Christian Norwegian daily starts TV channel

TVL wants, among other programs, to be a regular show on Wednesdays with an organist. Vårt Land debate leader Dana Wanounou will be hosting a debating programme. According to Gjøsund, there will also be a weekend talk show where priests “help us summarise the week”.

There also might be a little hand-laying on TVL, says Gjøsund to Vårt Land. “I can not promise that it never happens, for example, in a report, but this will not be the channel that promotes easy cures.”

People who expect a channel with “Canaanite language, Christian vocabulary and preaching” will be disappointed, says Gjøsund. “This will be a channel for thinking, reflective Christians, but also for Christians who want good entertainment.”

For this statement, Gjøsund received some critical feedback. This writes the Christian weekly newspaper Norge Idag. The TVL editor-in-chief said in a reaction that ‘thinking and reflecting Christians’ could be perceived as stigmatising others. “I certainly did not mean that and would like to apologise for saying this in a way that gave that impression. When I said this, I was referring to our own content, namely that we have a number of documentaries of a historical and ideological nature - the other channels do not. I also believe that most Christians see themselves as thinking and reflecting, and I certainly believe that there are programs for thinking and reflecting people on the other channels.”

Bold

Vart Land steps in a new market that already has some Christian TV organisations. Kanal 10, Visjon Norge and Bedehuskanalen are Norwegian, Christian TV channels that already exist. In addition, the Icelandic Gospel Channel, British Good TV and the Dutch streaming service New Faith Network are also available in Norway. In an interview with Vart Land, editor-in-chief Alf Gjøsund said that “the further the project progressed, the more I have realised how crazy we were when we started it.” According to Gjøsund, however, it is too late to regret. “But to promise a channel of NRK (Norwegian’s national broadcaster, ed.) quality with a start-up capital of only six million kroner (around six hundred thousand euros, ed.), was bold.”