Religious TV station to broaden audience through secular programs

"It will be family television, viewer-friendly and violence-free," said co-owner Cezary Michalski. "Religious programs will coincide with secular ones." According to the Public Opinion Polling Center (OBOP), Telewizja Niepokalanow, which has held a license since December 1994 but did not begin broadcasting until two years later, reaches 2.5% of population and has a viewership of 1%, but it plans to reach 50% of Poland's population in the future. Apart from broadcasts of holy masses from different regions of Poland, the TV will air talk shows, news, cartoons, films and concerts to attract a wider, and not necessarily Catholic, audience. "We are aiming at those viewers who are dissatisfied with public television, caught up in a commercial race with the private channels," said Michalski, who said his station will claim 6%-10% of the market within four years. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 31)