The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for the British Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselves. It was established by the British War Office (now the Ministry of Defence) in 1943. In 1944, it was managed by Gale Pedrick.
History
Originally known as the Forces Broadcasting Service (FBS), it was initially under the control of the British Army Welfare Service, its first effort, the Middle East Broadcasting Unit, being headquartered in Cairo.On the Short Waves, 1923-1945: Broadcast Listening in the Pioneer Days of Radio, Jerome S. Berg, McFarland, 1999, page 215
Before and after the end of the Second World War various radio stations were set up, some using the FBS name, others using the name British Forces Network (BFN), but by the early 1960s these had all adopted the BFBS name.Encyclopedia of Radio 3, Volume Set, Christopher H. Sterling, Routledge, 2004, page 379
From 1982 until 2020, BFBS formed part of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), a registered charity which is also responsible for the British Defence Film Library, SSVC Cinemas (now BFBS Cinemas), and Combined Services Entertainment (CSE; now BFBS Live Events), providing entertainment for HM Forces around the world. In March 2020, most of the properties under the SSVC umbrella were rebranded under the new BFBS and Forces brandings. On 23 July 2020, SSVC was renamed BFBS. BFBS does not carry commercial advertising.'Our aim is to entertain and inform', BBC News, 20 July 2004
BFBS Radio
BFBS Radio operates 22 radio stations, broadcast on a combination of local DAB, FM and AM frequencies, online and on digital television. BFBS Radio is a music, news, entertainment and community service providing bespoke content to the global Forces Community with a focus on Forces News and connecting the Forces communities around the world.
Broadcasting BFBS broadcasts to service personnel and their families and friends worldwide with local radio studios in Belize, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Nepal and operational areas.British Forces Broadcasting Service: Good morning Afghanistan!, Angus Batey, The Guardian, 29 September 2011 In addition, BFBS the Forces Station is heard by troops in Ascension Island, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, Estonia, and the Netherlands, as well as onboard Royal Navy ships at sea via live satellite links, online at , on Sky channel 0211 in the United Kingdom only, via an Astra 2 transponder and on Freesat channel 786.
From 12 January 2008, BFBS began a trial period of broadcasting nationwide across the UK on DAB, which ran until 31 March 2008. Audience research carried out during the trial concluded that it was successful and broadcasts continued for eight years until 6 March 2017 when the service ceased due to the cost to the charity SSVC.
On 1 April 2013, BFBS began a new 10-year contract for to supply all forces broadcasting service to British troops around the world and expanded its service to UK army bases formerly served by Garrison Radio. BFBS UK base stations now broadcast using DAB in Aldershot, Aldergrove, Blandford, Bovington, Brize Norton, Bulford, Catterick, Colchester, Edinburgh, Fort George, Holywood, Inverness, Lisburn, and Portsmouth.
Programming Bespoke news bulletins are broadcast every hour, 24 hours a day, utilising content from BBC News, IRN and BFBS's own team of Forces News reporters. The standard bulletin is three minutes long, with extended ten-minute Forces News programmes on weekdays at 0400, 0700, 1100, 1300 and 1700 UK time. Two-minute-long news and sport headlines are broadcast on the half-hour during breakfast programming. Bulletins are broadcast around the clock on BFBS 1 (The Forces Station) and BFBS Gurkha Radio, and during BFBS Radio 2's music programming.
Many of the programmes on BFBS Radio 2 are sourced from BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live, including the soap opera The Archers, which was popular in Hong Kong until BFBS Radio ceased broadcasting on 30 June 1997 before the handover to China.Hong Kong's farewell to the Archers ... from Pete and Dud The Independent 16 April 1997 BFBS UK is a contemporary hit 'pop' station. It is similar in style to BBC Radio 2, playing current music and chat, as well as regular news bulletins.
On 31 May 2010, BBC Radio 1 teamed up with BFBS to transmit the 10-hour takeover show from Camp Bastion with BFBS presenters and shout outs from the military community. It repeated the link-up in 2011.
In December 2011, the UK's Smooth Radio broadcast its national breakfast show, presented by Simon Bates, from the BFBS studios in Camp Bastion. On 8 April 2012, Easter Sunday, BFBS simulcast a two-hour show with Smooth, presented jointly by Bates and BFBS's Rachel Cochrane, allowing family and friends of serving troops to connect with their loved ones.
BFBS Radio stations BFBS currently has three main stations: BFBS the Forces Station (each with regional content), BFBS Radio 2 and BFBS Gurkha Network. In addition, there are themed online stations under the BFBS branding; they are Beats, Rewind, Best of British (replaced Unwind), Edge (formerly Dirt) and Samishran.
BFBS Gurkha Network broadcasts on AM and DAB in selected UK locations as well as on FM in the Falkland Islands, Afghanistan, Brunei, Nepal, Belize and on Ops. It provides programmes in Nepali, for the Gurkha units serving with the British Army.Gurkha Radio staff from Nepal visit UK , BFBS, 25 March 2014
BFBS broadcast in Malta until 25 March 1979, when British forces left the islands.A microphone and a frequency: forty years of forces broadcasting, Doreen Taylor, Heinemann, 1983, page 174 It ceased broadcasts from Berlin on 15 July 1994, following the end of the Cold War, German reunification, and the withdrawal of British forces from the city, after 33 years.This Is the British Forces Network. The Story of Forces Broadcasting in Germany, Alan Grace, Alan Sutton, page 71 The BFBS Berlin frequency was given up on 12 December 1994. BFBS broadcast in Hong Kong until 30 June 1997, before Chinese People's Liberation Army replaced British forces in the city. BFBS also broadcast on FM in Belize, from Airport Camp near Belize City.World Radio TV Handbook, Volume 43, O. Lund Johansen, 1989, page 276 These broadcasts could also be received in eastern parts of Guatemala.Central America, Emily Hatchwell, Simon Calder, Vacation Work, 1991, page 142 It ceased broadcasting in Belize in August 2011. The station re-opened in 2016.We're proud to say that we're back on air in Belize, serving the forces community. Tune in > BFBS Belize 94.3MHz FM, Twitter, 16 August 2016
Service Description Frequency Webcast Contemporary music, speech Popular music, news, sport Programming for Gurkhas
Local stations Service Description Frequency WebcastBFBS Ascension IslandLocal serviceBFBS Radio: BFBS BahrainLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 99.1BFBS BelgiumLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 107.7 (SHAPE)BFBS BelizeLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 94.3BFBS Radio 2:FM: 96.3BFBS Gurkha Network:FM: 98.3BFBS BosniaLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 102.0 (Butmir Camp)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 106.9 (Butmir Camp) Local service BFBS Radio:FM: 101.7 (Seria)BFBS Gurhka Network:FM: 89.5 (Seria)FM: 92.0 (Sitang Camp) CKBF-FM Local service BFBS Radio:FM: CKBF-FM 104.1 (Ralston Village / BATUS)FM: 98.1 (CFB Suffield A-Line) Local service BFBS Radio:FM: 89.9 (Akrotiri)FM: 91.7 (Ayios Nikolaos)FM: 91.7 (Nicosia)FM: 99.6 (Dhekelia)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 92.1 (Akrotiri)FM: 89.7 (Ayios Nikolaos)FM: 89.7 (Nicosia)FM: 95.3 (Dhekelia) BFBS EstoniaLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 94.9 (Camp Tapa)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 89.2 (Camp Tapa) Local service BFBS Radio:FM: 102.4 (Byron Heights, Mount Alice, Mount Kent)FM: 98.5 (MPA)FM: 91.1 (Sapper Hill)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 104.2 (Byron Heights, Mount Alice, Mount Kent)FM: 93.8 (MPA)FM: 94.5 (Sapper Hill) Local service BFBS Radio:FM: 91.7 (Friedrichdorf)FM 101.6 (Herford)FM: 96.6 (Porta Westfalica)FM: 105.0 (Sennelager)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 89.6 (Porta Westfalica)FM: 91.2 (Sennelager) Local service BFBS Radio:FM: 97.8 (O'Haras Battery)FM: 93.5 (Oyster Cottage)BFBS Radio 2:FM: 99.5 (O'Haras Battery)FM: 89.4 (Oyster Cottage) BFBS Nepal Local service BFBS Gurkha Network:FM: 105.7 (Kathmandu)FM: 107.5 (Dharan Town Area) BFBS Radio 2: BFBS NetherlandsLocal serviceBFBS Radio:FM: 90.2 (NATO JFC Brunssum)BFBS SingaporeLocal serviceBFBS Radio:Online available (British Defence Singapore Support Unit) Local service Local service Local service FM: BFBS BovingtonLocal serviceFM: 100.8 MHzBFBS BulfordLocal serviceFM: 106.8 MHz Local service FM: Local service FM: Local service Local service DAB+: SSDAB (Salisbury Plain)FM: Local service
Themed stations Service Description Launched Webcast Rhythmic contemporary Rock and indie music 28 March 2022 Classic hits British popular music 2022 Nepali and Hindi music
BFBS Television BFBS Television started in Celle, near Hanover in West Germany, on 18 September 1975 from Trenchard Barracks. This used taped broadcasts from the BBC and ITV, flown to Germany from London, which were then rebroadcast using low-power UHF transmitters.Coronation Street for the Rhine Army, New Scientist, 4 September 1975 Live broadcasts of news and sport began in 1982, using a microwave link between the UK and West Germany, extending as far east as West Berlin.
The BFBS TV service used the 625-line PAL system, used in the UK as well as West Germany.Eighth Report from the Expenditure Committee Session 1977-78, Papers by command, Volume 34, HMSO, 1977, page 92 By 1982, it was available at 50 sites throughout northern and central regions of West Germany.In West Germany: Military Networks Spreading Pop, Billboard, Billboard – 27 March 1982
It was known as SSVC Television (Services Sound and Vision Corporation) between 1985 and 1997, when it reverted to the BFBS name.Rundfunk und Fernsehen, Volume 45, Nomos, 1997, page 339 Today it broadcasts live via satellite. DVDs are still sent to forces serving in more remote areas. There was also a service known as Navy TV, which broadcast time-shifted versions of the channel to Royal Navy vessels around the world via military satellite.BFBS buys system, Broadcast, 4 March 2004
Programmes Most programmes came from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky, including news from BBC News, Sky News and ITN, and sport from BBC Sport and Sky Sports. BFBS also has its own programmes, including the daily news bulletin programme Daily Forces News.
As of 1982 BFBS's studio—used for BFBS's own shows and six in-vision continuity announcers—was in London Weekend Television (LWT)'s Wembley location. LWT engineers recorded programs for BFBS on videotape, then removed commercials. With only four video recorders available, if two were being used for editing, BBC 1, BBC 2, and ITV could not be recorded simultaneously, so BFBS headquarters in London scheduled the recorders based on advance information, balancing the three channels. That year, it began broadcasting ITN News at 5:45, BBC Nine O'Clock News, and BBC Grandstand live.
Availability BFBS Television was broadcast in some areas as a terrestrial service in the clear using low-power transmitters to minimise signal overspill to non-service audiences and protect copyright.The Vital Link: The Story of Royal Signals 1945-1985, Philip Warner, Pen and Sword, 1989 page 258 Despite this, it could be received in West Berlin,Berlin, Andrew Gumbel, Cadogan Books, 1991, page 239 and its listings were carried in local German language magazines.Zitty, Volume 18, Issues 17-19, Zitty Verlag GmbH, 1994 However, the signal was largely confined to the British Sector, reflecting the situation with its American counterpart, AFN TV, whose signal was similarly limited to the American Sector.750 Years Berlin 1987: Information, Presse und Informationsamt des Landes Berlin, 1987, page 85