American Forces Network
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American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its networks worldwide. Previously, they were known by different names depending on location, eg: Armed Forces Korea Network (AFKN), which is now called AFN Korea, and Far East Network (FEN), which is now known as AFN Pacific. It can trace its origins back to 1942, when the US War Department established Armed Forces Radio Services (AFRS). A television service was first introduced in the 1960s during the Vietnam War, called the American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN). The television service spread to Korea and Japan later in the decade.
AFN Radio operates on local AM and FM frequencies where US forces are based, but AFN Television is encrypted, for copyright and licensing reasons, as it is intended solely for the US forces and their families. However, AFN Korea is available on cable in South Korea. Neither AFN Radio nor AFN Television carries advertising. Instead, public service announcements air in their place, conveying messages of utmost importance to military families and their dependents.
All of the Armed Forces affiliates merged under the AFN banner on January 1, 1998. American Forces Radio expanded in the early 2000s; while it was common for many decades to just have one AM radio station serving an area of installations, the new technology available has allowed the U.S. military to get space on the FM bands in their various host countries for niche programming.
AFN's TV channels now include:
- AFN Atlantic - general entertainment; for Europe, Middle East; Africa and South Asia
- AFN Pacific- similar timeshifted channel for Asia and Pacific
- AFN Korea - similar to AFN Pacific, but with a few program changes because of more restrictions placed on broadcast affiliates in South Korea
- AFN Iraq - news, information, and entertainment programs, including adult contemporary music, broadcast within Iraq
- AFN News - news coverage from AFN and US domestic networks;
- AFN Sports - football, baseball, hockey and other sports coverage;
- AFN Spectrum - children's programming
External links
de:American Forces Network
ja:AFN
