What would be needed is an atheist in the big business media world to see an opportunity to fill a need. That has yet to happen, not that it cant. There are certainly atheists in the billionaire club who could front the money, but there may still be a fear of public backlash from the main stream.

However, the playing field is slowly changing and there are plenty of podcasts and Youtube Videos and atheist websites and organizations that are paving the way. I see more and more stories of atheist billboards and atheist activists and atheist books. Hitchens/Harris/ Dawkins have all been on John Stewart and Cobert.

It is not a matter of will a network for freethinkers exist, but when. We have momentum on our side.

You cant take this moment in the atheist movement's history and think, "Why".

Many new to being online connecting to other atheists may not know how much different it is now than it was 9 years ago, when I first got on line.

Atheist back then were even more demonized and marginalized as the fringe of society. And my activism started because of the RARE openness of an atheist Nurse who wrote an opinion about 9/11 that made it as an AP article that went national. It was about how atheists were being left out of the mourning process. That type of article was rare for that time. Atheists were not talked about frequently and when they were, it was the stereotypical crap sold to society at the time.

My point is in the 9 years of activism there has been an explosion of open atheists that cannot be stopped now. I don't think we have to fear not having our own satellite channel right now. There is so much out there that the public is taking in and is doing great things to allow other atheists to feel comfortable in being open. Things have been, and are changing for the better. I know where we were 9 years ago, and where we are now.

I cant go one day now without finding a new news story on the net regarding atheists somewhere in the world. I see atheists all over the country posting comments on local tv and newspaper websites. A network for atheists would be nice, but there is also a lot already out there that is just as potent as a tv channel.

In short, things are looking better and better every day. Crap, I just found a Humanist group where I live and I live in a historically religious part of the states. If you had told me such a group would exist where I live, 9 years ago, I would have looked at you like you were nuts.

We are doing good as atheists and our voice is growing every day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/12/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation

There are bound to be some valid criticisms of what NGOs like this do, but at least they are stopping religious organisations from filling those holes with their poisonous juices.