FACT SHEET
HOPE
CHANNEL NOW ON THE HOTBIRD SATELLITE FOR EUROPE
February 1, 2004
Adventist Television Network (ATN) is happy to announce that Hope Channel is now being broadcast for Europe on Hotbird, operated by the Eutelsat Company. This is a major expansion of service for ATN, and makes Hope Channel easily available to any home across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and western Russia.
Broadcast testing for Hope Channel began in late December 2003, and is now fully operative. Hope Channel is being broadcast Free To Air (FTA) on Hotbird wide beam. Anyone equipped with a small dish pointed at the most popular orbital position in Europe and a digital receiver can receive Hope Channel. Hope Channel will also be easily available to any cable company for further distribution.
The following interview provides additional information for those interested in viewing Hope Channel on Hotbird.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HOTBIRD SATELLITE:
1. Q. What is the Eutelsat?
A. Eutelsat is one of the largest commercial satellite operators in the world. The starship of Eutelsat is the Hotbird satellite fleet, which provides more than 1400 television channels and 700 radio stations to 110 million homes connect to cable or equipped for direct-to-home reception.
A. For more information on Eutelsat go to: www.eutelsat.com.
B. For more information on Hotbird: www.eutelsat.com/satellites/13ehb6.html
QUESTIONS ABOUT ADVENTIST TELEVISION NETWORK BROADCASTING HOPE CHANNEL ON HOTBIRD:
2. Q. What is the significance of Hope Channel being broadcast on Hotbird?
A. There are several distinct reasons.
A. For the first time in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe, we have our own full time television channel easily available for anyone to watch. Hope Channel on Hotbird gives opportunity for anyone in Europe to watch and listen to Adventist programs and learn of our message. This is a major expansion in our mission to share the message of preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. This is a new paradigm for Adventism. Television is the most popular communication method of today and with this service, the Adventist Churches of Europe have available the international programs of the church and also use the service to broadcast productions developed by the church in Europe.
B. With the Hotbird service, the Hope Channel is now easily available to the entire potential viewing audience of all Hotbird subscribers. Current Hotbird subscribers can “scan” for the available channels and easily select Hope Channel.
C. For anyone who currently does not have Hotbird satellite reception equipment, the cost to purchase this equipment is inexpensive and the equipment is small and easy to install. The Hotbird satellite equipment is available for purchase in thousands of locations across the reception area. Adventist church members do not need to purchase large dishes or specialized equipment to receive Hope Channel, they only need to purchase and install the Hotbird system for their home or church.
D. Hope Channel is being broadcast Free To Air (FTA). Individuals with the Hotbird equipment do not have to subscribe to a package of other television channels on Hotbird to receive Hope Channel.
3. Q. Can a person receive any other channels or Adventist TV channels on Hotbird?
A. Yes, there are other Free To Air channels. There are also other packages of programming that you must pay a monthly subscription fee for. ATN encourages individuals to be careful in the selection of TV programs as some programs can be detrimental for spiritual growth. 3ABN also broadcasts on Hotbird and with your equipment you can also watch 3ABN if you wish. AWR is also available on the same satellite as the Hope Channel.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PRICES AND INSTALLATION:
4. Q. How much does it cost to purchase and install the Hotbird system?
A. Prices vary with the individual retail outlet and installer. Typically the price is very economical. Please shop around in your area to find the best prices.
5. Q. Is there a monthly fee to receive Hope Channel on the Hotbird service?
A. No. Hope Channel is available Free To Air. Once the Hotbird equipment is properly installed, you receive Hope Channel free.
6. Q. Is it possible to install the Hotbird equipment myself?
A. Yes. However we urge you to carefully prepare before making your own installation. It is usually best to have an experienced person make the installation.
7. Q. How can individuals who currently have Hotbird installed find the Hope Channel?
A. Using their Receiver remote control, go to the Installation menu and Scan for new channels (if needed, please see technical information below). The Hope Channel will appear as a new channel. Select Hope channel and you will begin to view the channel. Select Hope Channel as your favorite channel and it will be added to the list of your preferred channel options.
8. Q. How large should the antenna dish be for my location?
A. Please contact a local retailer and installer of Hotbird equipment in your area to find this answer. They will supply you with what you need for your location. On the edges of the coverage area footprint, a larger dish may be needed.
TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:
9. Q. What is the location of the Hotbird Satellite?
A. 13 degrees East
10. Q. What are the technical parameters?
A. Frequency: 12577 MHz (Horizontal); Symbol Rate: 27.500 Msps; FEC:3/4
LANGUAGE AND PROGRAMMING QUESTIONS:
11. Q. How many languages can ATN broadcast with the Hope Channel?
A. Two. English and occasionally, a second language. Hope Channel will always be English; Hope Channel 2 will occasionally carry a second language for specific programs. When ATN broadcasts a second language on Hope Channel 2 an announcement will be made at the beginning and possibly during the play out of the particular program.
12. Q. Why does ATN always broadcast English on audio channel one?
A. Hope Channel is intentionally designed for in home viewing. Previously the broadcasts of ATN were intended for church audiences in large locations, but Hope Channel is intended primarily for the “in home” audience. Our goal is to build a loyal audience world-wide. If ATN were to have different languages at different times, it would confuse the world-wide audience and minimize our viewing audience.
If ATN receives programming and requests for a second language for specific programs we will do our best to provide the requested language on audio channel two.
13. Q. With ATN now broadcasting the Hope Channel, how does this differ from what Adventist churches previously received with occasional broadcasts?
A. There are several differences:
A. Hope Channel is intended for an in-home audience with the goal of sharing the Bible message in an attractive way to someone who is open to spiritual values. In previous ATN broadcasts, the target audience was typically a large group located in one of our church facilities. We strongly encourage Adventist members throughout Europe to do everything possible to encourage their friends and neighbors to also watch Hope Channel.
B. Previous broadcasts by ATN typically featured one program. Hope Channel features many different programs throughout the day.
C. ATN is designing Hope Channel with a unique “look and feel” with the aim of fulfilling our over-all programming principles.
14. Q. Will ATN continue to occasionally broadcast programs with many languages?
A. Yes. In many of our churches in Europe we have very successfully installed and used a broadcast system that allows for many languages. This system is tuned to the NSS 7 satellite. We plan to continue to use this system for programs that require special organization such as a “Net” event, or for events that have a number of languages. If your church currently has a system installed that is tuned to NSS 7, please do not dismantle this system. It may be used in the future.
15. Q. Does ATN want church entities in Europe to produce programming for Hotbird?
A. Yes, by all means! Hope Channel is intended to be a window to the world for the Adventist Church. We want programming that will share our message in the European cultural context. We need each area of the European church to supply programming. However we want programming to be of high quality and to be consistent with ATN over-all programming principles and broadcast polices. We will only accept programming that fulfills these policies. Please go to www.adventist.tv and the document entitled: ATN Programming Principles and Broadcast Policies. Please carefully study this document and for new programming please fulfill the policy entitled “ATN New Programming Proposal Policy”.
16. Q. How will church entities in Europe broadcast on Hotbird?
A. Assuming the new production meets ATN Programming and Broadcast policies and is officially requested by the sponsoring church entity, please contact ATN at: AskATN@Adventist.TV We will supply you with the address of where to send programming and contact you to determine broadcast date information etc.
17. Q. What can individuals and churches do to encourage other people to watch Hope Channel?
A. Hope Channel is intentionally supplied to share the hope that is found in the Bible with as many people as possible. For this reason we want to encourage everyone possible to invite other people to watch Hope Channel. There are a number of ways:
A. Make personal invitations.
B. In your local church community, regularly share information about Hope Channel and encourage every home to get the equipment to watch the programs.
C. With your church prepare a brochure explaining Hope Channel and invite people to watch.
D. Include Hope Channel advertising with any service program or advertising your local church does to the community.
E. If your apartment building has a in-house cable TV system, ask your building house managers to add Hope Channel to the available channels that can be received.
F. If your apartment building does not have a Hotbird satellite dish, ask for permission to install a dish and connect the cable so that all the people in your building can receive Hope Channel.
G. Request your local cable TV company to add Hope Channel to the channels they distribute.
H. If your area has local re-broadcast possibilities, work to establish a local re-broadcast TV station that re-broadcasts Hope Channel in your area.
I. Make announcements in the local media about the availability of Hope Channel and the programs being broadcast.
J. Regularly advertise in your local newspaper about Hope Channel being available via Hotbird.
K. Continue to pray that God will use Hotbird in winning people for Jesus Christ.
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