Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen will have his own channel on SiriusXM, the satellite radio company announced yesterday.
The channel will feature call-in programs hosted by Osteen and his wife, Victoria, as well as rebroadcasts of his sermons. Sirius did not announce when the channel will go live.
Over 40,000 people attend Osteen's Lakewood Church services each week, and millions more watch his sermons on television stations across the world.
Osteen, 51, stated Monday that Sirius approached him about a radio channel five years ago, but the timing wasn't right.
"Five years ago we were still growing," he told the Associated Press. "I didn't think we could put the time and energy into it that we can now. We're much more established and have a bigger library. It feels really right now."
SiriusXM President Scott Greenstein said that Osteen's broad fan base adds a new listenership to the station.
"In the media business you tend to be New York- and L.A.-centric a little too much of the time, and there are a lot of things that are very important in the middle of the country," he told AP. SiriusXM has over 25 million subscribers worldwide.
Saturday, June 7, Sirius will live stream Osteen's "America's Night of Hope" at Yankee Stadium. The broadcast will not air live on television.
Pastor Osteen travels the country presenting "Night of Hope" events—church services that include praise and worship, prayer, and messages from Osteen, his mother, Dodie, and his wife. Tickets range from $15 to $30.
Lakewood Church was founded in 1959 by Osteen's father, John. Church services were held in a feed store, and there were 90 members. Today, the church is the largest in the country, and Osteen has a net worth of over $40 million. He receives no salary from the church, and provides for himself and his family through sales of his best-selling books.
