by Randall Murphree | AFA Journal Editor

While MTV and numerous other television cable companies continue to pump out offensive and indecent programming, an increasing number of alternatives offer classic and original family fare. Kathleen Johnson, programming vice president for Dominion Sky Angel, is among those working overtime to provide family-friendly television.

Johnson, a four-time Emmy winner in her earlier secular career, is excited about all of the positive programming available on Sky Angel – from news to drama, from kid’s programming to TVU (contemporary Christian music videos). Last year, about 14,000 teens called TVU and made commitments to Christ.

Now, Sky Angel has gone completely bananas – Bananas, that is, a stand-up comic series that joined the lineup this year. Produced by Guardian Television Network of Columbus, Ohio, Bananas is the first television series of its kind devoted to showcasing decent comedy – decent all the time.

Comedian Thor Ramsey hosts the one-hour show which features a new comedian each week. It is taped live at The Funny Bone Comedy Club in Columbus. "I don’t know if it’s harder to work clean or not," said Ramsey, but he’s committed to it. A member of Clean Comedians (www.cleancomedians.com), he relies on everyday situations as the context for his humor.

"I’m from Dakota City, Nebraska, a town of 1,500 people and 25,437 German shepherds," said Ramsey. "The dogs would bark all night. That’s why people leave small towns – they can’t sleep. What I don’t understand about small towns and dogs – it’s their dog, he’s in their yard, why can’t they hear him?"

Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide magazine, said, "I am so enthusiastic about Sky Angel. Sky Angel has taken Christian television to a new level." Sky Angel’s fall schedule includes some unscripted series, decent alternatives to the major networks’ sleazy "reality" genre.

The MTV milieu
Johnson has strong feelings about MTV and its kind, and she sees Sky Angel as today’s most viable alternative.

AFA President Tim Wildmon said, "When it comes to MTV, we couldn’t agree more. Sky Angel is about the best thing going for families who want something positive in their homes rather than programming like MTV produces."

Johnson believes consumers need to understand how MTV makes money. "MTV is supported by unsuspecting Christians who don’t know how the TV system works," she said. "Boycotting is only half the story." According to Johnson, viewers who have secular cable or satellite in their homes are helping finance and create MTV’s programming just as much as MTV’s advertisers are.

She explained the process to the AFA Journal: "A portion of any subscriber’s monthly payment to a secular or cable provider has to, by contract, go to the secular channels in your package. MTV gets approximately $1.00 from you or any of your readers that have secular cable/satellite subscriptions and MTV is supported 50% by those subscription fees."

The Angel antidote
Sky Angel defines itself as a company which wants to "encourage, edify and entertain families with Christ-honoring and wholesome family-oriented programming while unifying and equipping the body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission." It provides no-cost airtime to more than 300 ministry programmers that produce programs which are carried on its flagship channels, Angel One and KTV (Kids and Teens Television).

In addition to the flagship channels, Sky Angel gives free airtime to 34 other Christ-centered TV and radio networks that run 24 hours a day on Sky Angel. They include INSP, The Worship Network, and Gospel Music TV and American Family Radio.

Sky Angel’s unique, direct-to-home satellite service can be received almost anywhere in the continental U.S. with a small, affordable satellite dish. An $11.99 monthly fee (or $119.90 annually) delivers 36 TV and radio channels to the subscriber.

Both Sky Angel and Guardian executives say there is a growing demand for clean family programming, and they see a bright future for television entities like theirs. Guardian President Richard Schlig said, "Our mission [with Bananas] is to restore the ability of families to laugh and to see comedy in its purest form with a clean, safe atmosphere free of sexual innuendo and that sort of thing."

"Sky Angel is pleased to provide a national outlet for programs such as Bananas and family- friendly networks like Guardian," said CEO Robert Johnson. The Guardian-Angel team is a sure friend of the family.