Interfaith TV Network Expands Its Programming, Includes Southland

An interfaith television network, which started offering cable companies an alternative to evangelical-fundamentalist programming last September, expanded to a fuller schedule this week amid other signs of growth.

VISN, an acronym for Vision Interfaith Satellite Network, became available for the first time this week in the Greater Los Angeles area--through cable franchises in the eastern San Fernando Valley and southern Orange County. It also is seen in Oxnard.

And signaling strong Roman Catholic interest in the nationwide venture, Ed Warren, a former syndication programming executive with Viacom and Columbia Pictures Television, was hired as a key decision-maker on which Catholic shows will be selected and developed for VISN. Warren started work in Los Angeles this week.

Widely Representative

The coalition of 21 faith groups is counting on its broadly representative support and resources--from Protestant, Catholic, Mormon and Jewish TV production units--to be an inviting choice for cable operators fed up with heavy-handed TV preachers.

It doesn’t hurt that VISN also has guidelines against proselytizing, criticizing other religions and soliciting donations.

“I think people are at a point where they won’t sit still for a half hour of appeals for money,” said Jeff Weber, programming vice president for the nonprofit organization based in New York.

Weber described the current 15 1/2 hours of weekday programming (up from 5 hours) and 18 hours of weekend shows (up from 12 hours) as “a rich mix of entertainment, music, drama, worship and public affairs” for people “interested in mainstream religious and values-oriented telecasting.”

No Setbacks Expected

“All signs are very positive that we are going to be here for the long haul,” Weber said.

He doubted that VISN would face the kind of setbacks suffered by a 5-year-old satellite television network run by the Southern Baptists, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

The Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission, which at one point spent $600,000 more on fund-raising efforts than it received, recently has been trying to sell ACTS (American Christian Television System), which is $8 million in debt. But a group of San Antonio investors failed last month to meet financial requirements, prompting ACTS to cut its Fort Worth-based staff by 20%.

Although it has some programs produced by other denominations, ACTS has a largely Southern Baptist-oriented fare, including two hours of live call-in counseling five days a week. It currently has a 24-hour schedule and its programs can be seen in 9 million households, said Dick McCartney, ACTS executive director.

Costly Operation

VISN may yet encounter difficulties, McCartney said. “Given the cost of providing 24 hours service and the necessary people and promotion, it will be an awfully uphill battle to make it and keep cable companies interested,” he said in a telephone interview.

However, VISN’s Weber said, “We are gaining support within the cable industry because the companies understand that we are broadly representative.”

Another important difference is that VISN is selling its service to companies for 3 cents per subscriber.

“For religious programming that is absolutely novel,” said Bill Airy of Albuquerque, N.M., VISN director of affiliate relations. ACTS offers its programs free and some networks, such as Trinity Broadcasting Network, based in Tustin, pay cable companies to carry the programs, Airy said.

9 Million by December

According to an internal projection, VISN officials expect to be available in 3.5 million households this month and in 9 million by December--equal to ACTS’ present total.

Dimension Cable, a southern Orange County cable operator and a subsidiary of Times Mirror Co., added VISN this week to the same channel that had been used exclusively by TBN. Dimension, which has 100,000 customers, made the move despite its survey of 450 subscribers indicating that if programming were added, they were the least interested in religious programs of any kind, according to a company official.

VISN likewise began Monday for 50,000 customers of United Cable in eastern San Fernando Valley, but it will share a channel with Prime Ticket, according to Bill Cullen, president. VISN, which begins at 7:30 a.m. (PDT) on weekdays and 5 a.m. (PDT) on Saturday and Sunday, yields to Prime Ticket in the evening hours.

Variety of Subjects

The programming includes “All in Good Faith,” a British comedy series about an Anglican vicar who moves his family to a demanding urban parish; “The Long Search,” a Time/Life documentary that explores various faiths; “Hard Decisions,” an ecumenically produced series examining business, medical and legal ethical questions; “Faces on Faith,” interviews with religious figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Daniel Berrigan and Harvey Cox; “magazine”-format shows produced by the United Methodist Church, the Seventh-day Adventists and the Council of Jewish Federations, and old movies accompanied by discussions of issues they raise.

Two syndicated religious dramas already seen on broadcast channels--the Paulist Productions’ “Insight” and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s “This Is the Life”--also show up on the schedule.

Catholic Links

VISN appeared to be spurned last June by the U.S. Catholic Bishops, who voted to channel their officially sponsored programs exclusively to Mother Angelica’s independent Eternal Word Television Network based in Birmingham, Ala. In doing so, the bishops voted down a proposal to negotiate for participation in VISN.

However, the leading producers of Catholic TV programs formed an independent group to offer their services to VISN.

“Officials of the U.S. Catholic Conference in Washington have privately assured us they are in favor of our effort,” said Father Anthony Scannell, president of the Franciscan Communications Center in Los Angeles and a board member of Catholic VISN Producers. Scannell said the newly formed group may produce investigative and daring “frontier” programs that they would not otherwise be able to do if they were under the direction of the bishops.

Broadcasting Veteran

To select the best of existing Catholic productions and develop new shows, the producers group enlisted broadcasting veteran Warren, 63, a member of St. Jude’s parish in Westlake Village who studied in Catholic colleges and once headed the communications department at St. Mary’s College at South Bend, Ind.

“I took the job because (VISN’s) need coincides with my own personal philosophy and my desire to use my experience,” Warren said in his freshly painted, but decidedly unpretentious office at the Franciscan center in Los Angeles’ garment district.

Warren said he was interested in more than religious programs. “I’d like to see human interest programs and ways to show how Catholics have contributed to history and culture as well,” he said.

After heading programming departments at major stations and network offices in New York, including six years with ABC, Warren directed TV syndication for Viacom and Columbia until the mid-1980s when he went into consulting work.

Scannell, in praising Warren, said: “I’m not aware of anyone else in VISN who has someone of this caliber in charge of programming.”

Of VISN, Scannell said: “It’s the most hopeful thing on the horizon because of the diminishing free time for religious programs on broadcast stations and the rising costs of buying time.”