BFBS Forces Radio Comes Home

Anyone who’s ever been posted overseas, or on ops, will know and love BFBS Radio. The good news is that the service has announced that its unique mix of programmes will be available permanently on DAB Digital Radio in the UK from 20th April – and the Forces’ broadcaster has support from the top of the MOD.

In a letter to the British Forces Broadcasting Service, the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said: “I am delighted that the DAB Digital Radio initiative is taking off so quickly; the capability it will deliver in reaching so many of the Service Community is invaluable.  I welcome the fact that while Forces personnel and their families overseas are kept in touch through the current service, it is those in the United Kingdom that will now be kept informed through their own Forces radio station.  I am a keen supporter of BFBS on Digital.”

The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, added his support, saying, “the provision of BFBS Radio across the United Kingdom is a positive step forward, not only for service personnel, but also for their partners, families and friends.”

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, is also behind the initiative: “This will be warmly welcomed by the wider RAF community across the UK.  I look forward to the BFBS audience expanding even further.”

BFBS Radio undertook a three-month trial on DAB in early 2008 and conducted detailed audience research that indicated an audience of more than 850,000 listened to its mix of Forces news, music requests and dedications. 

“BFBS Radio exists to connect the Forces community,” says Controller, Charles Foster.  “We’ve done that overseas for more than sixty years but now we’re coming home.  We’ll continue to broadcast to the Forces and their families in Germany, Cyprus and around the world but our main focus now has to be operational areas and the vast majority of the service community in the United Kingdom, including veterans.”

The Services’ Sound & Vision Corporation, the charity that has run the BFBS Radio and Television contract since 1983, is funding the DAB service.  The corporation’s Acting Managing Director, Simon Shute, says the move is a “gesture of support to the men and women who serve our country at home and abroad.”

Charles Foster is confident that BFBS Radio will be a success in the tough UK radio market.  “We have some hugely talented presenters, we play fantastic music, we pack our programmes full of unique Forces news and reports and, most importantly, we connect a unique audience across the world. And according to the audience research last year, we are a little quirky, which people like! Tell your family and friends to tune in!”

In addition to its new DAB service, BFBS Radio is heard in more than a dozen countries, from Afghanistan to Brunei, Cyprus to the Falklands and Germany to the Middle East.  It is also available online at www.bfbs.com, on Sky Guide Number 0211 and Freesat Channel 786.

Editors’ notes:
For more information, contact Charles Foster on 01494 878701
Charles.Foster@bfbs.com

Footage/audio of the launch will be available on the day. Contact Andy.Pearman@bfbs.com    01494 878718  or  07831 115510.

BFBS Radio is part of UK Forces’ charity the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), providing TV, Radio, Cinemas, SSVC audio-visual shops and CSE live entertainment to British troops throughout the world.

Background:
BFBS Radio had a three-month live trial on Digital One DAB in the UK from January to March 2008.

Independent research conducted by Headtime and Aurora during the trial measured the audience for BFBS Radio on DAB in the UK as over 850,000.

Survey data

• during the trial BFBS Radio has been listened to by 863,000 people per week on DAB Digital Radio in Great Britain
• BFBS Radio's audience listens for an average of 12.3 hours per week
• 66% of the Core Target (serving members of HM Armed Forces and their immediate families) said that they would be interested in listening to BFBS Radio in the UK in the future
• More than half of those in the serving core target said they would be more likely to buy a DAB set if BFBS Radio is made permanent on DAB Digital Radio
• 55% of all respondents said that they thought it was important that there should be a UK radio station that would help Forces people feel more appreciated by showing they are real people with real emotions
• 81% of all respondents said that they thought it was a good idea for BFBS radio to be available in the UK

Independent qualitative research, carried out in focus groups with the three services, reservists and extended families showed a high appreciation for BFBS Radio. Among the reasons given by forces people for having BFBS Radio available in the UK were:

• It brings full, two-way, messaging and communications between people deployed across the world
• It generates a strengthened sense of forces community spirit
• It is a great medium for useful Forces information
• It has a specialist Forces news service