BFBS Television
In the early 1960s a BFBS Engineer named John Bull promoted the idea that BFBS could have a Television Broadcast service for a relatively low cost and demonstrated this by building his own Television Station broadcasting from his home in Nicosia, Cyprus two nights a week. Despite successfully proving the point he failed to convince the management at the time and so another ten years passed before BFBS eventually had a television service.
BFBS Television started in Celle, Germany on 18 September 1975 from Trenchard Barracks, using taped broadcasts from the BBC and ITV. Live broadcasts of news and sport began in 1983, using a microwave link between the UK and West Germany, extending as far east as West Berlin.
It was known as SSVC Television between 1985 and 1997, when it reverted to the BFBS name. Today it now broadcasts live via satellite. DVDs are still sent to forces serving in more remote areas. There is also a service known as BFBS Navy TV, which broadcasts time-shifted versions of the channel to Royal Navy vessels around the world via military satellite.
Most programmes come from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and Sky, including news from BBC News, Sky News, ITN, and sport from BBC Sport and Sky Sports. BFBS also has its own programmes, including the daily news bulletin programme British Forces News and the children's programme Room 785.
BFBS Television is broadcast in some areas as a terrestrial service, but is encrypted for copyright reasons, as it is intended solely for HM Forces and their families.
Until 1997, it was also widely available in Cyprus, but its signal is now encrypted or confined to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Following complaints from local broadcasters like Lumiere TV, which had bought local rights to show English football and other programming, the decision was made to encrypt the signal, starting with Nicosia in April 1997 and ending with Larnaca and Limassol in May 1998. The decision was criticised by MPs in an Early Day Motion.
However, BFBS 1 is watched by civilians in the Falkland Islands, where until recently, it was the only terrestrial TV service. It is shown on a timeshifted basis (which means that "live" events are shown between 3 and 5 hours after they have actually happened.) There are plans to expand the civilian terrestrial TV service as part of a digital upgrade, which would include BFBS 1, BFBS 2, BFBS 3 and one other channel.
British Forces and their families living at BATUS in Canada have access to BFBS 1, a limited amount of BFBS 2 and BFBS 3 and Sky News on a 7 hour timeshift from CET. During the day, the television channel that BFBS 2/3 broadcasts on plays BFBS Radio 1.
Since 2009 there have been four BFBS Television services:
- BFBS 1 – Everything from chat shows to soaps, dramas to news, documentaries to sport. Relays the BBC News channel overnight.
- BFBS 2 – A 6-hour block of general entertainment and sports programmes shown four times around the clock.
- BFBS 3 Kids – Children's programming and factual entertainment.
- BFBS 4 – Movie channel with two films a day, each shown six times around the clock.
A combined version of these four called "BFBS Navy TV" is available on some naval vessels.
Since 2005, BFBS has also distributed commercial networks Q, Sky News, Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to certain areas. It also started a movie channel on 2 May 2008, using money that it has saved following the Premier League's decision to waive the £250,000 rights fee.
In 2010, it also added Nepali TV for the benefit of Gurkha soldiers.
Read more about this topic: British Forces Broadcasting Service
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