He said the move was aimed at giving the opportunity to more viewers to watch TV Al Hijrah which used to be aired through terrestrial transmission.
"(Prior to this) TV Al Hijrah's transmission was limited and we have been deluged with requests from members of the public who want to watch TV Al Hijrah," he told a press conference at TV Al Hijrah Digital Broadcasting Centre in Islamic Centre Complex, located in Kuala Lumpur, Friday.
Present was TV Al Hijrah chief executive officer Bukhari Che Muda.
TV Al Hijrah was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Dec 7, last year, but the transmission was limited to Klang Valley, Terengganu, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.
Jamil Khir said with its program being made available on Astro, TV Al Hijrah's weekly airtime would also be increased to 100 hours from the current 72 hours.
"TV Al Hijrah will air from noon until midnight from Monday to Thursday, and from 7am to midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays," he said.
The minister said the airtime would also be increased to 24 hours daily if there was a high demand for that from the viewers.
Jamil Khir said competition from other stations was a non-issue for TV Al Hijrah as the station just wanted to offer something different for the viewers.
"We acknowledge that competition exists. That is why we are offering various programs, like (reality show) Solehah, which aimed at, among others, producing more female Islamic preachers in the country," he said.
Other programs that would be introduced beginning June 1 were "Madrasah Al Hijrah", "Refleksi", and "Khidmat Syariah", he said.
60 per cent of TV Al Hijrah's content was locally produced, while the other 40 per cent were imported.
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