Since our last update, I’ve had the privilege of travelling overseas to Cyprus and the Falkland Islands to spend time with our staff and speak to our audiences. We met in hangers, mess halls, gymnasiums, coffee shops, and even kennels to explore how BFBS can bring you the most relevant news and the best entertainment on our TV, radio, and digital channels.
Closer to home, at the Celebrating Forces Families awards I met so many inspirational individuals. Congratulations to all nominees and winners, and once again BFBS was honoured to be Media Partner for this event and tell your extraordinary stories.
In this update, we've chosen our top picks from our Forces News channels, and you can read about the latest BFBS Radio documentary NATO 75, and news of our recent collaboration with BT. We've highlighted BFBS Academy’s latest social media course, plus some of our successes and nominations. And we’ve got plenty of sport to shout about too, including our livestream of Army v Navy tomorrow – enjoy!
Ben Chapman, CEO
BFBS Forces News: Telling Your Stories
We were keen to bring you extensive coverage of Exercise Steadfast Defender on YouTube and it's proved very popular, with 2.4 million views in the first eight weeks of the year, reaching audiences in more than 50 countries. Our piece showing UKAF joining allies in Poland for bridge-building exercises was one of our 22 videos and 'shorts'.
On TikTok, our explainer detailing how Sikhs in the Army wear cap badges on turbans has reached 1.3 million views, while our latest Forces Original took Iraq veteran and Forces News reporter, James Wharton, back to Iraq to look at how the Army evolved from the conflict. Watch Adapt and Overcome on YouTube.
We’re also delighted to welcome some new commentators to Forces.net to bring you even more in-depth defence analysis, including Commodore (Ret’d) Steve Prest and Hamish De Bretton-Gordon.
BFBS Radio: NATO 75 – An Alliance Rescue
In NATO 75 - An Alliance Rescue, BFBS Radio presenter Amy Casey interviews Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe personnel involved in the rescue of two German soldiers who were left at Kabul airport in the aftermath of a terror attack during the 2021 evacuation.
Among those rescued was Heer Master Sergeant Stephan, whose emotional account of the mission showcases the bravery and comradery displayed throughout the harrowing experience.
Flight Lieutenant Mark Jenkins, a British exchange officer in Germany, played a pivotal role in the rescue operation, leading a team of dedicated individuals in a challenging mission to retrieve the soldiers amidst chaos and danger.
The podcast narrates the remarkable events that transpired as the crew brought the soldiers to safety. Despite facing formidable obstacles, the crew's unwavering commitment and teamwork exemplified the spirit of cooperation and unity at the heart of NATO's mission.
Also on air...listen out for a fresh line up on our national station, BFBS UK. From May 13 we’ll have a new national Breakfast Show, a Drivetime show networked worldwide, and an Evening show from BFBS Northern Ireland.
BFBS Sport: Loving the Livestreams
We’re constantly raising our game when it comes to military sport and have already produced 24 livestreams this year. We had a strong start as the two Challenge Cup fixtures reached 35k views. The first round of men’s and women’s Inter Services rugby combined had 26.5k views, while our coverage of the Army Boxing Finals was a knock-out with 35k views.
We’ll be at Twickenham tomorrow for the Army v Navy annual showdown – here’s how to watch – where BBC presenter and former Royal Marine JJ Chalmers will be hosting this year's match. And as part of the goal of growing a civilian audience, we have partnered with RugbyPass to show the Inter Service Rugby Union Championship live on their streaming service too.
With the support of the Football Association, BFBS is also livestreaming two Gurkha football games for the first time, on May 3 and 6, exclusively on YouTube. You can watch the Nepal national team v British Army, and Nepal v England C – both are live from Aldershot. We'll have commentary in Nepali on Facebook, coverage on BFBS Gurkha Radio and both matches will be available for catch up on BFBS TV.
Looking ahead, we'll have livestreams of the final round of the Inter Services Rugby at Gloucester, the Inter Services Cricket from Lord's and the Woolwich Cup football, all on our Forces News YouTube channel.
Our sports offering also extends across our worldwide BFBS Radio network, and if you are overseas, you can enjoy top flight commentary and coverage from talkSPORT and 5 Live on BFBS Radio 2.
If you'd like us to cover your sport, contact the Sport Editor at [email protected].
BFBS Collaborates with BT
The services we provide for those based overseas is curated at our HQ in Buckinghamshire, but since April the way that content is encoded and delivered has changed. Our bespoke mix of current British TV and access to premium sports, series, and movies is now encoded by BT’s Media and Broadcast unit, using its new virtualised platform hosted at BT Tower.
Ben Chapman, CEO of BFBS, said: “Moving to BT’s Vena network and virtualised platform offers us the agility to flex and adjust to the evolving needs of our armed forces overseas. It also ensures a secure, robust, and future-proof method of delivering our media content."
Faisal Mahomed, Director of BT Media and Broadcast & UK Portfolio Businesses added: “We’re excited to support BFBS with this transition to cloud-based broadcasting. It’s an organisation with a purpose that sits at the heart of BT’s ambitions to connect for good, and we will help them bring content every day to armed forces personnel and their families around the world – including those often serving in difficult or extreme locations."
BFBS Academy: Welcome to Social Media Specialists
BFBS Academy’s popular Social Media Spouses programme has undergone a transformation to be re-launched as Social Media Specialists. The remote social media marketing training course is now open to partners of members of the UK military, veterans and their partners, and bereaved forces families.
The #SMSpecialists programme consists of seven courses which are all delivered online and can be completed at your own pace. Areas covered by the course include the workings of Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and LinkedIn’s algorithms, the planning, implementation, and evaluation of social media campaigns, plus techniques to grow and engage an audience, and moderate comments and discussions.
Course Leader Jackie Lerm, Head of Social Media at BFBS, said: “We are delighted to introduce this course to the broader military community, demonstrating our commitment to supporting military families at every stage in their journey. Whether you’re a partner navigating social media or a veteran aiming to enhance your digital skill set, our training program is tailored to provide you with the support and empowerment you need.”
Apply for the course at sms.bfbs.com
Sharing Successes and Nominations
A few weeks ago we were thrilled to announce that BFBS Creative won SILVER at the New York Festival Radio Awards for their podcast 'Near Death' which explores some of the darkest stories of human survival. We are hugely grateful to all of the contributors who shared their incredible personal stories – you can listen to the series on all the main podcast platforms and at bfbs.com.podcasts/neardeath.
Near Death has also been nominated for three industry awards, the Best New Podcast category at the ARIAS – the winners will be announced on May 7 – and in two categories at the 2024 Webby Awards: The Webby Award and The Webby People's Voice Award.