Our mission
We are a military and media charity with a mission to entertain, inform, connect and champion the UK armed forces, their families and veterans. Our focus is principally to boost morale.
We do this by providing “welfare media” under contract to the Ministry of Defence, alongside a range of other related services.
Entertain
Those deployed overseas can feel especially cut off from home, and BFBS supports them by providing a wide range of television via satellite and the internet. The line-up includes the main general entertainment channels including the best of UK TV and premium content. Our relationships with UK broadcasters, Hollywood studios, global production companies and sports rights holders have been built over many years.
In addition, we operate a string of “live and local” community radio stations in most of the main U.K. military bases abroad and at home, including a Nepali language network for Gurkhas. Plus, we provide the latest cinema releases and live entertainment shows. All these services are a “home-from-home” lifeline for those who are serving.
Inform
Our full-scale newsroom reports daily on the military world, on BFBS radio, BFBS TV, forces.net and our social media channels.
We also support the MoD and single services by amplifying their internal and external communications.
Connect
We constantly innovate to respond to the changing media landscape and military deployment patterns. For example, the MiPlayer, which we developed in-house, provides audiences with an internet-connected viewing experience on personal devices, without the internet.
Champion
Our wider mission is to tell the great stories about the armed forces to the general public, in the U.K. and globally. Forces.Net and our YouTube channels are seen around the world. They serve to keep the activities of the services in the public eye, and to support recruitment and retention.
The BFBS Academy trains ex-forces personnel in media skills, to help them transition to successful civilian careers. Our own in-house charity “The Big Salute” raises money for military good causes.
Commercial
BFBS Creative is our media agency which provides services to a wide range of Defence clients and others. Media Innovation markets our Defence-focused technology to commercial customers.
For more information, please visit https://www.bfbs.com/