SAT-7® Deploys Two Additional Satellite Channels, Dramatically Increasing Potential Viewership

Nicosia, Cyprus, October 6, 2009: As of October 1st, 2009, SAT-7 KIDS and SAT-7 ARABIC began broadcasting on the Atlantic Bird 4 (AB4) satellite, making these two channels available to millions of new viewers in the Arab world. SAT 7 ARABIC and SAT-7 KIDS will continue to broadcast simultaneously on the popular HotBird satellite system.

“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.

The AB4 satellite platform, like the HotBird platform, can be viewed by people living in nearly every country in the Middle East and North Africa. However, an important new development is that viewers in the region with satellite receiver dishes pointed only toward the popular Nilesat satellite can now easily tune their receivers to pick up SAT-7 on the AB4 satellite, which is co-located with Nilesat at 7 degrees West. Previously, viewers of SAT-7 Arabic Channels were required 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,” adds David Harder, Communications Manager for SAT-7. “Now viewers who can only afford one satellite dish, and have chosen to point it at Nilesat, will be able to easily 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 is urgently seeking new donations to fund this expansion onto the AB4 satellite, an opportunity that emerged suddenly, when previous restrictions on Christian channels were relaxed. Any donations given to SAT-7 for this project at this time may qualify to be quadrupled because of a special matching grant. For more information on how you can give, go to www.sat7usa.org.

Technical information: The new SAT-7 ARABIC and SAT-7 KIDS broadcasts are available on AB4-A at 7 degrees West, Txp 8, 11,355 MHz, Vertical. Also, please, note that the SAT-7 KIDS and SAT-7 PARS broadcasts on HotBird are changing frequency, moving to Txp 122, 10,949 MHz, Vertical. 

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Launched in 1996, SAT-7 is a Christian television service created by and for the People of the Middle East and North Africa with U.S. headquarters in Easton, Md. SAT-7 makes Christ's message of hope available to every home in the Middle East. Each week between 10-12 million people tune into the channels (Intermedia research, 2004 – 2006). Broadcast in three languages—Arabic, Farsi and Turkish—SAT-7 can be viewed via satellite in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, much of Central Asia and worldwide at www.SAT7.org. For more information about SAT-7 go to www.sat7usa.org (English), www.sat7.com (Arabic) and www.sat7PARS.com (Farsi).

CONTACT: 
SAT-7 USA 
(410) 770-9804 or (866) 744-7287
usa@sat7.org

Date: 11/4/2009 11:28:11 AM