wfn.org | NETV shifts focus to internet television for now

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3033 Edition

>April 12~18, 2010

NETV shifts focus to internet television for now

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Media evangelism can take on various forms nowadays, including  social 
networking sites

such as Facebook, micro-blogs such as Twitter and Plurk, personal  blogs and 
websites, and

more traditional mediums such as radio, cable television, print  media, etc.

Sensing the need to share the gospel and support churches with  resources, New 
Eyes

Television (NETV) decided to continue offering some programs  through the 
internet even

though the network pulled out from cable television earlier this  year. 
According to NETV Acting

CEO, Tsai Shang-chih, NETV is now broadcasting on the internet 24  hours a day.

NETV is also considering a partnership with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT)  so that its 
programs

can soon be accessed through CHT’s Multi-Media on Demand  (MOD), an IPTV 
service. It has

also not ruled out the possibility of returning to cable  television in the 
future.

In terms of meeting the needs of local churches, Tsai said the  network 
currently has more than

1,700 minutes worth of programs available and recordings can be  distributed to 
churches

upon demand. These programs include sermon series, fun shows that  teach 
English, special

>features about local churches, etc.

According to Tsai, NETV will continue making high quality programs  even though 
it’s no longer

broadcasting on cable television. But it will now monitor its  financial 
capability very closely

before creating any new programs as this is the most practical way  to proceed 
for now.

Though NETV quit cable television, “evangelism doesn’t  stop simply because 
NETV is no

longer on cable TV,” said Tsai. That is why he is urging  everyone to continue 
praying for

NETV. He reiterated, “NETV hasn’t folded, it has simply  changed course.”

In related news, internet evangelism is a trend Taiwanese churches  cannot 
ignore. According

to PCT Youth Ministries Secretary Itan Pavavalong, PCT General  Assembly began 
a website

targeting youth about 8 years ago. Though it began very humbly  with merely 6 
volunteers, “Oh

My God” website won a prize in 2007 as one of the best  internet sites in an 
event sponsored

by the Executive Yuan Research, Development, and Evaluation  Commission. To 
view “Oh My

>God”, go to http://www.ohmygod.org.tw/.

According to Itan, the original purpose for this website was to  create a 
quality Christian

website for youth to browse and interact and learn about the  gospel. Since the 
website’s

target audience is youth in general, PCT staffs strive daily  toward generating 
material that will

also attract the interest of non-Christian youth.

Though internet evangelism is a ministry that must target an  audience of all 
ages, PCT

General Assembly’s focus is on youth for now. Whether and how  it plans to 
expand internet

evangelism to target audiences of all ages is a major challenge it  must 
consider sometime in

>the near future.

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