Bureau of Public Affairs: Broadcast Services

Overall, the Office of Broadcast Services (OBS) supports the foreign affairs communication mission of the U.S. State Department by:

• Providing international TV pool coverage of events involving senior U.S. officials;
• Producing broadcast television coverage of current events in the U.S. and worldwide, including video clip reels for use by international broadcasters that present U.S. policies;
• Producing special event programs, documentaries;
• Acquiring programming for TV placement by American embassies and directly to broadcasters via the American Embassy TV Network (AETN).
• Produces and acquires original television programs to support the Department and its embassies overseas. It operates American Embassy Television Network, the U.S. foreign affairs TV channel of record, available to U.S. embassies and international broadcast organizations.  It presents speeches and messages by the President, Secretary of State, and policy spokespersons; State Department, White House, Pentagon and Foreign Press Center briefings; Congressional and Senate hearings; and special events coverage on a broad range of U.S. foreign affairs events, including news interviews and coverage of visiting heads of government as well as other U.S. agencies.
• Provides TV facilities and assistance to hundreds of foreign TV reporters and producers based in the U.S. and traveling here on special assignment.  This includes TV news interviews with U.S. Government spokespersons, in-depth reporting tours for TV journalists and TV CO-OP documentaries, and prime-time TV magazine programs.
• Produces coverage of major conferences and events originating from the State Department for international TV pool distribution.
• Produces original features and documentaries, including special productions on current events, such as reconstruction in Afghanistan and humanitarian assistance in Iraq, or programs for educational and public outreach. PBS videos and other acquired films and documentaries are available for posts for programming by embassies.
• Operates TV broadcast production facilities in the State Department. This includes an all-digital TV production studio and technical facilities and master control, video editing, and archive. These facilities transmit and receive broadcast television to and from locations worldwide and specialize in producing in multiple languages simultaneously.  
   

For definitions of initialisms and terms used in the broadcasting field, refer to our glossary.