EWTN to end shortwave radio operations after 34 years

EWTN Global Catholic Network (EWTN) will cease the operation of its long-running shortwave radio service this month, EWTN Chairman of the Board and CEO Michael Warsaw announced on Oct. 30.

The shortwave service, which has operated under the call sign WEWN since its launch in 1992, will shut down on Oct. 31. EWTN’s board of governors recently confirmed the decision.

Warsaw pointed to the decline of shortwave radio consumption as one of the driving factors leading to the station’s closure. A widely used media source in the 20th century, shortwave’s popularity has decreased in the 21st century amid the rapid global uptake in streaming and digital platforms.

Operating costs at the WEWN network have been high relative to the declining number of shortwave listeners, Warsaw said, and the aging facility was in need of significant and expensive repairs, which he said would not be a “prudent stewardship of our resources.”

“As we shift the use of shortwave to newer and more far-reaching distribution channels, we remain grateful for the co-workers and benefactors who sustained the service for so long,” he said.

Among them, Warsaw recalled the late Dutch Catholic entrepreneur Piet…