Of the many technological advancements shaping our world, few have the potential for global reach like streaming media. Using this technology effectively can feel daunting for ministries, nonprofits, and churches.
Enter Lightcast, a multi-platform streaming provider that aims to “democratize access” to this technology, making it simple and affordable for organizations of all sizes to share their message across the world.
The story of Lightcast is intertwined with the life of its founder, Andreas Kisslinger. Born and raised in Austria to parents who were pastors and church planters, Kisslinger’s life has always been at the intersection of faith and media.
“Even as a kid, I always wanted to just live for God, serve him,” Kisslinger said. “I always felt that helping ministries reach more people through media was what excited me the most.”
Kisslinger founded his first digital media company as a student in the mid-90s, building the first-ever websites for ski resorts and hotels in his region. His career progressed through Christian media production, hosting a music show for CBN, and launching Cross.tv, a Christian social network that grew to over a million members and 30,000 registered churches.
It was the rise of giants like Facebook that squeezed out niche social networks and pushed Kisslinger to his next venture: Lightcast. He initially focused on building some of the first faith-based apps for the Roku Channel Store in 2010.
Lightcast’s expertise quickly became evident. By 2013, more than half of all apps in the Roku Channel Store were built and hosted by Lightcast. This success led to a partnership with Amazon to help develop their app developer kit for the launch of Fire TV. Since then, the company has grown organically through customer referrals, expanding its client base from churches and ministries to include schools, universities, and municipal governments.
Kisslinger and his team have developed a “turnkey system” that empowers clients to launch their own custom-branded apps across a vast ecosystem of platforms—including Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung, LG, and more—in just one to two weeks.
The Lightcast Media Cloud, a content management system driven by AI, handles tasks that would otherwise require a dedicated team of content managers.
“All you have to do is point to…a folder with your videos,” Kisslinger said, “[and] our media cloud AI analyzes it, creates transcriptions, closed captioning, subtitle files, translates it into 30 languages, creates the metadata, title, descriptions, keywords… all within a matter of one second.”
This level of automation, refined over 15 years, takes the workload completely off the client’s plate, making professional-grade media distribution accessible even to smaller organizations without a dedicated tech team. Lightcast also provides hands-on customer support through the “LCA Academy,” which is a comprehensive resource with video tutorials and over a thousand articles on streaming best practices.
Having grown up planting churches, Kisslinger has a unique perspective on the relationship between digital media and in-person community.
“There is no substitute to personal relationships,” Kisslinger said. “Screens will never replace that. It’s the same for churches. It’s valuable that every church livestream and uploads their media libraries and sermons to reach more people, but it will never compete with the experience of going to the church location, being with the people there, worshiping together, and experiencing God.”
He pointed out that streaming allows ministries to connect with those who are homebound, sick, or traveling, and perhaps most importantly, to be discovered by people who may have never walked through their doors.
He explains that TV and mobile app stores function as search engines, making a branded app a crucial element for discovery in today’s media landscape. When a person speaks a question into their remote control, an app allows a ministry’s content to appear as a relevant result. This presence has become a “necessity for ministries and churches” looking to grow their audience.
Lightcast continues to innovate, preparing for a future where screens are even more integrated into our lives—from our windshields to holographic projections.
“Wherever there is a screen, there will be content,” he said. “It’s really become a necessity for ministries and churches to have a presence in all major app stores.”
Future developments within Lightcast include even more advanced AI tools, such as automated voice translation into over 30 languages with corresponding lip-movement augmentation, and cloud-based video editing that can turn a script into a finished video.
For Kisslinger, the “why” behind the technology remains central. He is motivated by a desire to equip others to make an eternal impact.
“Get going,” he encourages fellow Christian communicators. “No one can steer a parked car. Keep moving forward. Your forward movement is all that God really needs. He will steer it anyways. Don’t hold back.”
From small jungle villages in the Amazon to large-scale events in the UK, Kisslinger has seen firsthand how Lightcast helps all sizes of organizations reach audiences and carry out their mission in today’s digital world.
By making sophisticated technology accessible and easy to use, the company ensures that messages of hope can be found on every screen.
Lightcast has been an NRB member since 2015. To learn more, visit lightcast.com.