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VILSECK, Germany — In the United States, the average television viewer has about 118 channels available to watch, according to Nielsen Media Research.
There is a channel for almost every interest: golfing, shopping, cooking, religion and science fiction, for example.
In Europe, people working for the military and their families have 10 American Forces Network television channels with basic cable service.
Every day the AFN Broadcast Center in California does its best to get the best stateside programming on the satellite for Americans living overseas.
“When you look at the programming on our (AFN) channels, you quickly see we fit all the most popular U.S. shows into our schedule,” said Larry Sichter, chief of the AFN Affiliate Relations Division at the American Forces Broadcast Center. “We’re providing the same choices the majority of Americans prefer to watch.”
Mr. Sichter said he is often asked why AFN airs a popular show months after it is shown stateside.
“Unlike stateside networks, we show only original episodes of any given series’ season on our prime services,” he said.
Mr. Sichter said this gives AFN an advantage.
“A series runs in the states in the same time slot for most of the year because many of the episodes are repeated,” he said. Since AFN doesn’t follow this practice, its viewers can catch all original episodes of two different shows in that time slot, instead of seeing repeats.
So, how does AFN decide which shows it will air?
“If a series continues to rate highly in the states, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings, the chances are high that it will return to AFN,” Mr. Sichter said.
Compounding the challenge of fitting the most popular stateside programs into 10 channels is where AFN’s viewers are located. AFN’s two prime viewing channels, AFN|prime Atlantic and AFN|prime Pacific, contain the same programs time-shifted for viewers in Korea and in the Atlantic region (including Europe).
“AFN schedules programs at the same time viewers would expect to see them in the states,” Mr. Sichter said. Even though shows on AFN’s two prime channels are scheduled at different times, viewers can still see repeats.
“(AFN does) a good job,” said Julia Delass, a military spouse in Hohenfels, Germany. “It’s just kind of frustrating because they have channels with the same programs.”
An example is the Dr. Phil show. Viewers in Europe can watch it at 10 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. on AFN|prime Atlantic. It also airs at 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. Central European Time on AFN|prime Pacific.
Mr. Sichter said this is to time-shift the program for viewers in places like Korea. But Mr. Sichter concedes AFN will never be able to make all of its viewers happy, especially sports fans.
“Each week throughout the season, the AFN sports programmers do their level best to bring viewers the best possible mix of games available,” he said. “AFN airs more college and pro football than any single stateside broadcast source.”
Mr. Sichter said AFN tries to schedule as many live sporting events as possible.
“Conflicting game times stateside and a limited amount of available space in an already crowded schedule requires AFN to also tape delay many events,” he said.
Mr. Sichter added the decision whether to air an event live or tape delayed depends on its significance and the time it airs in the states.
The AFN Broadcast Center keeps the overseas audience in mind when they make programming choices.
“Having spent 13 years of my life overseas, I know first-hand the value of AFN,” Mr. Sichter said. “When you’re away from home, you become hungry for information about home, and that’s what we do best; we keep our audience informed by providing a ‘touch of home.’”
Part of keeping in touch with the audience is visiting them and finding out what they like and what needs changing. Mr. Sichter, Deputy Director Dave Gebhardt, and Director of Religious Programming Chaplain (Maj.) Bruce Kite are scheduled to visit Europe in-mid October. They’ll go live on AFN radio at 10 a.m. Wednesday to answer questions.
For more information on the latest AFN programming and air times, visit myafn.net. To see when a series begins and ends, click “projection/returning series” at the top of the page.
