TV Mass remains: Diocese loses Sunday television timeslot

As of that date, the half-hour show, produced by the Media Office of the Diocese in collaboration with the New York State Catholic Conference and Catholic Charities, will no longer be shown by WTEN-10, the local ABC network affiliate. ("Table of the Lord," the Sunday Mass, is not affected by this change.)

Katherine Malle, director of the Media Office, was recently notified by the station that it could no longer give free community service airtime to the Diocese, which has been running programs on Sunday mornings since 1988. According to Ms. Malle, WTEN had reached an agreement with Harvest Church of Clifton Park, which is willing to pay for the airtime.

"From a business perspective," Ms. Malle told The Evangelist, "we do understand, and we are very appreciative that WTEN has given us this community service air time for so long."

She also said that the station offered to make the airtime available to the Diocese for a yearly rate of $26,000. The Diocese declined due to lack of available funding.

The Diocese had used the time slot for a variety of public service programming:

* On the first Sunday of every month, "Catholic Charities at Work," hosted by Sister Maureen Joyce, RSM, executive director of Catholic Charities, offered an overview of people involved in the many agencies of Charities.

* During the middle of the month, "Capitol Compass" was presented. Sponsored by the Catholic Conference in collaboration with the Media Office, the political talk show informed viewers about the legislative process and public policy issues before the State Legislature.

* "Christopher Close-Up," a nationally syndicated program produced by the Christophers, aired at various times of the month in the Sunday morning slot. According to Ms. Malle, it was one of the most popular programs in the venue.

"Even though 6:30 seems like an early hour," said Ms. Malle, "many people have told me that they tape the show and watch it at a later time. For the Diocese, it really was a wonderful time to air these programs."

She has been discussing the possibility of community service airtime with other local stations. Even though "Catholic Charities at Work" and "Capitol Compass" will still be available through the Time Warner Cable, Ms. Malle hopes to find a new over-the-air home for the programs.

"Even though we may be able to work something out, it is possible that some of these programs will not be seen until September 2001," she said. The reason is that most of the time slots have already been filled for the new fall season.

(Viewers who wish to continue watching the two programs should check their local cable listings for time and dates.)

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