‘Christopher Closeup’ to End Run on TV

“Christopher Closeup,” the television show sponsored by the organization that says it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness, will no longer be broadcast after the end of the summer.

“Christopher Closeup” enjoyed a 55-year run on TV – exceeded only by CBS’ evening newscast, NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Today,” and the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light.”

“It was a very difficult decision,” said a statement by Christophers president and CEO Dennis Heaney, the show’s host, “but given the evolving media landscape, we think it’s the right opportunity to focus our resources on emerging technologies like podcasts and webcasts, as well as reinforcing our presence on broadcast and satellite radio.”

In its heyday in the 1970s, “Christopher Closeup,” a syndicated half-hour public affairs program, reached 200-300 TV stations, including the ABC affiliate in New York City and five-days-a-week airings in Washington.

Today, it’s available in 166 countries through the Armed Forces Network, but its U.S. presence is limited to about 70 individual broadcast and satellite TV stations and cable outlets, according to Christophers spokesman David DiCerto.

Over thousands of installments, the show played host to politicians, celebrities, sports figures, journalists, scientists, social activists and Nobel Peace Prize winners. Among its guests were Elie Wiesel, Arthur Ashe, Ed Bradley, Dorothy Day, Pete Seeger, Charles Osgood, Hugh Downs, Jim Henson, Ralph Nader, Tim Russert, Cesar Chavez, Bob and Dolores Hope, Mike Wallace, Alex Haley, Ken Burns, Bill Moyers, Fred Rogers and Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille.

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