The American Forces Network (known as AFN or AFARTS for short) is a service of the US Department of Defense. It is based at March Air Reserve Base near Riverside, California. AFN is a broadcaster that provides radio & TV programming to service people and their families stationed outside the continental United States, usually far away from the signals of the U.S. radio and TV networks. AFN is a Reader's Digest of the airwaves, presenting the best programming from PBS, all commercial networks, leading syndicators, popular cable channels, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, and Canadian networks such as YTV, along with some original programming. The network is split into six channels as of July 2020:
- Prime: Mostly programming from the Big Four broadcast networks and syndicated programming like talk shows and game shows.
- AFN Spectrum: Similar to Prime, but with an emphasis on programming from cable networks, usually from regular cable, but occasionally dipping into premium cable such as Showtime (e.g. Billions) and even some streaming-exclusive shows such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and House of Cards (US).
- AFN News: News programming, mainly sourced from CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.
- AFN Sports: Sports programming.
- AFN Family: Comprises children's programming from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family, PBS Kids, Netflix, Amazon and qubo. This network is notable for airing several shows that are no longer seen on mainland U.S. television, such as Play With Me Sesame, Jimmy Two-Shoes and Wander over Yonder, as well as those subject to No Export for You in the country, like The Day My Butt Went Psycho!. During the evening hours, it becomes Pulse, a channel showcasing programs aimed at teens and young adults, similar to Freeform.
- AFN Movies: Shows movies.
An interesting thing about the network is that it does not run any commercials at all. Instead, it runs public service announcements. Some of them are made by AFN themselves and discuss military life. Two famous examples of this are this PSA about attorneys that spoofs Hercules Unchained and this PSA about recycling, which has No Budget. Some of the other PSAs seen on the channel are ones made by the Ad Council that have also aired in the mainland (which is most noticeable on children's programming). Sometimes, ones made for specific channels in the mainland also air on the network, like the Fox Kids "Check Yourself" PSAs from the late 1990s, but they don't always air around programs supplied to them by said network.
Note: Since AFN's programming for the most part tends to revolve (especially in terms of scripted programming on Prime, Spectrum and Family/Pulse), the information kept here may not be 100% accurate at any given point.
The following shows currently air on AFN Prime:
- 2 Broke Girls
- 9-1-1 (moved after briefly running on Family/Pulse)
- American Dad! (also airs on Spectrum)
- The Big Bang Theory (also airs on Spectrum)
- Big Brother
- Bob's Burgers
- The Bold and the Beautiful
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- The Daily Show
- Days of Our Lives
- Dr. Phil
- Family Feud
- Family Guy
- General Hospital
- The Great North
- Jeopardy!
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Judge Judy
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- Madam Secretary
- Magnum, P.I. (reboot, also airs on Spectrum)
- Modern Family
- Mom
- Murphy Brown (reboot)
- NCIS
- NOVA
- Single Parents
- Supernatural
- Superstore
- Survivor
- Today
- The Tonight Show
- The View
- What Would You Do?
- Wheel of Fortune
- The Young and the Restless
- Young Sheldon (also airs on Pulse)
The following shows currently air on AFN Spectrum:
- The Americans
- American Horror Story
- Arrow
- Awkwafina is Nora from Queens
- Bel-Air
- Better Call Saul
- Billions
- Bless the Harts
- Crank Yankers
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (also airs on Pulse)
- Criminal Minds
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
- Episodes
- Family Guy
- Fixer Upper
- The Flash (2014)
- The Good Doctor
- Good Eats
- Grey's Anatomy
- How to Get Away with Murder
- Jack Ryan
- Judge Judy
- The Kelly Clarkson Show
- Kevin Can F**k Himself
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Legends of Tomorrow
- Lethal Weapon (2016)
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Modern Family (also airs on Pulse)
- Mom
- Mythbusters
- Nature
- Property Brothers
- Psych
- Say Yes to the Dress
- Sex and the City
- The Simpsons
- Shameless
- Speechless
- Superman & Lois
- Supernatural
- To Tell the Truth
- True Blood
- The Twilight Zone (2019)
The following shows currently air on AFN Family/Pulse:
- 6Teen
- The 7D
- The Adventures of Puss in Boots
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- All That
- Almost Naked Animals
- America's Got Talent
- Amphibia
- Andi Mack
- Austin & Ally
- Avengers Assemble
- Baby Shark's Big Show!
- The Backyardigans
- Battle Ready
- Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!
- Best Friends Whenever
- Big City Greens
- Big Hero 6: The Series
- Bizaardvark
- Blackish
- Blaze and the Monster Machines
- Blue's Clues
- Blue's Clues & You!
- Breadwinners
- Bunk'd
- Bunsen Is a Beast
- Bravest Warriors
- Camp Lakebottom
- The Casagrandes
- Catfish: The TV Show
- The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2017)
- Charmed (2018)
- Coop & Cami Ask the World
- DC Super Hero Girls (2019)
- Degrassi: The Next Generation
- Detentionaire
- Doc McStuffins
- Dora the Explorer
- Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz
- Double Dare (2018 reboot)
- DuckTales
- Elena of Avalor
- Empire
- Esme & Roy
- Every Witch Way
- Family Game Night
- Fanboy and Chum Chum
- The Fairly Oddparents
- Fresh Off the Boat
- The Fosters
- Franklin
- The Furchester Hotel
- Fresh Off the Boat
- Gabby Duran & the Unsittables
- Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything
- Girl Meets World
- Go, Diego, Go!
- The Goldbergs
- Grownish
- The Haves and the Have Nots
- Hero Elementary
- It's Pony
- Jake And The Neverland Pirates
- Jimmy Two-Shoes
- Justin Time (2011)
- Keeping Up with the Kardashians
- Kirby Buckets
- Kong: King of the Apes
- Last Man Standing
- The Lion Guard
- Little Charmers
- Littlest Pet Shop (2012)
- Llama Llama
- The Loud House
- Lucky Dog
- Megaman Fully Charged
- Mickey and the Roadster Racers
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
- Mickey Mouse Funhouse
- Mira, Royal Detective
- Mission Force One
- Muppet Babies (2018)
- Mutt & Stuff
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Nerds and Monsters
- New Amsterdam (2018)
- New Looney Tunes
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
- The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
- Oh No! It's An Alien Invasion
- The Owl House
- PAW Patrol
- Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero
- Pinky Dinky Doo
- Play With Me Sesame
- Polly Pocket
- Pound Puppies
- Pretty Little Liars
- Puppy Dog Pals
- Queen Sugar
- The Real Housewives
- The Republic of Sarah
- The Resident
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Riverdale
- Santiago of the Seas
- Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
- Secrets of Sulphur Springs
- Sesame Street
- Sofia the First
- Space Racers
- Spike Team
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil
- Star Wars Rebels
- The Substitute
- Super Monsters
- Super Simple Science
- Sydney to the Max
- Tangled: The Series
- Teen Mom 2
- Teen Titans Go!
- This Is Us (also airs on Spectrum)
- Thundercats Roar
- The Tom And Jerry Show
- Too Cute
- T.O.T.S.
- Trucktown
- True and the Rainbow Kingdom
- Unikitty!
- Vampirina
- Wander over Yonder
- The Wonder Pets
- Young Dracula
- Young Rock
- Zack and Quack
- The ZhuZhus
The following programs air on AFN Movies:
- Access Hollywood
- Entertainment Tonight
The following programs no longer air on any AFN channels, but have aired in the past:
- 7th Heaven
- 8 Simple Rules
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
- Adventures from the Book of Virtues
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Aladdin: The Series
- All Grown Up!
- All in the Family
- All That
- Andromeda
- Animaniacs
- Arthur
- As Told by Ginger
- Babar and the Adventures of Badou
- Baby Daddy
- Barney & Friends
- Batman Beyond
- Battlebots
- Beakman's World
- Bear in the Big Blue House
- Beauty and the Beast
- Between the Lions
- The Brothers García
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- Caillou
- Clifford the Big Red Dog
- Conan
- The Cosby Show
- Crash & Bernstein
- CSI
- The Day My Butt Went Psycho!
- Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist
- Digimon Adventure
- Doki
- Doug
- Dragon Ball GT
- Dragon Tales
- Drake & Josh
- ER
- Even Stevens
- Everybody Loves Raymond
- Fancy Nancy
- Fantasy Island
- Friends
- Full House
- Garfield and Friends
- Gilmore Girls
- God Rock! Bible Tunes
- Grounded for Life
- Growing Pains
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2015)
- Guess How Much I Love You
- Handy Manny
- Hannah Montana
- Happy Days
- Harold and the Purple Crayon
- Henry Hugglemonster
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
- House Of Cards
- I Am Frankie
- I'm Dying Up Here
- I Spy
- iZombie
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
- Imagination Movers
- Iron Chef
- JAG
- JoJo's Circus
- Jane the Virgin
- Jessie
- Jersey Shore
- Just Shoot Me!
- Justice League Action
- Keeping Up with the Kardashians
- Kim Possible
- The King of Queens
- King of the Hill
- Little Bear
- Little Einsteins
- Madeline
- The Magic School Bus
- Masterpiece Theater
- Making Fiends
- Milo Murphy's Law
- Moohlah Beach
- Mysticons
- My Wife and Kids
- The New Adventures of Paddington Bear
- Niko and the Sword of Light
- The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Once Upon a Time
- Oobi
- Oswald
- Ozzy & Drix
- PB&J Otter
- Phineas and Ferb
- Pokémon: The Series
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
- Power Rangers
- The Practice
- The Puzzle Place
- Rainbow Rangers
- Rugrats
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
- Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
- Seinfeld
- Siskel & Ebert
- Smallville
- Spin City
- Star Trek: The Original Series
- The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
- The Suite Life on Deck
- Superbook
- Switched at Birth
- Tania
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
- Teletubbies
- Top Wing
- Touched by an Angel
- Tutenstein
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
- VeggieTales (qubo version)
- Walking with Beasts
- The Weekenders
- Welcome to the Wayne
- The West Wing
- Wild Grinders
- The Wild Thornberrys
- Winx Club
- Wishbone
- Wishenpoof
- Wizards of Waverly Place
- The Wonderful World of Disney
- Yes, Dear
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
- Zoboomafoo