The channels, they are a-changin'

My life is extremely crazy right now, so pardon me for going off on a Sky Angel tangent again. In the midst of incredible turmoil, it makes sense to me to write about something unrelated to the turmoil, like Sky Angel. As you may know, Sky Angel has added 4 channels in the last couple of months. A few channels, of course, had to drop out of the mix to make this possible, so let's first say our goodbyes. I want to first say goodbye to Fe TV, which provided great ministry in Spanish. Even though I took four years of it in high school, I still couldn't understand much that they were saying. Goodbye as well to the Inspirational Network and the Daystar Television Network, both TBN lookalikes. You two are not missed that much because your programming is still on other channels. Daystar does have the award winning talk show "Joni," which I enjoyed watching from time to time. There might be another channel that's gone, but I'm not remembering it right now.

Enter the family/general interest channels. These have been a little controversial for some Sky Angel subscribers. They are Fox News Channel, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, and Hallmark Movie Channel. These are not Christian TV stations, nor does Sky Angel have the ability to edit any of their material. Watch at your own risk, which is a new concept to SA viewers. They are used to being able to flip to any channel, knowing that the content is safe for the whole family.

Here's my take. The content is never going to always be "safe for the whole family", because there will always be things, even on Christian television, that you would not want your children to watch and things that you don't want to see either. This might be some kind of moral objection, or it could be that the quality is so poor that you don't want your kids to think that bad quality TV is okay. Television is a very powerful and addictive medium, no matter what the content. No, I don't like the fact that the 2 Hallmark Channels bring the occasional cuss or violent scene. And I don't like flipping the channel because Fox News is broadcasting inappropriate images or showing a questionable commercial. BUT WAIT! The benefits of these channels, both in informational and entertainment value, far outweigh the junk. It will also teach parents to watch television with their kids and be more aware of what they watch. Plus, their are controls on the remote to block channels as well. For $12-$15 a month (depending on how you pay) this is one heck of a deal. There is almost always something on worth watching, and you're not stuck in your little Christian bubble either. Hats off to Sky Angel for having the courage to lose a few subscribers to enrich their programming.