AWR News

Adventist World Radio has always been a worldwide ministry, with shortwave radio broadcasts reaching areas as diverse as Madagascar, Tadjikstan, Bangladesh, and more. But the description “worldwide” took on new meaning in late June, 2010, when AWR launched a new Internet delivery system. Now, radio programs that were previously targeted only to specific geographic areas are also available simultaneously online to listeners around the globe.

The system, called the Mediator 4, enables AWR to automatically push all of our programs online as soon as they go to air on the radio in various regions. Online listeners can hear the programs on demand on AWR’s website – at awr.org – or subscribe to podcasts through iTunes and other podcatchers. Online programs are currently available in 85+ languages, and AWR staff members are working to also make programs available from AWR’s affiliate FM stations, which will further expand the online language choices. 

Who Is Listening? 

The initial listener counts for various podcasts (compiled just over two months after the launch) have been fascinating.

• In Africa, the podcast that has so far attracted the most subscribers is Amharic, an Ethiopian language.

• In Asia, Indonesian is the most popular podcast, while in the Americas, the Spanish call-in health program Clinica Abierta (“Open Clinic”) is number one.

•The most-subscribed podcast in Europe is French, followed by Arabic.

• The total podcast subscriber count as of August 31 was 124,823, and the number is increasing daily. (Listeners of the on-demand programs on AWR’s own website are an additional audience.)

Most of the top languages also have subscribers from North America, and some languages have attracted followers in countries surprisingly far from their place of origin. For example AWR’s content in Oromo – an Ethiopian language – has drawn visitors from Peru, Norway, New Zealand, the Philippines, and more.

Online programs enable AWR to serve listeners that could not be reached by traditional radio broadcasts for various reasons. In Mexico, for example, the government does not grant radio licenses to Christian organizations. But our statistics show that Mexico is now one of the top 10 countries from which people are visiting AWR’s site and listening to programs.

Daryl Gungadoo, AWR global resource engineer, says, “I’m overjoyed to see that for the Arabic language, the majority of our podcasting audience is coming from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Egypt. That’s a key target area for AWR, as it is not easy to get radio broadcasts into the Middle East, not to mention other trying to develop other avenues of evangelism.”

These initial numbers are just the beginning, says AWR web manager Marvin King. “Many of our program producers have barely begun publicizing the podcasts to their radio listeners. When that happens, we know that our online audience will increase exponentially.”

Alongside the World’s Biggest Broadcasters 

An exciting vehicle for promoting our podcasts will likely be functioning by the time this publication is printed. Because of the extensive content that AWR now has on iTunes, Apple invited AWR to become a Tier III iTunes provider.

“What that means,” King says, “is that we get a custom presence on iTunes – a special page where we have our own artwork and place to display all of our podcasts. There are three possible tiers to this arrangement, and Apple offered us the highest possible tier, which is highly customized and gives us full control over how we present AWR. We can highlight our most popular podcasts, feature specific languages, introduce new programs, add custom links, and more.

“Apple is placing a large amount of trust in us, and it’s nearly impossible to overstate how significant this is for an Adventist organization. AWR will have an iTunes presence side by side with the world’s largest broadcasters, such as the BBC and CNN.

“This is a really valuable partnership, and we’re eager to discover what kind of additional exposure AWR might receive, by potentially being featured in Apple’s promotional efforts, for example.”

Multiple Points of Access

AWR is developing other beneficial partnerships with Adventist website networks, which will increase awareness of our programs among church members. For example, netAdventist is a network of 3,000 to 4,000 sites located around the world. Site administrators have access to a wealth of content from different sources, such as Adventist News Network, Adventist World, and more. By adding AWR’s podcasts to their sites, they can make it easy for members to access and download our programs for use in local ministry. In one city, a Filipino pastor may utilize an AWR program in a presentation to his Tagalog-speaking congregation, while in another location a Chinese small-group leader may enhance her weekly meetings with Mandarin audio programs.

Similar resource-sharing arrangements are being explored with the Voice of Prophecy and AdventistChurchConnect, a provider of free websites for churches in North America. At the same time, AWR is also sharing its new expertise in online programming with other church entities, to help them apply the power of the Mediator 4 for their own needs. Currently, AWR is guiding the General Conference Communication Department in configuring the Mediator 4 to manage its Adventist Newsline television episodes.

“Previously, to share raw footage with other Adventist media centers, Newsline staff had to burn the large files to disks and mail them out by courier, which was a slow and cumbersome process,” King says. “Soon, they not only will be able to make the footage available online, but they will also be able edit, add voiceovers and captioning, output the programs to a variety of web and broadcasts formats for different satellites, and more. That streamlining will be really helpful for them. One of the reasons that AWR acquired the Mediator 4 system was so that other sister organizations could also make use of it, and we are pleased to see this beginning to happen.”