MTA 3 also known as MTA3 Al Arabiya (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: MTA3 Arabic) is the third television channel

Television channel

A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...

 of the MTA International satellite network. It was launched on 23 March 2007. The programmes are broadcast throughout the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

 and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. It is also available for live streaming via the Internet. The channel was established under the auspices of Mirza Masroor Ahmad

Mirza Masroor Ahmad

His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad is Khalifatul Masih V, the spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the fifth successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on April 22, 2003, a few days after the death of his predecessor Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph for the Ahmadiiya...

, the spiritual head

Khalifatul Masih

Khalifatul Masih sometimes simply referred to as Khalifah is the elected spiritual leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and is the successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian...

 of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...

. The programmes covers a wide range of religious matters, particularly those concerning Islam and presents the Ahmadiyya stance to certain issues. MTA 3 is run and voluntarily funded by Ahmadis.

History

Initially the channel was launched on 23 March 2007 and transmitted to the Arab regions via the Egyptian owned company Nilesat

Nilesat

Nilesat is an Egyptian company, and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated ground control station and uplinking facilities...

. However the programmes being transmitted were under infringement to some of the commonly held Islamic views. The Egyptian government banned the transmission on 28 January 2008. The channel now runs via the European owned Eutelsat

Eutelsat

Eutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...

 - Atlantic Bird 4 in order to transmit its programmes to the Arab world.

Later the channel expanded its transmission to North America and was made available via the internet for live streaming.