MTA International (or MTA), is a globally-broadcasting, nonprofit

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

and a division of Al-Shirkatul Islamiyyah which was established in 1992 and launched the world's first Islamic TV channel to broadcast globally. It consists of nine international channels that are run and funded entirely from donations by the members of the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

History

Initial Launch

MTA, becoming the first TV channel to broadcast Islamic programmes globally, was established by

Mirza Tahir Ahmad Mirza Tahir Ahmad ( ur, ) (18 December 1928 – 19 April 2003) was the fourth caliph ( ar, خليفة المسيح الرابع, ''khalīfatul masīh al-rābi'') and the head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Community. He was elected as the fourt ...

, then-

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

of the

. MTA's first channel was launched on 31 January 1992, broadcasting the weekly

Friday Sermon In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day accordin ...

. Later, on 7 January 1994, AMP was rebranded to MTA and increased its daily broadcasting hours from four to 12 hours, and later, in April 1996, to 24. Initially, the studio and video library shared a room in the Mahmood Hall of Fazl Mosque equipped with a single video camera and "few ordinary flood lights".

EPG Guide

In April 2001, MTA International began its

EPG Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...

when the channel launched on the Sky UK platform as a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

channel.

MTA Africa Launch

On 1 August 2016, MTA Africa 1 and 2 were inaugurated by the current caliph,

Mirza Masroor Ahmad Mirza Masroor Ahmad ( ur, ; born 15 September 1950) is the current and fifth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His official title within the movement is Fifth Caliph of the Messiah ( ar, خليفة المسيح الخامس, ''khal� ...

broadcasting programmes in African languages as well as programs from MTA 1.

2020 Era

From 27 May 2020, known as Khilafat Day for Ahmadis, MTA International rearranged its channels according to regions and introduced new channels. These new channels were formerly

MTA1 Metastasis-associated protein MTA1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MTA1'' gene. MTA1 is the founding member of the MTA family of genes. MTA1 is primarily localized in the nucleus but also found to be distributed in the extra-nucl ...

broadcasting on different satellites, converted to cater viewers of specific regions by broadcasting programmes in specific languages for each region. For Instance, MTA 1 on

Galaxy 19 Galaxy 19 is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat located at 97° West longitude, serving the North American market. Galaxy 19 replaced Galaxy 25 which is nearing the end of its design life and has been moved to 93.1°W longitude. It was ...

became MTA8 HD AMERICA with programmes in Urdu, English, French and Spanish.

Channels

Currently, the MTA International network runs 10 channels 24/7:

Worldwide

* MTA1 World :MTA1 was the first channel launched by the MTA network and is the primary channel broadcasting programmes in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and French, and has multiple audio tracks to provide translations for certain programmes such as the

. Its broadcast coverage used to cover the entire globe before MTA1 on some satellites were converted into regional channels. Now, it is mainly broadcast in the UK/

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, as well as being broadcast on terrestrial TV in Suriname.

Europe & MENA

* MTA2 Europe focuses on programmes aimed specifically at European and Middle Eastern viewers by broadcasting programmes in a range of

European Languages Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Ro ...

, commonly French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, in addition to

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' MTA1 Metastasis-associated protein MTA1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MTA1'' gene. MTA1 is the founding member of the MTA family of genes. MTA1 is primarily localized in the nucleus but also found to be distributed in the extra-nucl ...

. MTA2, too, also has a range of audio tracks used for translations, similar to MTA1, except on MTA2 the Bengali Track is sometimes switched with Spanish. It is also broadcast in HD on the HotBird 13C and streamed online. * MTA3 Al-Arabia is an all-

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

channel specifically for Arabic viewers in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, however, is also broadcast in other parts of the world such as Australia,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and North America (where it is broadcast in HD). Initially it was broadcast on the Egyptian-owned Nilesat 201 before being barred and eventually being broadcast on the European Eutelsat 7 West A.

Africa

*MTA4 Africa (formerly known as MTA Africa 1) is the fourth satellite-based

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

of the

MTA International MTA International (or MTA), is a globally-broadcasting, nonprofit satellite television network and a division of Al-Shirkatul Islamiyyah which was established in 1992 and launched the world's first Islamic TV channel to broadcast globally. It c ...

network. It was launched in early August 2016, broadcasting specifically for West African viewers throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

. The channel is broadcast on the

Astra 2F Astra 2F is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched in September 2012 to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home (DTH) digital television ...

and airs programmes in

, French and Swahili. * MTA5 Africa :MTA5 is a sister channel to MTA4 and is primarily for the viewers of Sub-Saharan Africa and airs programmes in a number of African languages, notably

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

, Krio,

Twi Twi () is a dialect of the Akan language spoken in southern and central Ghana by several million people, mainly of the Akan people, the largest of the seventeen major ethnic groups in Ghana. Twi has about 17-18 million speakers in total, includ ...

and

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

. It is the former MTA Africa 2 channel. * MTA Gambia * MTA Ghana :MTA

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

is a terrestrial channel and the only country-exclusive channel part of the MTA network which aims to air programmes specifically for Ghanaian viewers, which broadcasts programmes in local languages.

Asia

* MTA6 Asia broadcasts programs which are specfic to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

(and by extension

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

) as well

, for example specific language services as well travel documentaries. It airs programmes in the

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Indonesian language Indonesian ( ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia ...

, with some programs carrying additional translations in other languages, like

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

. * MTA7 Asia primarily caters to the viewers of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, as it airs programs specific to the region. The channel also provides translations and content in local languages such as

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Americas

* MTA8 America * MTA8 America + 3

Members

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.

Online Media Services

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 Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

as well as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

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 channe
MTA Canada
as well as this, it allows specific countries to stream live translations for key programmes such as the

. There are also applications for mobile and personal devices on a variety of platform such as Roku TV, Apple TV, Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

. On 2 August (at Jalsa Salana UK 2019), a range of MTA applications were launched for Smart TV brands such as Samsung,

Android TV Android TV is a smart TV operating system based on Android (operating system), Android and developed by Google for television sets, digital media players, set-top boxes, and soundbars. A successor to Google TV (operating system), Google TV, it fe ...

Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected ...

, Panasonic, LG, Sony and Philips.

National Studios

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, MTA International Canada Studios, MTA International German Studios, MTA International Nigeria Studios, MTA International Ghana Studios, MTA International UK Studios etc. The primary and main MTA Studios is based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, MTA International Studios. 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Photos

File:MTA-logo.gif, MTA International Second Logo File:MTA International German Studios.png, MTA International German Studios Logo File:MTA USA - Circle Logo.jpg, MTA International USA Studios File:MTA CANADA- Circle Logo.jpg, MTA International Canada Studios Logo File:MTA_International_Canada_Studios_-_Set_Design.png, MTA International Canada Studios - Set Design File:MTA International dish.jpg, MTA International broadcast truck at Jalsa Salana Canada 2016

References

* Khan, M. (2003). Muslim Television Ahmadiyya. Retrieved 28 March 2014, from http://www.alislam.org/library/periodicals/tariq-uk/chapter6.pdf {{Authority control Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International Islamic television networks Islam in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 1994