Spotlight: BellExpressVu Offers Catholic Channel In Canada

Subscriber feedback has spurred Canadian satellite TV services provider Bell ExpressVu to carry U.S.-based Catholic channel ETWN, said Tom Wenzel, EWTN’s director of marketing.

Viewers of cable and satellite systems who want to receive ETWN have been one of the channel’s top allies in gaining carriage from multi-channel service providers worldwide, Wenzel said. Two Canadian cable companies already carry EWTN, but neither of the country’s satellite TV operators had offered the channel before, he added.

“For the longest time, the Canadian government did not allow a religious broadcaster from the United States to be carried by cable or satellite operators,” said Scott Hults, EWTN’s director of communications. “That rule was change a little over a year ago. Before that time, many EWTN listeners were picking up the station via short wave radio. They wrote letters to their lawmakers to get the rules changed. Since then, EWTN has made great strides in introducing its service into Canada.”

Rogers Cable System, the largest cable TV operator in Canada, picked up the channel soon after the law changed. However, it took satellite TV longer to follow suit.

EWTN is available in more than 81 million television households in 110 countries, company officials said. The network provides broadcast feeds in English, Spanish and German.

–Paul Dykewicz

(Tom Wenzel, EWTN, 216/291-4160; Scott Hults, EWTN, 205/271-2900)