Our History

SAT-7 is a Christian satellite television network, by and for the people of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). SAT-7 began broadcasting in 1996 with a two-hour-long weekly program in Arabic. Today, SAT-7 broadcasts 24/7 on four channels in the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish languages.

In response to the educational crisis in Syria, SAT-7 began producing the educational program My School in 2015. It was broadcast on SAT-7 KIDS, aiming to complement the educational efforts of the governments in countries hosting refugees and NGOs. According to audience research, over 1.3 million children in the MENA watched this program in 2016, with an estimated 1 million children watching at least once a week – most daily.

As a result of this positive response to My School, and a conviction to do more to address the wider educational and development needs of the region, the 24/7 satellite TV channel SAT-7 ACADEMY was launched on 1 September 2017. As part of this development, and to ensure best practice in all aspects of the resourcing and production of future educational and development programming for all SAT-7 channels, SAT-7 International established SAT-7 Education & Development in 2017.

Following a viewer survey carried out during the channel’s first year of being on air, SAT-7 ACADEMY moved from being a 24/7 satellite TV channel to becoming a “brand” for SAT-7’s educational and social development programming on 1 November 2018. The survey revealed that almost all SAT-7 ACADEMY viewers also watch the SAT-7 ARABIC and SAT-7 KIDS channels. This was encouraging news, but it indicated that SAT-7 ACADEMY could be more effective if merged within these channels. SAT-7 ACADEMY programming continues to be produced for our Arabic-speaking audiences.

The same viewer survey carried out in 2018, revealed a growing number of viewers for the program My School showing that over 1.5 million children in the MENA watch this program regularly. Of these young learners, 69 percent watch at least once a week. The research also highlights that 13 percent are watching online.