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Posted on 02/25/2026 12:33:47 PM PST by Libloather
The American Forces Network is ending its eight-channel satellite television service for U.S. military personnel living off base across Europe and Asia.
The long-running service known as “direct-to-home” is screening its final programming before going dark March 22, said Kimberly Antos, director of AFN’s Broadcast Center.
The network is replacing the satellite broadcast with its AFN Now application, which has drawn 57,000 registered users since it launched in 2022, she told Stars and Stripes in a Jan. 30 email.
“This transition is absolutely a cost-saving measure,” Antos said, adding she doesn’t have information about how much money the broadcaster will save.
The change reflects the way modern audiences expect to consume their news, sports and entertainment, she said.
AFN will continue its “direct-to-sailor” broadcast of four standard-definition channels intended for U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Military Sealift Command vessels, Antos said. Receiving that service requires a 6-foot-wide satellite dish.
The U.S. military began television broadcasts in 1953. Satellite broadcasts to off-base customers, who could tune in with a pizza-box-sized dish and decoder, began in Europe in 1997 and the Pacific in 2004, Antos said.
AFN doesn’t have a way to measure its direct-to-home audience but estimates 400,000 viewers, including service members, government civilians, their families and retirees, across all services, she said.
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Even El Rush-Bo was on American Forces Network.
When I lived in military housing in Wiesbaden W. Germany, AFN was received on a UHF channel that was transmitting from a low-power translator station in the housing area. Each housing area had its own transmitter to keep the German population from being able to receive the signal. The antennas had a directional pattern to cover the specific area. Thus, those Americans not living in the housing area also could not receive it. Glad to see technology advances serve that group, too.
Lived off post in Germany in 81-84, no TV but lots of radio ( The Shadow, Honeymooners, etc) and Lots of reading.
Even El Rush-Bo was on American Forces Network.
So was NPR. When my lib associates said they petitioned against Rush for equal time purposes, I told them NPR was equal time. They had no clue wha?
Same as they prob reacted last night. Of course we’re supposed to take care of illegals first.
I used to watch live sports at 2-3am.... those were the days.
They can’t go over the side on an aircraft carrier?
With no TV you missed Dukes of Hazard in French.
Also lived off post in West Germany 1979-1982 and no TV—occasionally tune into AFN Radio when out in the field. Loved tuning into Kasey Kasem...
I remember regularly listening to AFRTS on my shortwave as a kid. They would sometimes broadcast college football games you couldn’t hear anywhere else.
That is a design feature.
It’s also being built in the coming Ford class carriers..
But saw Hoss Cartwright belly up to the bar and say “Eine Cognac, Bitte!”
This transition is absolutely a cost-saving measure,” Antos said, adding she doesn’t have information about how much money the broadcaster will...
What the
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