Hit series resonates with Middle Eastern viewers
As the latest season of The Chosen hit cinemas in the run-up to Easter, SAT-7 has been marking the impact of the show on our platforms following a visit to our Egypt studio by key project leaders and the actor who plays Little James in the series.
SAT-7 has acquired the first three seasons of The Chosen – which tells the story of Jesus’ life through the eyes of His disciples – and it was one of the most watched programmes on our streaming service SAT-7 PLUS in 2024. It is currently broadcasting on SAT-7 ARABIC and SAT-7 TÜRK, and is also being dubbed into Farsi for broadcast on our Persian channel, SAT-7 PARS.
To celebrate the impact of The Chosen in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and its airing on SAT-7, four key people from the international hit series – Executive Producer and President, Brad Pelo; Actor Jordan Ross, who plays Little James; and Stan Jantz and Larry Lundstrom of the Come and See Foundation, the organisation distributing The Chosen globally – were invited to SAT-7 Egypt for a studio tour and a series of special events in October.
Interviews with them about the show and its broadcast in the region where Christ lived were aired on SAT-7 ARABIC last month. Their visit highlighted the power of Gospel partnerships and emphasised the importance of people experiencing Jesus’ story in their mother tongue.
GOSPEL PARTNERSHIP
“We’re so excited to have The Chosen broadcast on SAT-7 because this is a message about Jesus who was raised in this very region,” Brad Pelo said. “He came to Egypt as a young boy. He lived out his life in this Middle Eastern region and His story has never been told like this. SAT-7 is such a wonderful broadcaster who allows us to bring this story to the Arab world.”
The Come and See Foundation is aiming to take The Chosen to one billion people worldwide, a feat that will require translation into 600 languages. SAT-7 has become an important broadcasting partner for The Chosen in the MENA. The programme’s first three seasons have already been dubbed into Turkish, classical Arabic, and the Egyptian, Syrian and Tunisian variants, with the Persian dub nearly complete. The first two seasons are currently available in Arabic on SAT-7 PLUS, and the programme is being well received by viewers in the region. “Thank you so much for the SAT-7 app. I’ve been really enjoying watching The Chosen,” Emily, a teenage girl from Lebanon, told us.
“The goal for The Chosen is to speak to a lot of people so they may see who Jesus was and that He was someone people followed… He’s just as real today as He was then. So our goal is that everybody has the chance to see that, and SAT-7 is helping us to do that very thing,” said Stan Jantz. After their SAT-7 studio tour, the group attended a special awards ceremony organised by SAT-7 Egypt in cooperation with the Catholic Center for Cinema. Next was a meeting with Pope Tawadros, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
CONNECTING WITH VIEWERS
The visit had also been timed to coincide with Count It Right, an annual Christian festival held outside Cairo, which is attended by thousands of people and broadcast by SAT-7 ARABIC.
SAT-7 had a booth at the festival, where episodes of The Chosen were shown and people could download the free SAT-7 PLUS app to watch further content. Jordan Ross was moved to see so many people encountering the story of Jesus in their own language.
“I continue to be blessed and blown away by the response and how far it’s reaching into every corner of the world. And that experience has just continued in my time in Egypt, seeing how the show has resonated with people here,” he said. “Seeing the audience watch it in their own language was really moving because they’re able to connect with it on an even deeper level.”
“One thing that really touches me is when children are excited to meet Little James. As a child, I didn’t have someone to look up to on screen that shared my struggle,” he said. “You are revealing parts of yourself that you aren’t always confident in showing the world and the more we have the courage to do that, the more it helps others have the courage to be vulnerable and to show those parts of themselves as well.”