Asia Satellite Telecommunications has announced that Faizan Productions has signed a lease agreement for the use of C-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S to broadcast "Madani", a religious channel, to Asia, the Middle East and Australasia.

The Madani Channel has commenced 24-hour, free to air distribution on AsiaSat 3S, offering a mix of religious programming including speeches, lectures, documentaries, talk shows, Hamds, Naats, religious travelogue, in Urdu, Arabic and English languages.

The MadaniChannel, operated by Faizan Productions, is wholly owned and managed by thefollowers of Dawat-e-Islami, a non-political, international religious organisation, also endorsedby the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Government of Pakistan.

"We are excited about extending our service on AsiaSat 3S, the most watched satelliteplatform in Asia. AsiaSat 3S's superb market access and exceptional transmission qualityprovide us the unique opportunity to distribute our programming effectively to a Muslimpopulation of more than one billion across Asia Pacific," said Muhammad Aslam, CEO of Faizan Production (Pvt.) Ltd.

"On AsiaSat 3S, a highly popular satellite in Pakistan, we look forward to serving a wider audience across the country and beyond."

"We are pleased to welcome Madani Channel on AsiaSat 3S, a well respected channel from Pakistan. This agreement represents our latest success in further expanding AsiaSat's clientele portfolio in Pakistan, and our efforts in bringing a comprehensive mix of programming bouquet serving audiences of different cultures and across borders," said Peter Jackson,Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.