Forty-five years ago today, Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation launched the first broadcast of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) from a converted garage in Alabama. What began as a humble television venture would grow into the world’s largest Catholic media network.

With $200 and 12 nuns with no television experience, Mother Angelica turned the monastery garage into a television studio. EWTN received its Federal Communications Commission license on January 27, 1981, making it the first Catholic satellite television station in the United States.

Just a few months later, on Aug. 15, 1981, EWTN began broadcasting four hours a day to 60,000 homes.

The anniversary, Aug. 15, also marks the feast of the Assumption, a solemnity commemorating the end of the Virgin Mary’s earthly life and her assumption, body and soul, into heaven.

As EWTN commemorates 45 years of spreading the Eternal Word, here’s a look back at the work and progress of the organization that all started with the mission of one cloistered nun.

EWTN starts growing rapidly

In 1983, the network launched its flagship talk show, “Mother Angelica Live.” Despite innumerable challenges and millions in debt, the network grew, supported only by viewer contributions.

Around the same time, cable channels began to pick up EWTN. Within a short period, the network went from tens of thousands of homes to hundreds of thousands.

It quickly expanded from the original four hours of broadcasting to all day content. In 1987, programming expanded to a 24-hour daily schedule, reaching 10 million American subscribers.

EWTN branched out of television by launching a worldwide shortwave radio service in 1992. Its worldwide AM/FM radio services began just four years later.

Soon the network started establishing a global presence. In 1995, EWTN launched its first international television service for Latin America. That same year, the network provided live coverage of Pope Saint John Paul II’s visit to the U.S., in both English and Spanish, on television and radio.

By 1996 EWTN programming was also reaching Europe and the Pacific Rim, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, and the Philippines. A big year for the network, 1996 also marked when EWTN.com went live.

In 1998, EWTN launched satellite television service to Africa. By 2009, the network was reaching the extraordinary number of 150 million television homes.

The vast expansion marked an important transition from an American Catholic television network to an international Catholic media network, which would continue to grow in the years to come.

Expansion to print and digital media

Mother Angelicaʼs early series of small pamphlets and books eventually grew into electronic and print news services. In 2011, the network acquired The National Catholic Register, one of the countryʼs oldest Catholic newspapers.

The acquisition was part of a broader effort to expand EWTNʼs presence in Catholic journalism.

EWTN continued this effort when it launched “EWTN News Nightly” in 2013, a daily television news program from Washington, D.C. This was significant because it moved EWTN further into daily news production rather than religious programming and coverage of Church events.

In 2014, EWTN acquired Catholic News Agency as well as its Spanish-language sister agency, ACI Prensa. Today, EWTN News includes agencies covering global Catholic news in Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, French, English, and Arabic.

In 2026, EWTN News announced a rebrand and is currently in the process of bringing most of its news entities — print, digital, and broadcast — under the global brand of EWTN News.

EWTN moves forward

Forty-five years later, EWTN is now reaching more than 435 million television households across more than 160 countries and territories. The recently established EWTN Studios continues the EWTN legacy of developing the most impactful content in the Catholic space, and EWTN Digital is building the platforms to distribute EWTN Studios content to new generations.

EWTN Radio reaches a global audience through more than 500 domestic and international AM and FM radio affiliates, satellite radio, and digital streaming platforms.

EWTN Publishing publishes books in both print and electronic form to a worldwide audience and has now released around 100 books by renowned Catholic authors who have profoundly influenced the faithful.

Through live coverage, documentaries, and more, EWTN has covered four pontificates and numerous historic Church events and has shared the lives and faith of Catholics across the globe. It also reaches millions of online users through its social media including its presence on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

EWTN’s story began with a television network and continues to be guided by Mother Angelicaʼs vision of using modern technology to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and truths of the Catholic faith with millions around the world.