SAT-7 KIDS and SAT-7 ARABIC launched on the AB4 satellite on October 1, bringing their programmes to millions of new viewers in the Arab world.
The opportunity to broadcast on the AB4 satellite emerged suddenly when previous restrictions on Christian channels were relaxed.
SAT-7 KIDS and SAT-7 ARABIC are already broadcast on the popular HotBird satellite system, which like the AB4 satellite is able to broadcast in nearly every country in the Middle East and North Africa.
"We're very excited about being able to broadcast on this second satellite. It is something we've been hoping to do for years," says Terence Ascott, SAT-7 CEO.
"By broadcasting on the AB4 satellite we have, overnight, more than doubled the potential SAT-7 audience and many new viewers have already called to express their delight at finding us for the first time."
While the AB4 and HotBird satellites cover the same regions, the AB4 satellite makes it possible for viewers in the region with their satellite dishes pointed only towards the Nilesat satellite to now tune into the SAT-7 channels - the AB4 and Nilesat satellites are both located at 7 degrees west.
Until now, viewers of SAT-7's Arabic channels needed to have a second dish aimed at the HotBird satellites.
"We've just made it easier for many viewers in the Arab world to find SAT-7's Arabic channels," said a SAT-7 spokesperson.
"Now viewers who can only afford one satellite dish, and have chosen to point it at Nilesat, will easily be able to view SAT-7.
"We have many stories from people who have been flipping through channels and accidently found SAT-7—just at the right moment when we were broadcasting something they needed to hear—and God used it to touch and change their lives!
"We know that many more people, possibly tens of millions of people, will now be able to find and view SAT-7's broadcasts because we have started broadcasting on the AB4 satellite."
SAT-7 has issued an urgent appeal for new donations to fund the expansion onto the AB4 satellite. Any donations given to SAT-7 for the project may qualify to be quadrupled because of a special matching grant.
On the web: www.sat7.org
