2014 - AOTV Ministry Report

2014 in review

Looking back at 2014, we are thankful for completing a transitional year. We already see 2015 as marking a new season of ministry, but many seeds were planted last year.

2014 brought unprecedented growth, yet we have also faced new challenges, as we navigate uncharted waters in media, technologically and spiritually. At the same time, we are positioned in an increasingly complex geopolitical context, affecting our region.

We are thankful to God for helping us continue doing ministry through media in S-E Europe, and to all our partners that stood beside us during 20 years of activity.

2014 stats TV Channel ratings (compared to 2013) - Market share growth: 69% from 2013; - Urban market share growth in 2014: 60% -  In “must-carry” list since 2010 Website – 5000+ pages: articles, videos, other resources. Visitors increased by 6% from 2013 (210000 unique IPs). Top 3 interests: 51% videos and live TV, 8% news and reports, 7% spiritual life articles Facebook fan base increased organically by 66% in 2014. Youtube - 1.6 million views in 2014 (75% increase from 2013); 2600+ videos published on Youtube by the end of 2014. Mobile app downloaded 17.700 times TV production: 1100 hours of Christian programs produced/subtitled in 2014 Secular distribution: 20 hours of Christian programs distributed to 40 secular TV stations in 2014, every month. AOTV Magazine – 4th year in print, now the largest Christian printed magazine in Romania with 12700 copies printed – TV schedule, news, inspirational articles multimedia campaigns: five campaigns in 2014: pro-life, pro-family, pro-Israel, creationism, relevance in society Follow-up: 1500 prayers received online, thousands more via phone or letters; thousands of emails and free Christian literature shipped; 5 online discipleship courses developed, more in planning; 18 ministry live TV programs produced;

AOTV at a glance Translation & subtitling house - since 1994 TV production studio – since 1999 News, reports, talk-shows, multilingual prg. Equipping the Church with media resources Prayer & discipleship ministry; connection with local churches in Romania NRB Intl. TV Ministry Awards (2002, 2010) TV Network airing over Europe - since 2006 Christian programs through secular TV channels in several countries – since 1994 New media, social media, mobile, streaming Publishing house; bookstore; local affiliates Printed Magazine Target area: Romania, Eastern Europe

Projects experiencing growth in 2014

1. Content provider

We continued our full-HD production with over 300 programs produced: TV-shows, news and reports, conferences and seminars. We produced 18 live shows with prayer last year. Also, we continued translating foreign programs.

In total, in 2014, we produced or subtitled over 1100 hours of Christian programming, airing them on our TV channel, distributing them to TV affiliates, publishing many of them online.

2. TV network

We’ve entered the 9th year of 24/7 broadcast. In 2014, we’ve improved our ratings by 60%. Also, a good news was the inclusion of our TV channel more networks in Romania and Moldova, notably in the digital package of UPC, one of the two major cable networks in Romania.

Technically, we switched to MPEG4 and moved on Eutelsat, a better Europe-covering satellite.

3. Christian programs through secular TV stations

Since 1994, a key part of our media strategy was to air Christian programs on secular TV stations. We have barter agreements offering top programing in exchange with airtime for evangelistic programs. In 2014, we provided an average of 20 hours to 40 affiliated stations in Romania and Moldova, every month.

4. Books and DVDs

We continued to provide books and DVDs via our offline/online bookstore.

We also work with 10 affiliated bookstores to cover the entire country.

5. New media

In 2014, we allocated more staff and resources to publish digital media content, and optimized new media channels for best results. We saw growth in engagement and impact on all platforms. Growth was all organic.

6. Free resources

In 2014, we distributed thousands of printed ministry resources for free. We also made available similar videos, web pages and PDFs. (see below)

7. Media partner

We are part of God’s larger Kingdom network in our nation. We promote and amplify what God is doing through other ministries, churches and leaders.

8. News and tv reports

We produce news and TV reports, as well as broadcast international Christian news, to help Romanian Christians broaden their perspective and connect to others.

9. Special campaigns

We developed 5 multimedia one-week campaigns: science & creation, pro-life, pro-family, pro-Israel, relevance in society. For some campaigns (ie: pro-life), we correlated with other events and specialized organizations to maximize impact.

10. Alfa Omega TV Magazine

Our AOTV Magazine, is now the most printed Christian magazine in Romania. We ran special theme issues last year on: pro-life, Israel, worship, Church relevance, decisions (Romania had presidential elections in Dec)

11. AO Partners and donors

We presented better what we do via reports and programs, and challenged our audience to partner financially and in prayer. The number of new Romanian donors went up.

The ministry component of AOTV - A project becoming a priority in 2014-2015

While this has been a part of AOTV’s vision for over 15 years, in 2014 we’ve pushed this project farther than before. We have now two staff for prayer and developing multimedia resources. In 2014, we’ve built several courses and distributed thousands of free resources.

We also partnered with tens of churches throughout Romania for follow-up. And since 2010, we have a regular live TV program with prayer for the viewers’ needs.

Alfa Omega is both a content provider and a broadcaster/multimedia distributor. We see follow-up to be the third component of AOTV, naturally complementing the previous two.

Strategy

For those who contact us directly via phone, letters, email, site or social media:

1. We pray with them for their problems; we email/call them back; not yet available 24/7
2. We offer free resources, printed, emailed or online, to help with issues or help them grow
3. We refer them to local partners & churches for further prayer, counseling & community

For those not contacting us, but searching: We’re developing courses for anonymous surfers, using SEO and other means to optimize special content and increase virality.

We’re also assisting churches to be relevant, providing free discipleship resources.

Plans for 2015

- Recruit more volunteers and staff
- Produce more TV shows with live prayer
- Develop more courses and free resources
- Address our most read topics: pornography, divorce, sin, loneliness, depression, occultism, eastern religions, finances, end-times, demons
- Work better with local churches & ministries

Alfa Omega Communications Center

With the help of all the Alfa Omega TV partners, in 2014, we've continued to work on the final floor of the Alfa Omega Media Center, building that houses the TV studio with all the other departments of the ministry. We finished the outside furnishing and some interior arrangements and infrastructure setup. This building is a platform for media projects targeting Romania and Eastern Europe.

Construction begun in 2005. In 2010 we moved in, even though the building had not been completed at that moment. Alfa Omega Communications Center includes 3 floors, a TV studio and production facilities. This building will also host a satellite uplink station and a network operations center, a project currently under developement.