BFBS Radio
BFBS Radio's three stations broadcast on a combination of local FM and AM analogue frequencies, via live streaming at bfbs.com/listen, on Sky Channel 0211, Freesat Channel 786, and since April 2009 on DAB Digital Radio in the UK. The three BFBS Radio stations can be heard by the entire global Forces Community.
- The Forces Station BFBS – Contemporary music and Forces Community Radio
- BFBS Radio 2 – popular music, news, current affairs and sport
- BFBS Gurkha Radio – programming for Gurkhas
BFBS broadcasts to service personnel, their families and friends all over the world with local radio studios in Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and Northern Ireland and operational areas from the studio in Afghanistan. In addition, BFBS radio is heard by troops in Ascension Island, Belgium, the Netherlands, Naples and Stavanger as well as onboard Royal Navy ships at sea via live satellite links, on the World Wide Web at BFBS.com/Radio and on Sky Digital channel 0211, via a Eutelsat 28A transponder.
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. The BFBS Berlin frequency was given up on Dec 12, 1994.
It ceased broadcasting in Belize in August, 2011.
The Forces Station BFBS 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.
Bespoke news bulletins are broadcast every hour, 24 hours a day, utilising audio from BBC News, IRN and BFBS's own team of Forces News reporters. The standard bulletin is three minutes long, with extended ten minute Newsplus 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 Radio 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 Five 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. BFBS Radio also provides programmes in Gurkhali, for the Gurkha units serving with the British Army.
At midnight on Saturday 12 January 2008, The Forces Station BFBS began a trial period of broadcasting nationwide across the UK on DAB, which ran until 23:59 on 31 March 2008. Audience research carried out during the trial concluded that it was successful, and The Forces Station BFBS now broadcasts nationally on DAB Digital Radio.
On Monday 31 May 2010, BBC Radio 1 teamed up with BFBS transmitting the 10 hour takeover show from Camp Bastion with BFBS presenters and shout outs from the military community, and repeated the link-up in 2011.
In December 2011, Smooth Radio broadcast their 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 Simon Bates and BFBS's Rachel Cochrane allowing family and friends of serving troops to connect with their loved ones.
Read more about this topic: British Forces Broadcasting Service
Famous quotes containing the word radio:
“The radio ... goes on early in the morning and is listened to at all hours of the day, until nine, ten and often eleven o’clock in the evening. This is certainly a sign that the grown-ups have infinite patience, but it also means that the power of absorption of their brains is pretty limited, with exceptions, of course—I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. One or two news bulletins would be ample per day! But the old geese, well—I’ve said my piece!”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)