The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s official television network is slated to join the basic DIRECTV lineup at the end of April, a move Hope Channel executives anticipate will introduce the network’s family-friendly programming to a potentially larger and more diverse viewing audience.

The contract with DIRECTV—one of the leading direct satellite providers in the United States—marks the “largest media breakthrough for the church in North America,” said Mark Finley, chairman of the Hope Channel Board of Directors, in a Hope Channel press statement released today. Launched in 1994, DIRECTV boasts a subscription base of more than 17 million homes.

“We are delighted to partner with DIRECTV,” said Hope Channel president Brad Thorp, adding that Hope Channel was grateful for the satellite provider’s “gracious reception and cooperation” in adding the network’s programming to their basic package.

While Hope Channel executives said DIRECTV was already impressed by the diversity of its programming—particularly its emphasis on education, healthy living and family life—plans are in place to concentrate on “programs that attract a sense of community,” Finley said.

As Channel 368 within DIRECTV’s basic home service package, the Hope Channel will appear among several leading news and educational channels, the network’s press statement said.