Emmanuel TV is a

Christian television network Christian Television Network, Inc. (CTN) is an American non-profit broadcast television network of small owned-and-operated stations (O&O) that broadcasts religious programming. It is based in Largo, Florida (with a mailing address of Clearwa ...

with headquarters in

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. It was founded by T.B. Joshua, former senior pastor of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in Lagos, Nigeria. It was also the most subscribed Christian ministry channel on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

worldwide with well over 1,000,000 subscribers, as of January 2019.

History

In the late 1990s, the SCOAN began to gain international attention due to the distribution of videotapes showing clips of God's early ministries and miracles. Additionally, Joshua began airing regular programs purporting to show 'miracles' on local Nigerian television. However, when Nigeria's National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), under the instruction of then President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

controversially banned the showing of 'miracles', in 2004, most of his programs were taken off air. This eventually paved the way for the emergence of Emmanuel TV on 8 March 2006 by T.B. Joshua. In 2015, Emmanuel TV's

channel was the most subscribed Christian ministry YouTube channel worldwide and the third most subscribed in Nigeria.

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

ranked one of Emmanuel TV's YouTube videos as the fourth most viewed clip ever within Nigeria. Since its inception, Emmanuel TV has broadcast Christian programmes, stating that its mission is 'to preach the Good News to all mankind.' From humble beginnings, it has rapidly grown to become one of Africa's most well known brands and popular television stations.

Programming

Emmanuel TV broadcasts a range of programmes from Synagogue, Church of All Nations (SCOAN). It has gained a reputation for being a Christian station that does not run any on-air campaigns for financial assistance and among the only Christian stations that does not syndicate programs of other pastors.

Reach

Emmanuel TV is broadcast worldwide on various satellites. Its programmes air weekly on a number of local television stations across Africa, debuting on DStv and GOtv in November 2015, as well as Startimes in February 2016. Its playout centre is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The station is also known for its catch-phrase, 'Distance Is Not A Barrier', encouraging viewers to 'pray along' with T.B. Joshua by 'touching the screen'. There are several claims of people receiving miraculous 'healing' through these prayers, including popular

Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...

actress

Tonto Dikeh Tonto Charity Dikeh (born 9 June 1985) is a Nigerians, Nigerian actress, singer, songwriter, and humanitarian. On 27 August 2000, Dikeh set up her foundation, the Tonto Dikeh Foundation. In June 2022, Dikeh was announced as the deputy governo ...

who said Joshua's prayers ended her 14-year smoking addiction. T.B. Joshua has donated televisions to prisons and hospitals so that they will be able to watch the Emmanuel TV broadcasts.T.B. Joshua Donates TV Sets To Khami Maximum Security Prison
NewsDay, Sunday 12 June 2011Prophet T.B. Joshua Makes Donation To Accra Psychiatric Hospital
Ghana News Agency, Sunday, 11 December 2011

Controversies

In April 2021, YouTube suspended Emmanuel TV's channel as a result of alleged hate speech by Joshua in videos on the channel. At the time the channel was suspended, it had over 1,800,000 subscribers and 400 million views. The allegations of hate speech referred to claims made by Joshua in at least seven videos that homosexuality is the result of possession by demonic spirits and that homosexuality can and should be cured via spiritual deliverance. At the time of the channel's suspension, it was the most-viewed Christian ministry on the platform. In January 2024, days after Joshua's sexual abuse scandal was revealed, Emmanuel TV's satellite channel was removed from DStv by

MultiChoice MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...

, a South African media company as well as from YouTube for a second time. Charlie Northcott & Yemisi Adegoke
TB Joshua exposé: YouTube deletes Emmanuel TV channel of disgraced megachurch leader
bbc.com, UK, January 31, 2024

References

External links

Official website of the SCOAN

Official website of Emmanuel TV
{{Television in Nigeria Christian mass media companies Evangelical television networks Television channels and stations established in 2006 Religious television stations in Nigeria Television stations in Lagos International broadcasters