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Islamic TV Station From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International (MTA), a globally-broadcasting, nonprofit satellite television network and a division of Al-Shirkatul Islamiyyah,[1] was established in 1994[2] and launched the world's first Islamic TV channel to broadcast globally.[citation needed] It serves as the official media outlet for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, based in Islamabad, Tilford and funded entirely from donations by the members of the community. The network operates ten 24-hour channels for different regions of the world, including terrestrial TV as well as satellite television.[3]
Type | Non-profit |
---|---|
Country | International |
Availability | Worldwide |
Motto | Reaching the Corners of the Earth |
Headquarters | Baitul Futuh Studios |
Owner | Al-Shirkatul Islamiyyah |
Launch date | January 7, 1994 |
Official website | mta |
The idea of a medium for the live broadcasting of media in the Ahmadiyya community takes its root in March 1989 when the community in Mauritius, followed by the community in Germany would dial the Fazl Mosque in London to listen to the caliph's Friday sermon over a telephone call. The sermon would be listened on loudspeakers of the mosques in the respective countries. This encouraged the communities of other countries to also dial in every Friday, overwhelming phone lines.[4]
This led to the inception of Ahmadiyya Muslim Presentation (AMP) in January 1992 which would broadcast the weekly Friday sermons, and in 1993, the first Jalsa Salana to be broadcast live.[4] This became the first TV channel run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community as well as the first TV channel to broadcast Islamic programmes globally. Initially, the studio and video library shared a 10 by 10 ft (3.0 by 3.0 m) room in the Mahmood Hall of Fazl Mosque equipped with a single video camera and "few ordinary flood lights". The programming for AMP gradually increased until 7 January 1994, when AMP was rebranded to MTA and increased its daily broadcasting hours from four to 12 hours, and in April 1996, to 24 hours.[5]
On 23rd of March 2007. MTA 3 Al-Arabiya was launched, which was an entirely Arabic channel, primarily for viewers of the Middle East.[6]
On 1 August 2016, MTA Africa 1 and 2 were inaugurated by Mirza Masroor Ahmad,[7][5] broadcasting programmes in African languages as well as programmes from MTA 1.[5] In September 2024, MTA Africa became a member of the African Union of Broadcasting after having applied in 2022.[8]
From 27 May 2020, known as Khilafat Day for Ahmadis, MTA rearranged its channels according to regions and introduced new channels. These new channels were formerly MTA1 broadcasting on different satellites, converted to cater viewers of specific regions by broadcasting programmes in specific languages for each region. MTA 1 on Galaxy 19 became MTA8 HD AMERICA with programmes in Urdu, English, French and Spanish.[9]
Channels | Satellite(s) | Formerly | Region |
---|---|---|---|
MTA1 World | Astra 2G
Hipasat 30W-5 |
MTA1 | Americas (excluding Brazil & Canada) |
MTA2HD Europe | Hotbird 13C (HD) | MTA2 | Europe |
MTA3 العربية | Eutelsat 7 West A
Galaxy 19 (HD) |
MTA3 | Europe |
MTA4 Africa | SES-5 | MTA Africa 1 | Sub-Saharan Africa |
MTA5 Africa | Astra 2F | MTA Africa 2 | West Africa |
MTA6 Asia | AsiaSat 7 | MTA1 | Asia |
MTA7HD Asia | Eutelsat 70B (HD) | Europe | |
MTA8HD America | Galaxy 19 (HD) | North America | |
MTA8HD America + 3 | MTA 1+3 |
MTA runs 10 channels 24/7:
MTA Africa-based content is typically produced in the various African studios, such as the Wahab Adam Studios, based in Ghana.[11][12] There are 4 African channels as part of the MTA International network:
The majority of its workers are volunteers with just a small percentage of paid full-time staff. Out of the 300 staff members that work in MTA's London offices, 90% are volunteers who dedicate their time to assist in the running of the network.[11]
MTA has introduced a number of apps for the benefit of their viewers across a variety of platforms on all devices such as TV, Phone, Tablets, Desktops etc. The network also makes use of social media to live stream their channels on websites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as YouTube to broadcast all four channels, live.
In addition, as MTA International operates globally and in many different countries, many countries (where Ahmadiyya may have a significant or even minor presence) have their own official MTA YouTube channel for their specific region or language, which allows them to stream regional events that may not be broadcast on MTA but may be streamed on YouTube such as Jalsa Salana Canada was streamed on the YouTube channel MTA Canada, as well as this, it allows specific countries to stream live translations for key programmes such as the Friday Sermon.
There are also applications for mobile and personal devices on a variety of platform such as Roku TV, Apple TV, Android and iOS. On 2 August (at Jalsa Salana UK 2019), a range of MTA applications were launched for Smart TV brands such as Samsung, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Panasonic, LG, Sony and Philips.
In most countries throughout the world in which there is a presence of the Ahmadiyya Community there is often a national MTA Studio. For example, MTA International USA Studios,[18] MTA International Canada Studios,[19] MTA International German Studios,[20][21] MTA International Nigeria Studios,[21] MTA International Ghana Studios, MTA International UK Studios etc. The primary and main MTA Studios is based in London, MTA International Studios.[22]
The headquarters and UK studios of MTA International were located at Fazl Mosque, London when it was launched and are now located inside two larger studios built within the site of the Baitul Futuh Mosque Complex in South London, United Kingdom.
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