BFBS Update December 2025

Our teams were in Plymouth and Portsmouth to capture the return of the Carrier Strike Group on November 30. They were on board HMS Richmond as she came in, and filmed the high pressure moment a young member of crew had to throw a rope to shore – an inspiring and uplifting watch which has had 2.2 million views across socials. Other varied content included interviews with Commodore Blackmore, crew, and their waiting families as Prince of Wales, Dauntless and Richmond returned. Livestreams of HMS PWLS and the Norwegian warship Roald Amundsen coming in also had 146k views. 

Our sport team covered the International Defence Rugby Championships – 15 matches, 30 hours of live broadcasting, which attracted 600k views, and a 24% female audience on YouTube. Our social media team sought out rugby fans outside defence and our BFBS comms team secured an article on the importance of military sport in Rugby World magazine. 

In the last three months our support for esports and gaming has been building momentum. Our inaugural Pro League Grand Final at the end of September saw the final eight teams from the 300 that entered go head-to-head at Staffordshire University – we will be announcing the next phase of our tournament for the military community in early 2026 so keep an eye on bfbsesports.com. In November we announced our media partnership with the International Defence Esports Games (IDEG). At the launch event, CEO Ben Chapman was part of the panel discussion entitled Serious Games the benefits to the Armed Forces (Globally), and Forces News Reporter and Video Journalist, Sian Grzeszczyk Melbourne was host. And this week BFBS supported the Interservice Championship in Sunderland with production, broadcasting, and hosting as the three services battled it out, with the RAF Stormshadows claiming victory.  

For updates, follow BFBS Esports on Facebook, Instagram and X. 

Our Live Events team has been busy producing some exhilarating shows around the globe. AFISHAL – a visual DJ and drumming sensation with a worldwide following of over three million, brought festival-level energy to the stage in Estonia for 500 personnel in August. Beatboxers Duke, singer/guitarist Louise Harper, comedian Maff Brown, and the BFBS Dancers, created a dynamic BFBStival.  

In Duqm, drum and bass legend SIGMA reinforced their continued support for the UK Armed Forces in October with a high-octane headline performance for those on CSG 25, captivating the 2500-strong audience from HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Dauntless, HMS Richmond, and RFA Tidespring. 

And in Bahrain this month, our team fulfilled a last-minute request to provide a live show for HMS Lancaster. The cast watched her arrive to the sound of the Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines, before heading onboard to meet the ship’s company. DJ Live Band JBMAC, singer/guitarist Nath Brooks and Comedian Matt Reed delivered an unforgettable night. 

As BFBS TV turned 50 in September, we hosted an event at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention to thank our media industry partners who allow us to extend their films, series, and major sport exclusively to UK Armed Forces communities serving around the world.  

A snapshot of some of the entertainment we're proud to have brought our overseas audiences include Hollywood blockbuster premieres such as F1: The Movie, Sinners and The Minecraft Movie, as well as premium TV series including the latest instalments of Clarkson's Farm and The Last of Us, at the same time as back home.     

Boxing's Benn v Eubank 2 was one of the most watched live events of the year and looking ahead, we’ll continue our run of top-flight sport on BFBS TV, including all 380 Premier League matches, plus the PDC World Championship Darts and Australia v England –The Ashes. 

And for the festive fortnight we’ve got a whopping 78 films, including 16 'Christmas Classics' and 20 channel premieres including Superman, Snow White, Thunderbolts* and Mufasa: The Lion King. 

Audience understanding is the foundation of effective communications, and it underpins the full range of services available at BFBS Creative. Our Research and Insight capability helps Defence and the Armed Forces plan campaigns rooted in real audience understanding, which helps shape strategic thinking and guide the creative choices that follow.  

By understanding the people you need to reach, their motivations and the information environment they operate in, we provide direction that strengthens every stage of your communications. 

Insight informs the strategies we develop, supports the campaigns we plan and helps our graphics and video teams produce content that connects with audiences in a way that feels relevant and genuine. 

Whether you need rapid feedback, deeper analysis, or guidance for a complex campaign, this service supports confident decision making and helps ensure your messages land with clarity and purpose. 

Discover how insight can strengthen your communications. 

Our BFBS Academy is launching a FREE AI Skills for Military Partners programme, thanks to a grant from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. It’s designed to help build practical digital skills, expand career opportunities, and strengthen employability.  

The sessions will blend self-paced online learning with monthly live evening webinars and four one-off in person workshops in Cyprus, Catterick, Blandford and Edinburgh.   

Jackie Collins, Head of Social Media at BFBS and lead on the programme, said: “With practical AI skills, participants can confidently explore new opportunities, grow their careers, or enhance their businesses, turning the promise of new year in real action and results.”  The programme launches on 8th January – but partners can sign up here now. 

Our UK BFBS Radio presenters were recognised for their outstanding work at this year’s Community Radio Awards taking home six accolades: two Gold Awards, for Chris Kaye (BFBS Catterick) and Natasha Reneaux (BFBS Aldershot), two Bronze Awards for Natasha Reneaux, Mark McKenzie (BFBS Scotland) and Major Karen Tait MBE (Families’ Activity Breaks) – plus two Finalist placements for Jason Herbert (BFBS Blandford) and Honor Mant (BFBS Salisbury Plain). 

At the AIB Awards our Sitrep team beat extremely strong competition including the BBC World Service, Bloomberg and Times Radio to win the Best News Coverage for their explanation of the Ukraine war. The Judges said: “Outstanding access, delivery with calm and authority, strong production values that draw the listener in from the outset, 'mind-blowing' narrative.” Forces News reporter James Wharton’s film The Forgotten Battle and The Culture Colonel podcast were nominated for AIB awards too. 

We’re also very proud of our BFBS Academy who won the Innovation of Approach award at the KPMG Learning Services Awards. Alongside 150 accredited training companies, our team was delighted to be recognised for their efforts in supporting our valued MOD and Government Agency clients through the KPMG contract. 

Our teams are constantly looking for ways to work with the media, tech, and defence industries, and attend events to showcase our latest capabilities and share knowledge.

At DSEI we switched up our stand this year with two (very popular!) F1 gaming rigs to reflect our BFBS Esports activity, and were excited to illustrate our future BFBS MiPlayer services for submarines.

The MiPlayer featured heavily at the Indo Pacific Maritime Symposium in Sydney too, where following considerable engagement with Australian defence industry partners at DSEI we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australian company APC Technology Pty Ltd to deliver MiPlayer based next-generation broadcast, media, and welfare technology solutions across the Defence and mining sectors in Australasia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

We also joined global industry leaders at IBC - International Broadcasting Convention where BFBS contributed to the Accelerator Incubator Project: Changing the Game – a ground-breaking pilot exploring how AI could transform sport. We were in the European Broadcast Union pavilion too, demonstrating the innovation and development on their 5G Emerge programme in which we are a partner.

And we recently presented at  Radio TechCon the UK’s leading technical and engineering conference for the radio and audio industry. Live Events Manager Angie Avlianos and Broadcast Engineer James Smith shared the story of what happens when a group of broadcast engineers come together to build a successful esports tournament.

Our BFBS Cinemas team has been helping young audiences to learn more about the wonders of film, as part of this year’s Into Film Festival. 

Feedback from attendees were overwhelmingly positive, with many highlighting how special and meaningful these free of charge screenings are, allowing children a chance to relax, connect, and make happy memories. Big-screen hits enjoyed by the young forces family audiences included Flow, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and The Wild Robot. 

A huge thank you to all the local volunteers involved, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Into Film and supporting more educational cinema experiences in the future.