Contact: Andrea Davis, Lakewood Church, 713-491-1339, for Joel Osteen Ministries

HOUSTON, Texas, Mar. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- Joel Osteen Ministries announced today that Joel Osteen's audio podcast hit No. 9 of all podcasts on iTunes last week. The audio podcast has been in or near the top 10 on iTunes since the month of January. More than 1 million downloads were recorded in the month of February alone.

"We were very pleased to see the numbers spike when we began letting people know about the podcasts on Joel's television broadcast," stated Jeana Lawrence, Director of Marketing and Communications for Lakewood. "Based on the number of subscribers per day, Joel Osteen is one of the most popular podcasts in the world."

Joel Osteen's audio and video podcasts have consistently grown in popularity since they were first launched in early 2006 staying at or near the No. 1 spot in the iTunes inspirational category for the past six months. The audio podcast has consistently ranked in the top 20 overall and video in the top 40.

iTunes offers 30-minute podcasts of Joel Osteen's weekly television message in audio or video format, downloadable to iPods, PCs or MP3 players for free. In addition, viewers and listeners can purchase Joel Osteen's sermons at www.joelosteen.com.

Joel and Victoria Osteen are Pastors of the Lakewood Church, the largest church in America where weekly services are broadcast in the U.S. and around the world in over 100 nations. According to Nielsen Media Research, Joel Osteen is the most watched minister in America and reaches 95% of all U.S. television households. Joel Osteen was recently featured as one of Barbara Walter's '10 Most Fascinating People of 2006' and named 'Most Influential Christian in America of 2006' by the readers of The Church Report magazine. For more information about Joel Osteen Ministries, go to www.joelosteen.com or www.lakewood.cc.