In the past, I didn’t believe in God, but recently I was baptized. My mother-in-law is not a Christian but supported me in becoming a Christian. We were both watching your channel when you invited us for a prayer. And she lifted up her hands and prayed with you. I was very surprised and impressed. You are making really good and effective programs. The Lord works in places you cannot always see."
— Viewer in Türkiye
The new on-demand streaming service SAT-7 PLUS is thriving, nine months after it launched as the first Christian platform of its kind in the Middle East. Encouragingly, the platform’s most-watched program is As in Heaven, a new Arabic worship program created especially for the digital audience.
“The steady growth in SAT-7 PLUS’ first year is very positive,” says Antoine Karam, Broadcast and IT Director. The streaming service is well on track to exceed its first-year target of 25,000 unique users, if current trends continue. For a completely new platform in the competitive television streaming services market, explains Karam, this is good news.
“Of course, if we reach even one person with the message of God’s love for them, we can give thanks,” he says. “But from the number of viewers watching, and the type of content they are watching the most, we know that this new platform is beginning to make a wide impact.”
SAT-7 PLUS allows viewers to stream every SAT-7 channel live as well as to watch programs for all ages in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish on demand. As in Heaven, the most-streamed program, has been watched in whole or in part more than 9,000 times.
The program’s format is simple: church leaders guide viewers to pray with them through the words of the Bible. “We try to help viewers focus on the Lord; His words, His promises and the truth of His Word in our hands, even if we hear news that cause us to doubt or be anxious,” explains Egypt-based producer Andrew Gamal. “The program is making a difference because we are living through difficult times. The most common comment we receive from people is that the program should be longer, because they want to pray with us more.”
“Please keep praying for SAT-7 PLUS, which is part of the exciting new digital branch of our ministry,” says Jan Ørskov, Chief Operations Officer. “More viewers than ever have an unprecedented opportunity, through our video-on-demand platform, to watch our content and experience God’s love and care.”
CREATED IN THE MENA REGION
SAT-7 develops programming that specifically addresses the unique cultural backgrounds and languages of viewers.
I watch all of your live shows. Sometimes I watch for 4-5 hours a day. I owe the changes in my life to SAT‑7’s programs; I don’t have any other source, as I have no Christian friends and no Bible."