The U.S. military's global radio and television service, the American Forces Network, AFN, is helping service members overseas celebrate the holiday season with "25 Days of Christmas," an extensive collection of holiday programming that will broadcast on all AFN channels, streaming services, and radio stations worldwide. This season, AFN also offers service members and military families overseas even more ways to bring home the holiday cheer.
"For 81 years, AFN has been providing U.S. forces and their families overseas the very best of holiday entertainment," says Hal Pittman, Director of the Defense Media Activity, AFN's parent organization based in Fort Meade, MD. "For many of our audiences, whether serving in Korea, eastern Europe, or the Horn of Africa, the holidays simply would not be the same without AFN."
In a holiday tradition that dates to 1942, AFN's network of 24 military radio stations worldwide will broadcast holiday music to local and regional audiences. For many overseas, AFN's launch of holiday programming marks the start of the Christmas season.
AFN's television service has successfully wrapped more than 75 holidays movies to air this season on its AFN Movie and Family channels. Many of those films are provided by industry partners like the Hallmark and Lifetime television networks. The holiday titles will also include a large collection of popular classics, such as, "Home Alone," "A Christmas Story," and "It's a Wonderful Life."
Ashley Gayton, AFN programmer and planner, says this is an especially exciting time of season for her.
"I spent many holidays seasons overseas myself with the U.S. Navy and truly appreciate how very important AFN's holiday programming is, particularly for our military families," says Gayton. "It is such an honor to serve our audiences and share with them the holiday spirit."
Gayton also takes pride in knowing that AFN's satellite service, Direct-to-Sailor, will even provide holiday programming to U.S. Navy ships at sea around the world.
Gayton notes that AFN's entertainment team is also working to make available additional holiday fare that speaks to those who celebrate Hannukah and Kwanza, among other observances - recognition that the Department of Defense is widely diverse and all-inclusive.
"We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to find personal pleasure and joy in our programming," says Chaplain (Maj.) Jason Hohnberger, AFN Chief of Religious Programming. "In December, AFN will be sharing Sunday morning worship services from around the nation, to include Harvest with Greg Laurie. We currently broadcast for most denominations, to include, Catholic, Lutheran, Gospel, Jewish services, and are continuing to expand our offerings." All religious denominations provide their programming to AFN at no cost.
Jim Alexander, Director of the AFN Broadcast Center, applauds the great generosity and support of AFN's industry partners who continue to share their content for the benefit of troop morale.
"American media are among the most appreciative supporters of U.S. service members," says Alexander. "AFN could not provide such great programming without the tremendous support of our many great industry partners."
That appreciation, Alexander says, is reflected in the enthusiastic feedback AFN receives from its audience of more than 350,000 U.S. service members, military families, and DoD civilians serving around the world.
This year AFN is offering overseas audiences even more ways to share in the holiday spirit. The fielding of AFN's dual radio and television streaming services, AFN Now and AFN Go, provides unlimited opportunity for holiday entertainment on even the busiest schedules, while AFN's traditional television services and local community radio stations worldwide continue to introduce rich collections of new seasonal entertainment.
AFN's streaming television service, AFN Now, is providing two dedicated holiday channels, Holidays Television and Holiday Movies, that are filled with seasonal favorites from networks like Lifetime and Hallmark. There are video-on-demand holiday baking competitions from the Food Network, and specials like, "Christmas from Graceland." All in addition to the many on-demand titles already available on the app. AFN Now's dedicated holiday channels and content are a wonderful way to catch the holiday spirit anytime.
Adding to the spirit of the season, AFN's streaming radio service, AFN Go, has created a dedicated holiday music channel with contemporary and seasonal classics, all provided by Westwood One. AFN Go's holiday music channel is now available through January 1st. Audiences with an AFN satellite decoder can also listen on channels 31 and 131.
Throughout December, AFN Go's holiday channel will air special weekend programming designed to add to the holiday spirit. The streaming service kicks off December with, "Christmas Across the Lands with Randy Sherwyn," a 12-hour variety show featuring stories, interviews, holiday trivia, and great Christmas music.
On December 8-10, AFN Go will stream, "100 Greatest Christmas Hits of All Time with Wink Martindale", a 10-hour countdown of the 100 best-loved Christmas songs, with the stories behind the songs and artists interviews. December 22-24, AFN Go features Chip Davis, founder of Mannheim Steamroller, who hosts, "An American Christmas", with classic Christmas songs and heart-warming Christmas stories.
For 81 years, the American Forces Network has rung in the holiday season with good cheer and heartwarming entertainment for America's service members far from home. AFN's motto, "We Bring You Home," continues to provide comfort and unite audiences with the warmth of America's holiday traditions. AFN asks that you remember all those so far from home this holiday season.
A full listing of upcoming holiday programming and schedules is available at myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil.
