2017 - AOTV Ministry Report

2017 in review

In 2017, our context in Romania was complex, our society divided, with many protests against corruption and for integrity. The Romanian Church was largely silent, retreating behind its walls about vital topics, but it has tremendous potential. The number of evangelical believers in Romania equals that in 15 neighboring countries combined. But this spiritual giant is still asleep. We are called to be an active part in transforming Romania using multi-media. To motivate the Church to engage all areas of society, to live in integrity and authenticity. And to reach out ourselves with the Good News of the Kingdom, as we enter more Romanian homes than ever before.

2017 - stats

TV Channel - Remained in Romania’s “must-carry” list (since 2010). Introduced in more secular cable networks, especially digital platforms. Our audience peaks for films, documentaries, the live shows with prayer, mission programs and cartoons.

Website – 15,000+ pages: articles, videos, other resources. Visitors increased by 26.7% from 2016 (309k total). Top 3 interests: 37% videos and live TV, 16% news and reports, 9% spiritual life articles

Facebook - 6.02 milion video views on Facebook (a 270% increase from 2016). In August 2017 we passed the milestone of one million people reached during a week.

Youtube - 3.92 million views in 2017 (56% increase from 2016), taking the total social media video views up to 10 million; 1500 videos published on Youtube in 2017.

TV production: 774 hours of Christian programs produced/subtitled in 2017, 67% in HD. In 2017, we celebrated 700 editions of our weekly Christian World News program (in production for 14 years) and 600 editions of our “The Way, the Truth and the Life” program, the first Christian talk-show in Romania.

Secular distribution: 20 hours of Christian programs were distributed every month to 34 affiliated secular TV networks in 2017, in Romania and Moldova. In total, 400-450 Christian programs ran on secular TV networks, some in prime-time.

AOTV Magazine – 8th year in print, remains the largest printed Christian magazine in Romania with 17,000 copies. Contains TV schedule, news, editorials, inspirational articles. Free distribution.

Prayer and follow-up – In 2017, we prayed for 5000 prayer requests from our viewers.

TV Network

24/7 TV channel since 2006
The Alfa Omega TV channel enters the 12th year of broadcasting. It continued to be in the must-carry list of most-watched channels in Romania. It airs on Eutelsat E16A satellite, and is rebroadcast in cable & IPTV networks in Romania and Moldova.

DISTRIBUTING CHRISTIAN PROGRAMS TO SECULAR NETWORKS
Since 1994, a key part of our strategy was to air Christian programs on secular TV stations in Romania and Moldova, bartering films and documentaries for evangelistic programs. In 2017, we provided around 450 programs, meaning ~20h/month to 34 affiliate TV networks .

Producing TV programs

We produced some 200 new programs: TV-shows, news, conferences and seminars. We continued translating foreign programs - movies, documentaries, sermons and specials - that were aired on Alfa Omega TV and other affiliated secular TV stations.

2017 - Key Projects

DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital media impact grew radically in 2017. We registered a 26.7% increase in unique visitors on our website. Our web audience is interested in the live webcast, news, practical aspects about Christian life, as well as spiritual life articles.
On social media, we had a 270% increase in Facebook video views and a 56% increase in Youtube views. Our main digital audience is between 25-45 years old, complementing our TV audience. Testimonies, Romanian and international news were the most watched video content on our social media outlets.
We relaunched our mobile app, offering live TV, VOD, news and inspirational articles.

SUPERBOOK KIDS EVANGELISTIC PROJECT

Launched in Nov. 2016 in partnership with CBN, good progress was made in 2017. We premiered Season 2 and promoted Superbook on TV, affiliates and digital media. We also organized 7 evangelistic events with 100-200 kids in each attendance. On the SB website, every month we have 14,000 unique visitors and 800 kids go through the gospel presentation.

FOLLOW-UP & MINISTRY

Throughout 2017, we regularly produced live programs with on-air prayer for viewers, on TV and social media. We’re following up on the shows for prayer & basic counseling, producing and distributing resources on taboo subjects, connecting people to local churches. We prayed for 5000 prayer requests. And on our site, 10,000 people accessed the Gospel presentation or the “Basics of Christianity” course.

MULTIMEDIA CAMPAIGNS

We developed 3 media campaigns in 2017: Pro-life & Pro-Family (March), Israel, Islam & Understanding the times (May), Science & Creation (November). The campaigns last a full month, on our TV, print and digital platforms, focusing on a single topic but addressed from multiple viewpoints, encouraging Christians to pray and engage with current topics.

Content Strategy

1. Evangelism - Most of our audience is not born again. Via TV programs or web resources, we always present the Gospel in the homes we’re allowed in.

2. Direct Ministry - We are doing our best to provide prayer and ministry to those in need, through live TV programs and our follow-up ministry.

3. Spiritual life & growth - Many of our resources are for discipleship, to help people deal with issues, know God better, grow spiritually and be equipped for ministry.

4. Christians’ relevance to society - Every Christian is called to be salt & light, as they know God, mature and deal with issues. We do our best to encourage & equip regular believers to represent the Kingdom of God in their context.

5. Understanding the times - More than just being spiritually mature and a light in one‘s community, we believe it is important for Christians to understand the times we live in, to prepare and to prayerfully respond to them. We present realities from a Christian perspective.

6. Reflecting God’s work in Romania - By reflecting what God is doing through His Church in Romania, we connect believers and broaden their perspective.

Alfa Omega TV 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
- Most printed Christian Magazine in Romania
- Non-denominational Christian values
- Target area: Romania, Eastern Europe