ATN ANNOUNCES 24/7 WORLD BROADCAST
By Brad Thorp, Executive Director
Adventist Television Network

ATN is very happy to announce satellite contracts have been concluded early in November 2002 which gives essentially full-time world-wide coverage for ATN broadcasts. Other contracts have been re-negotiated that provide a large expansion of current ATN broadcasts. Full time broadcast on these new satellites is expected to begin the first quarter of 2003.

Ever since we began satellite "Net" evangelism in 1995, we have dreamed of the day when we would have full time broadcasts to provide programming intended primarily for viewers in their home. With these contracts in place, a major step has been taken to reach this goal. We thank the Lord for His providential guidance and the support of the world church leaders and members for making this possible.

In the last several weeks we have concluded contracts for AMC 4 which covers all of North and Central America, and PAS 7 which covers virtually all the 10-40 window. We have concluded a contract for NSS 806 which gives us a much greater audience for our Latin American broadcasts from the ATN-ADSAT station in Brazil. With these satellites we are coving virtually all the world. Only portions of Australia and New Zealand and some of Oceana are not covered. ATN is actively planning to find full time coverage for these areas.

The importance of the 24/7 contracts for ATN are significant. Previously ATN was a church business network. Programming was sent from wherever special events were being conducted and primarily received in churches equipped with downlink antenna's and intended for a church audience. ATN will still continue broadcasting special events such as Net evangelism events and other special programs. But with these contracts ATN is transitioning to an "in home" target audience.

Satellite broadcast will now be a first step in programming distribution. We are inviting the world church to help us establish cable contracts, local terrestrial re-broadcast and any other effective way of placing the ATN programming into the homes of everyone possible.

Programming will be oriented for viewers in their homes. Previously broadcasts were occasional. Now they will be 24/7. Previously we carried very large number of language translations. In the future we will still provide extensive translation service but provide it in a slightly different way.

In planning our budget and inviting our world church members to partner with us, program planning will oriented to the 24/7 in home audience.

We are thrilled at the way God has guided and directed in helping us finalize these contracts. Satellite space which initially was unavailable has opened to us. Price and Terms of the contracts have been competitive and favorable. Over-all we have been able to finalize these contracts at a fraction of the cost of what we initially anticipated.

I am particularly thankful for those who have encouraged ATN in this direction. Elder Paulsen our General Conference President has encouraged ATN to develop in the direction of "in home" broadcasting. Ted Wilson, General Conference Vice President and Chairman of the ATN Operating Committee has strongly encouraged the development of 24/7 broadcasting. Robert Lemon, Treasurer of the General Conference and Steven Rose, Under Treasurer of the General Conference have guided and supported this initiative. I also appreciate our Operating Committee composed primarily of the Division Presidents who have given full support to this development. The programming distribution committee composed of Brad Thorp, Warren Judd, Williams Costa Jr, and Marcello Vallado has spent hundreds of hours working on these developments. I particularly appreciate the work of Marcello Vallado, the Satellite Operations Director for Adventist Media Productions who has led in the negotiations with the satellite companies. God has used Marcello in a very creative and effective way!

24/7 opens many new doors for ATN. For those of you who have wished for 24/7 ATN broadcasting we thank you for your prayers, your patience and encouragement We invite your continued prayerful support as we move ahead in the direction God has opened this opportunity.

Question and Answers:

QUESTION: What satellites have been contracted 24/7 by ATN?

ANSWER: The satellite contracts providing world coverage are the following:

First, AMC 4 (formerly called GE 4). This coverage footprint covers all of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The footprint includes Alaska, Newfoundland, Hawaii and even as far south as Colombia in South America.

ATN programming will be in Ku band and will allow any viewer to receive ATN programming with a small - one meter (39") dish. (Viewers on the edge of the footprint will want to use slightly larger dishes. Please see local installers for recommendations.) This is the same satellite used by 3ABN and also KSBN - SafeTV. (KSBN - Safe TV currently uses AMC 4 in C-Band.) Viewers will have the option to be able to receive ATN and 3ABN channels with the same dish.

Second, Pan America Satellite # 7 (PAS 7)

The PAS 7 footprint covers virtually all the 10-40 window. It covers all of Africa, Europe, most of Russia, all of central Asia, China, South East Asia, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Northern Australia and India. Even though Europe and most of the Pac Rim are covered by PAS 7, Europe and Pac Rim continue to receive ATN broadcasts as they have in the past. Europe will continue to have occasional broadcasts from NSS 7 and the Pac Rim will continue to receive from PAS 2.

ATN programming on PAS 7 will be in C-band. We recommend a minimum of a 2.3 meter dish with an extended range C-band LNB. The big advantage of using PAS 7 is the large area it covers. Also, PAS 7 has excellent coverage of western and central Russia. Viewers can receive ATN programming either by having their own receiving antenna dish, or arranging for ATN programming to be carried by local cable providers or re-broadcast on local terrestrial stations.

Third, New Skies Satellite # 806 (NSS 806)

The NSS 806 footprint covers all of South and Inter America and the western portions of North America (ignore the red colored section). The advantage of NSS 806 is that is a very popular cable neighborhood satellite for the Spanish language. Thousands of Spanish language cable networks receive their programming from this satellite. It is a newer satellite and has a strong signal. The ATN station in Brazil called ADSAT will be transitioning to this satellite over the next several months. No change in reception equipment currently used by churches in South and Inter America will be needed. The only change necessary will be to re-aim the antenna dish to the new satellite. Please follow the announcements for changes on the website: www.tvadsat.org.br/ .

ATN-ADSAT programming on NSS 806 will be in C-band. ATN will broadcast two separate channels - in Portuguese and Spanish. Viewers will be able to receive the programming with their own antenna dish, or by arranging for a local cable company to broadcast ADSAT over their cable network. One of the advantages of NSS 806 is that a spot beam sends programming also to Europe. This means that Spanish and Portuguese speaking individuals in Europe can receive the same programming as Latin America.

QUESTION: When will ATN begin 24/7 broadcasts?

ANSWER: Currently we are in the process of finalizing broadcasting and programming issues. We anticipate beginning full time broadcasts in the first quarter of 2003.

QUESTION: ATN has been an occasional broadcaster in the past. Doesn't it cost more money to go 24/7 and why are you going this direction now?

ANSWER: There are several parts to the answer. 1) the most effective way for us to accomplish our mission is to broadcast to homes. This has been our goal for a number of years. 2) Occasional space for the PAS 7 and PAS 10 footprints became unavailable to us. Unless we took a full time contract we would not be able to communicate with the sites in these areas. 3) Satellite space costs have dropped significantly. We believe it is providential that the cost of our 24/7 satellite contracts is approximately 60% of what it was 12 months ago. 4) Our capability for 24/7 broadcast is significantly improved from what it was several years ago. In 1995 when satellite evangelism began, only 670 churches were equipped with Satellite downlink reception equipment. Today over 14,000 churches are part of the ATN network plus thousands of homes. In 1995 we had only two media production centers. Today the ATN network has 7 professional media centers and scores of what we call "Mini Media Centers" that can provide programming materials.

QUESTION: ATN has provided up to 40 language translations in the past. Will there be any changes in the future with the 24/7 broadcasts?

ANSWER: We have the same capability as we have had in the past. However some technical adjustments will need to be made. It will largely depend on the requests and needs of the areas receiving the programming.

QUESTION: Will ATN continue to broadcast special events such as the "Net" satellite evangelism events?

ANSWER: Most definitely! The primary focus of ATN is providing special events of this type. To date, ATN has broadcast over 40 such events with hundreds of thousands giving their lives to Jesus in Baptism and we will continue to keep this as the central focus of our programming.

QUESTION: What are the plans for ATN programming?

ANSWER: We are in the process of finalizing our programming and will have more to announce on this in the near future. Some characteristics are that ATN is the official TV voice of the world Adventist Church. We represent the global church. We intend to represent the diversity of cultures and the rich heritage of the world church. ATN will feature the evangelistic ministries of the church. Naturally this involves persons that God is using, but the focus will not be on personalities but rather the ministries of the church. ATN will focus on evangelism and spiritual nurture. Our Mission is a spiritual mission to support the proclamation of the Three Angels Message of Revelation 14 and lead people to a deep personal relationship with Jesus and be prepared to meet Him when He comes again. The challenge is to present these truths in relevant and meaningful terms to secular societies.

Programming is our greatest challenge. We need your prayers, your suggestions and your financial support. The cost of 24/7 satellite time is small in comparison to the cost of programming. We invite you to prayerfully support ATN in every way possible.