall, the amount of Latin in the masses has been pulled back in recent months.
Among its notable weekly programs are The Journey Home, Sunday Night Prime (formerly "Sunday Night Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel", and Life on the Rock. The Journey Home, hosted by Marcus Grodi, is aimed at 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. On Sunday Night Prime, Fr. Groeschel, who, in addition to being a trained psychologist, is also the director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Archdiocese of New York, discusses the Catholic faith with viewers from both perspectives. Life on the Rock is hosted by Fr. Mark Mary, MFVA and Doug Barry.
EWTN HD, a high definition simulcast of EWTN, became available to affiliates on December 8, 2009. CEO Michael P. Warsaw said "We chose to launch HD in December so we could bring our viewers all the beautiful images of the Christmas season using the most advanced technology. We are proud to say that we are the only Catholic television network available in this format." 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.
Read more about this topic: Eternal Word Television Network
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