EWTN ends its shortwave radio service, which will shut down on October 31 after 34 years of broadcasting. The announcement was made on October 30 by the chairman and CEO of the Catholic network, Michael Warsaw, in an EWTN News statement. The decision affects WEWN, the station with which the network began its radio transmissions in 1992 and whose closure had recently been confirmed by the board of governors.
Warsaw explained that shortwave consumption has declined and that the operating costs of WEWN are high relative to the decreasing number of listeners. This is compounded by the condition of aging facilities that, he detailed, require major and costly repairs. Undertaking them would not be, in Warsaw’s words, a “prudent management of our resources.”
A key station in the origins of EWTN Radio
The executive recalled the historic role of the service. “It was shortwave that inspired and enabled the growth of EWTN Radio,” Warsaw stated, thanking the collaborators and benefactors who sustained the station for more than three decades. He also recalled the $26 million donation from Piet Derksen and his wife Trudy, which funded the construction of the WEWN facilities.
The network had already ceased shortwave broadcasts directly to North America in 2008. Since then, the English service primarily reached Africa and the Middle East, while the Spanish service targeted Latin America. EWTN Radio is now distributed on more than 600 AM and FM stations worldwide.
Content moves to digital and satellite channels
Warsaw presented the closure as part of a shift to other media: the network, he said, is moving away from shortwave toward “newer and more far-reaching distribution channels.” EWTN Radio content will continue to be available through digital platforms, internet streaming, mobile apps, podcasts, satellite, and the network of affiliated AM and FM stations.