Christian satellite television and digital media network SAT-7 has celebrated 25 years of broadcasting across the Middle East and North Africa.
Its first transmission was a two-hour programme on 31 May 1996, modest but significant in that it was the first time that Christians from the region had shared their faith publicly on TV. Now, 25 years later, SAT-7 airs four channels in the three main languages of the Middle East and is watched by over 25 million people.
Rita El-Mounayer, now SAT-7’s International CEO, appeared on that initial broadcast. ‘When I look back to the early days,’ she says, ‘I can see a clear line through all of this history: God’s blessing; His faithfulness; how He has enabled us to be used as a voice for and to the people of the region; to be the trusted platform for the church; and to be able to respond with His hope and His word in all the times of deepening crisis this region has seen.’
A book by SAT-7’s founder, Dr Terence Ascott, telling the story of the ministry, is published this month to celebrate the anniversary. Dare to Believe! Stories of Faith from the Middle East relates how he followed Christ through civil wars and unrest, deportation, and other dangers, as he sought to use TV effectively in support of the life, work and witness of the church in the region.
As SAT-7 looks towards the next 25 years, it seeks to meet the changing needs of viewers and to take advantage of emerging new technologies. In 2020 its Persian channel launched on Yahsat, the fastest growing satellite network in the Persian world and this year it launched SAT-7 PLUS, the first Christian video-on-demand service in the Middle East and North Africa.
‘We are no longer just a “Christian satellite television ministry”,’ says El-Mounayer. ‘We are now a Christian multi-platform media ministry, evolving to meet our viewers’ needs in a digital world. And those needs continue to be huge – from the shores of North Africa to Yemen and Afghanistan and everywhere in between.’
