Will Mother Angelica make comeback in Sioux City?
Sioux City's cable network presently in negotiations with EWTN

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Sept. 21, 2006

The keynote speaker for the Tenth Annual Bishop's Dinner for Catholic Education that is slated for Oct. 22 in Sioux City is a well-known face on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

Raymond Arroyo, one of the country's premiere Catholic journalists, is host and creator of EWTN's international news magazine called The World Over Live. Catholics in many parts of the Diocese of Sioux City watch Arroyo on a regular basis, however, parishioners that are subscribers to Cable One in Sioux City and the metro area have not had access to EWTN since the network was dropped from programming in November of 2001.

"When we first announced that Raymond Arroyo was going to be our guest speaker this year, we started hearing from a good number of people who called in to say that they hadn't seen Raymond Arroyo in a few years because of the situation we had here with Cable One," noted Jim Wharton, diocesan director of communications. "They wanted to know what they could do to get EWTN back on the cable system. We encouraged them to contact Cable One."

He pointed out that when they were talking to Arroyo about coming speak at the dinner in Sioux City, the Catholic journalist was surprised to learn that a city this size did not have EWTN on its cable system.

"In any given week, EWTN goes into about 120 million homes," noted Wharton. "Sioux City is one of the bigger communities that doesn't have access to it on cable system."

He said the diocese is encouraged that Cable One is in the talking stages with EWTN.

Cheryl Goettsche, general manager of Cable One, confirmed that the company is currently in negotiations with EWTN to bring them back to the lineup.

"It's been a long-term process but we are getting a little closer," she said. "I believe we will be able to work out the details and get them back on our lineup but I don't have a date as to when that might happen."

While Goettsche has not noticed a spike in the requests for EWTN due to Arroyo's upcoming visit, she did say that since she arrived at Cable One about a year ago there has been steady requests to bring it back.

"There is quite a bit of interest in that channel in Sioux City, so I think that would be a nice additional to our lineup." She said, "I think it would serve the needs of the subscriber base. We have a pretty large Catholic population here. We are working diligently to try to get it back on."

Presently, Cable One has a faith tier and EWTN would be added to the other faith-based programming.

Larry Walsh, a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City and a Cable One subscriber, had been a regular viewer of the Catholic network when it was pulled.

"I was receiving EWTN and was tickled to death to have it," he noted. "It was a daily part of my viewing diet. I do try to get to church often during the week but certainly it is always easy to turn on the television and have that as an alternative to reflections and a time of prayer particularly when they are offering the Mass and have good homilists." Some of his favorites were Father Benedict Groeshel and Father John Corapi.

Walsh believes that EWTN can play an important role in education and reaffirmation of Catholic teachings as they relate to one's personal faith life and the current issues of the world today.

"It was another opportunity to get input about my Catholic faith," he said.

Walsh mentioned that many people were driven to satellite dishes so they could continue to receive EWTN. He has remained with Cable One, but is tempted to make the switch because "this has gone on long enough."

"With Raymond Arroyo coming to Sioux City, I think this would be a marvelous time for Cable One to begin carrying EWTN again," he said.

Wharton agrees that with the upcoming dinner, now would be a great time to bring the network back to the local cable provider.

"It would be great if Cable One had a decision on this by Oct. 22 and we could announce it to a group of about 700-plus people that would be at the Sioux City Convention Center to hear Raymond Arroyo," he said. "If that would be the case, we would love to have the general manager of Cable One be our guest at the dinner and let her make the announcement. We understand that this could take some time but we pray that we can get this done in Sioux City."

The local Cable One provider serves Sioux City and Sergeant Bluff in Iowa, Dakota Dunes and North Sioux City in South Dakota; and South Sioux City and Dakota City in Nebraska.

"We would hope that this comes to some fruition and that EWTN is placed back on the Cable One system in Sioux City, but at the same time we realize this is a business decision on Cable One's part," said Wharton. "We know there are thousands of Catholic households in Sioux City that would like to watch EWTN if they had the opportunity. They would like to see EWTN come back on the air on Cable One. We think there are sound business reasons why Cable One would put EWTN back on its local lineup."