The Catholic "Mass for Shut-Ins" telecast will leave Howard University owned PBS affiliate WHUT/32 in favor of CW affiliate WDCW/50 later this summer after a PBS board vote to block new sectarian religious programming.
As it turns out, the proposal to ban sectarian programming from PBS affiliates was modified with a grandfather clause to allow preexisting shows. However in anticipation of cancellation from WHUT, the Archdiocese of Washington had already reached a new deal to switch "Mass for Shut-Ins" airings to WDCW, notes the Washington Post.
The station switch comes at a cost for the archdiocese which will have to pay an annual $60,000 to WDCW for access to its airwaves. WHUT had not charged for what seemed an innocuous public service. Of course where others see public service, the self-proclaimed Public Broadcasting Service sees an enemy to be kept at arm's length at best.
In these troubled times, I can not understand PBS' mentality or why anyone in the actual public would be interested in subsidizing it. This blogger would rather subsidize a service that helps give my mother and other shut-ins in the Washington, D.C. area some comfort and meaning in their lives.
______________________Labels: mass for shut-ins, pbs, religion, television, washington d.c. area, wdcw, whut
