Military network entertains overseas troops

American troops stationed throughout the world keep up-to-date with the Armed Forces Network

RIVERSIDE, California -- Which network can air back-to-back episodes of Jay Leno and David Letterman and reach viewers from Albania to Korea?

ABC? NBC? CBS? Fox? Think again.

How about AFN? The Armed Forces Network, or AFN, is located on March Air Force Base outside Riverside, California. It airs TV shows for American troops serving in 160 countries and territories, as well as those serving on Navy ships.

The broadcast center actually has three separate channels: entertainment, AFN NewSports and AFN Spectrum, which airs educational and children's shows. Unlike the other networks, the military doesn't pay performance rights or residuals to programmers and unions -- the programming is free. AFN also is commercial free; in the time slots where commercials normally appear on civilian TV, the network routinely runs public-interest spots.

	VIDEO
CNN's Paul Vercammen goes behind the scenes at Armed Forces TV Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

While troops may not be able to catch pay-channel shows like "The Sopranos" or "Sex and the City" on AFN, they can see "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Drew Carey Show" and "Frasier" all on the same channel, on the same night.

More important, AFN provides a link home for thousands of troops stationed half a world away.

"You get to see American culture, you get to see what the vernacular is, what the latest jokes are," says Col. Ray Shepherd, head of the broadcast center. "That way you don't feel so far away from home."

CNN correspondent Paul Vercammen contributed to this report

United States Department of Defense

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.