The Syriac Orthodox Church had been hoping to begin broadcasting private Syriac-rite religious programming as early as 2009. The channel was created in response to increasing persecution and the threat of assimilation against Syriac Orthodox Christians, with the stated intent of uniting and enlightening people through its programs. Additionally, the channel was meant to serve as a purely religious channel alongside other Aramaic language programming, promoting the use of the language and awareness of culture without a specific political agenda or otherwise.
Launch
The progress of the channel was halted until the Holy Synod in 2015, and it was hoped that they would begin broadcasting by 25 March 2018, exactly the day of the Feast of the Annunciation. The channel planned to have its first stations in Lebanon and Germany, with correspondents in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and other Syro-Orthodox communities in the West. However, the channel wouldn't officially launch until a year later in 2019, when its Lebanese headquarters were officially inaugurated. The ceremony was attended by Aram I, the Armenian Apostolic Catholicos of the Grand House of Cecilia, and Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, as well as a media delegation from Ishtar TV. In a speech during the ceremony, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Ignatius Aphrem II, proclaimed "The Voice of Antioch" had been launched for the whole world, and congratulated the team behind the channel on their successful launch.
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