BFBS 1

BFBS 1
CountryUnited Kingdom
Broadcast area
  • United Kingdom
  • Ascension Island
  • Bahrain
  • Brunei
  • Canada
  • Cyprus
  • Diego Garcia
  • Estonia
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Falkland Islands
  • Nepal
  • Singapore
NetworkBFBS Television
HeadquartersBroadcasting House, London, United Kingdom
Programming
LanguageEnglish
Picture format1080p (SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerBritish Forces Broadcasting Service
Sister channels
History
Launched18 September 1975 (1975-09-18)
ClosedMarch 2013 (2013-03)
Former names
  • BFBS Television (18 September 1975 โ€“ September 1985)
  • SSVC Television (September 1985 โ€“ 1997)
  • BFBS (1997 โ€“ 2001)
Availability
Terrestrial
BFBS's DTT serviceChannel 1 (usually)

BFBS 1 was a British television channel owned and operated by the British Forces Broadcasting Service. It was the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, airing mainstream programming, often sourced from BBC One and ITV.

The channel was launched in 1975 in Celle, West Germany, and initially catered to British military bases stationed there. By the late 1980s, with an increased broadcast footprint (coinciding with the launch in Cyprus, the channel was renamed SSVC Television, but had its name reverted to BFBS Television in 1997. Following the launch of the male-oriented BFBS 2 in 2001, the channel was renamed BFBS 1.

The channel closed down in March 2013 in favour of the new BFBS service, which led to the creation of BFBS Extra and BFBS Sport; the regular BFBS 1 channel was subsequently replaced by relays of BBC One and ITV.