More Middle Eastern viewers than ever before can now watch SAT-7’s Christian television channels on the go thanks to new iOS apps released in January for Apple iPhones. The new apps come fast on the heels of similar ones launched in August 2013 for Android phones.
SAT-7’s four main channels – SAT-7 ARABIC, KIDS, PARS (for Farsi speakers) and TÜRK – along with a new channel for Arabic speakers in North America can all be downloaded free to viewers’ smartphones. The easy-to-use apps offer live streaming of the current programme, display the two most recently uploaded programmes or clips, and give access to each channels’ full library of videos uploaded via YouTube. All of the applications are now available to users anywhere through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
SAT-7 Operations Director, Andrew Hart, who oversaw the apps’ development, said, “This will give our viewers even more flexibility to enjoy and select our programmes when and where they watch them.”
SAT-7 viewers seem to agree. “I recommend it – a beautiful application”, said Seyfi in his 5-star review of the SAT-7 TÜRK Android app.
And within four weeks of their launch the new iOS apps are being used by 500 people a week.
“The vast majority of SAT-7 viewers are on satellite and will be for a time to come,” Andrew Hart said. “There’s huge television access and it’s a very cheap form of entertainment. But the way people watch TV is changing dramatically.
“Increasingly, as in the West, viewers in North Africa and the Middle East will supplement their TV viewing by watching programmes of their choice, where and when they want and on a device of their choosing.”
By staying abreast of new media technologies, SAT-7 aims to reach fresh audiences and continue to provide high quality Christian programming to as many people in the Middle East region as possible.