I watched through the EWTN coverage of the the Holy Father’s Chrism Mass and I have some observations.
It could be that the comments of Sandro Magister (and perhaps even on this humble blog) had a bit of an effect. The camera wandered less, for example, and stuck to the main focus of the action far better. Also, the English language feed from Vatican radio was less chatty. As a matter of fact, for the most part they maintained silence, thanks be to God, even when the Holy Father was praying in Latin.
I watched the coverage on EWTN too, and listened on CTV. I thought they did a much better job. I thought the liturgy was beautiful too. Countdown: 25 minutes until next live papal event!
I had emailed EWTN following one televised Mass telling them that all through some of the most beautiful moments of chant, polyphony or silence, they resorted to talking.
The response I got back from them was that they had to be considerate of radio listeners who are not seeing anything. This is somewhat understandable, but there must be a better way.
I haven’t seen any videos yet, as I was present at the Triduum liturgies in Rome and travelling during the Chrism Mass, but I do think it likely that EWTN took notice of the comments written here. During chanting and any Latin in the ceremonies, the radio listeners need no commentary. I love EWTN for covering these events: without that station I would see nothing [and being there doesn’t give one a great advantage visually – but I would recommend getting there if you can], but keep the commentary to a minimum, please!