SBS Ethnic Television (1979) Experimental Multicultural Television - MTV2 (1980) Channel 0/28 (1980–1983) Network 0–28 (1983–1985) SBS TV (1985–2009) SBS ONE (1 June 2009 – 4 July 2015)
SBS is a multicultural publicTV network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2023, SBS had an 8.5% audience share,[1] compared to 2018 when SBS had a 7.7% audience share.[2]
SBS began test transmissions in April 1979 as SBS Ethnic Television when it showed various foreign language programs on ABV-2Melbourne and ABN-2 Sydney on Sunday mornings. Full-time transmission began at 6.30 pm on 24 October 1980 (United Nations Day) as Channel 0/28. At the time, SBS was broadcasting on UHF Channel 28 and VHF Channel 0. Bruce Gyngell, who introduced television to Australia back in 1956, was given the task of introducing the first batch of programs on the new station.[4] The first program shown was a documentary on multiculturalism entitled Who Are We? which was hosted, produced and directed by well-known Australian journalist Peter Luck.
When transmission began for the night, the opening announcement would be as follows with "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland playing in the background:
"Welcome to Channel 0/28 Multicultural Television, Sydney and Melbourne. A section of the Special Broadcasting Service, transmitting on VHF Channel 0 with a vision carrier frequency of 46.25MHz and on UHF Channel 28 with a vision carrier frequency of 527.25MHz. As well as from the Hyatt Kingsgate Tower in Kings Cross, Sydney, on UHF Channel 54 with a vision carrier frequency of 737.25MHz."[5]
Gyngell opened the channel by believing that the network's main target were, on equal footing, ethnic communities and monolingual Anglo-Saxon Australians, with a gradual understanding between the groups, as well as the promise of changing viewing habits of Australians.[4] In 1981, a study surveyed that Channel 0-28 was the first viewing choice of viewers in Sydney and Melbourne, followed by 25% of Australians more than once a week, per a new survey in January 1982. About 98% of each ethnic group watched the relevant language-specific programming. Gyngell left SBS in late 1982 (who would later join TV-am in the United Kingdom in 1984) and the channel was starting to be plagued by repeats.[4]
On 14 October 1983, the service expanded into Canberra on UHF28,[6]Cooma and Goulburn on UHF58 and at the same time changed its name to Network 0–28. Its new slogan was the long-running "Bringing the World Back Home".[7]
Although SBS Television commenced transmissions as a non-commercial television network, in 1991 it began accepting and broadcasting television advertisements (a controversial move at the time). These were shown between programs, rather than having them interrupt programs.
The hosts of The Movie Show, David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz, moved to the ABC in April 2004 to host a new program called At the Movies.[14]The Movie Show continued with four new hosts, which included Megan Spencer, Jaimie Leonarder, Fenella Kernebone and Marc Fennell.[15] The final episode of The Movie Show aired in June 2006, after the show was axed.[16] The same month, SBS announced it would start showing advertisements during programs, unlike the previous practice in which advertisements were only shown in between programs.[17] In May 2007, The Movie Show returned with a new interactive ten-minute format, presented by Lisa Hensley and Michael Adams.[18]
On 1 June 2009, SBS TV was renamed SBS One to coincide with the launch of its new sister channel SBS Two, which would carry programming geared towards younger audiences.[19]
2010s
As of 10 December 2013, SBS ceased analogue television broadcasts and is now only available through digital TV or digital set-top box.[20]
On 27 March 2014, SBS and SBS Two stopped broadcasting Weatherwatch Overnight, an overnight filler program providing national and international weather information with live video feeds of various cities around the world provided by EarthTV. Subsequently, both channels now broadcast 24/7. On 4 July 2015, SBS One changed its name back to SBS TV.[21]
SBS launched a new channel focusing on both local and international food programming on 17 November 2015. The channel, called SBS Food (formerly Food Network due to the partnership with Discovery Inc.[22]), is available on free to air channel 33.[23]
On 15 November 2016, SBS rebranded their sister station SBS 2 to SBS Viceland with content from US-Canadian broadcaster Vice Media after signing a deal with Vice Media on 23 June 2016.[24][25]
On 1 July 2019, SBS World Movies started transmission on Channel 32, replacing the Standard Definition broadcast of Viceland, as Viceland moved to Channel 31 in HD, World Movies became the third multichannel, alongside SBS, Viceland and SBS Food.
2020s
On 23 May 2022, SBS launched their fourth multichannel SBS WorldWatch, which would have all the previously aired non-English news bulletins from the World Watch programming block aired alongside their own locally produced bulletins in both Arabic and Mandarin, it is available on free to air channel 35.[26][27]
Leading up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, SBS spent $20 million in order to acquire the exclusive rights to broadcast the competition.[28]
SBS is required by charter to meet certain programming obligations.[29] Although it has a strong focus on international news and current affairs, it also presents documentaries and educational programs, drama, comedy, films and sport. SBS devotes a significant part of its morning television schedule to news bulletins in languages other than English[30] as well as showing many subtitled, foreign-language films. Its own news and current affairs aim to have a higher concentration on international affairs than the ABC or the commercial networks. It also shows many documentaries and current-affairs programs, while its sports coverage has a strong focus on international sports.
Since the late 1980s, SBS has screened the 1960s German-made comedy sketch Dinner for One every New Year's Eve, emulating an annual European TV tradition.
Between 1989 and 2006, the narrator for SBS was Robbie McGregor. The current narrator is Lani John Tupu.
SBS has a range of news and current affairs programming, including its nightly, national, news service SBS World News, investigative programme Dateline, discussion forum Insight, indigenous affairs program Living Black, in addition to its morning & afternoon World Watch timeslot, featuring bulletins in languages other than English. Until early 2007, Toyota World Sport was shown on weeknights until it was axed to accommodate the relaunched, one-hour World News Australia (which is now SBS World News) and World Watch.
SBS, along with its sister channel Viceland, are still airing English news bulletins from international news channels under the current World Watch block following the launch of SBS WorldWatch multilingual channel.[26]
The telecast of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was shared by both the Seven Network and SBS, with the Seven Network holding exclusive Australian free-to-air, pay television, online and mobile telephony broadcast rights. SBS provided complementary coverage and focused on long-form events such as football, road bicycle racing, volleyball, and table tennis. In contrast, Seven broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies and mainstream sports including swimming, athletics, rowing, cycling and gymnastics.
Funding
Approximately 80% of SBS' funding comes from the Australian Federal Government.[33] The rest comes from independent sources, including "advertising and sponsorship, production services and sale of programs and merchandise". In the financial year 2018–19 the broadcaster is slated to receive $272.4 million.[34]
Availability
SBS is available on all of SBS Television's television transmitters in SD Digital. The channel's scheduling differs from state to state only during major sporting events, when the transmission times of other programmes may be altered. During the digital changeover between 2010 and 2013, SBS was also simulcast on Analogue.
The SBS HD multichannel was launched on 14 December 2006. It broadcasts identical programming to SBS, but in 1080iHD via Freeview and Optus D1.
On 8 April 2017, alongside the launch of SBS Viceland HD, SBS HD was upgraded to an MPEG-4 format, replacing the standard MPEG-2 format it had used since its inception.[37]
SBS On Demand is a video on demand and catch up TV service run by the Special Broadcasting Service. The service became available on 1 September 2011.
SBS On Demand is available on the web and via apps for mobile devices, smart TVs and set-top boxes.[38]
Logo and identity history
The first SBS logo was a gradiented blue and white globe surrounded by a gradiented blue and white ring.[10] The logo was used across all of SBS's radio and television stations, and symbolised transmission on VHF channel 0. On 14 October 1983, Channel 0/28 was renamed Network 0–28, coinciding with a new logo featuring the new name underneath the globe.[10] On 18 February 1985, Network 0–28 was renamed SBS TV,[4] coinciding with a new logo featuring the letters SBS underneath the globe, however in 1989, the logo was again updated with the globe removed.[10]
A new SBS logo was launched in March 1993, featuring five blue curved splices, described as the "Mercator" logo (named as the shapes look like a mercator globe in 2D), with the letters SBS in white on top.[10] The idents in 1995–2003 usually show the Mercator logo without the letters SBS. The five splices represented the continents of the world and the angle represented the tilt of the Earth's axis.
The new logo and a major revamp was launched on 7 May 2008, reducing the number of splices into four, and shifting the perspective and angle so that each splice is larger than the last.[39] The logo was modified on 1 June 2009 to coincide with the renaming of the channel to "SBS ONE".[19]
On 4 July 2015 SBS launched a modified version of its 2008 logo when its main channel changed its name back to 'SBS TV'.[21] The "SBS ONE" name is still used on electronic program guides.
On 8 February 2019, SBS' new slogan A World of Difference was revealed. The channel rebranded with the slogan the following day, in time for Eurovision – Australia Decides.[40]
March 1993 – 7 May 2008
7 May 2008 – 31 May 2009
1 June 2009 – 3 July 2015
4 July 2015 – 8 February 2019
8 February 2019 – present
Identity history
29 April – 22 July 1979: This is SBS, Ethnic Television. (used for SBS TV's test transmissions)
February – May 1980: A Whole New Look at Television.
24 October 1980 – 14 October 1983: Channel 0 – A Whole World of People/Entertainment.
January 1982: Channel 0/28, Celebrating Australia Week 1982.
14 October 1983 – 18 February 1985: Network 0–28 – Bringing the World Back Home.
18 February 1985 – 1986: We're SBS – Bringing the World Back Home.
1986–1988: Discover the Difference.
1989–1996: Bringing the World Back Home.
1998–2004: Your world is an amazing place
2005–2006: Nobody sees the world like SBS
2006–2008: There's more to Summer on SBS.
7 May 2008 – 27 October 2011: Six Billion Stories and Counting.
28 October 2011 – 13 June 2014: Seven Billion Stories and Counting.
14 June 2014 – 3 July 2015: Join In
8 February 2019 – present: A World of Difference[40]
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels and seven radio networks. SBS Online is home to SBS On Demand video streaming service.
The Nine Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia.
Television broadcasting in Australia began officially on 16 September 1956, with the opening of TCN-9, quickly followed by national and commercial stations in Sydney and Melbourne, all these being in 625-line black and white. The commencement date was designed so as to provide coverage of the Olympic Games in Melbourne. It has now grown to be a nationwide system that includes a broad range of public, commercial, community, subscription, narrowcast, and amateur stations.
Network 10 is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division. As one of five national free-to-air networks, 10's owned-and-operated stations can be found in the state capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth while affiliates extend the network to regional areas of the country.
The Seven Network is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of the five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.
Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as CBN-8 in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. It was initially an independent affiliate owned by Prime Media Group before the network, and its sister GWN7, were acquired by Seven West Media on 31 December 2021.
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.
SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It was previously known simply as World Movies and was available on Foxtel. It was revived on Channel 32 as a free-to-air channel on 1 July 2019.
A multiplex or mux, also known as a bouquet, is a grouping of program services as interleaved data packets for broadcast over a network or modulated multiplexed medium, particularly terrestrial broadcasting. The program services are broadcast as part of one transmission and split out at the receiving end.
ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel and the ABC are in Ultimo, an inner-city suburb of Sydney.
ABC Television is the general name for the national television services of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Until an organisational restructure in 2017/2018, ABC Television was also the name of a division of the ABC. The name was also used to refer to the first and for many years the only national ABC channel, before it was renamed ABC1 and then again to ABC TV.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week NITV News Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.
This timeline of Australian television lists important station launches, programs, major television events, and technological advancements that have significantly changed the forms of broadcasting available to viewers of television in Australia. The history of television in Australia can be traced back to an announcement from the Menzies' government concerning plans for television services in Sydney and Melbourne.
World Watch, or WorldWatch, is a programming block on SBS and SBS Viceland, and a standalone television channel in Australia, that carries news bulletins from countries around the world. The World Watch service gives viewers the opportunity to see news bulletins in their native language. The majority of these bulletins are produced by public or state broadcasters.
10 Bold Drama is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to more reality, scripted and adventure-based programming aimed at males between the ages of 25 and 54. As of October 2018, the channel now primarily broadcasts dramatic programming aimed towards viewers 40 and older.
Freeview is the brand name of the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia intended to bring all of free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters onto a consistent marketing platform, to compete against subscription television, in particular Foxtel. The strategy coincided with the expansion to 3 digital channels for each FTA network and the phasing out of analogue television in Australia. Important services from Freeview include its free-to-air channels with an enhanced EPG across all channels. Freeview also certifies televisions, set-top boxes and personal video recorders (PVR) which meet its standards.
SBS Viceland is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS Viceland began simulcasting in high definition. On 17 June 2019, the standard definition broadcast was closed and replaced by SBS World Movies, leaving SBS Viceland as a high definition-only channel.
High-definition television in Australia is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in 2001 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 27 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Foxtel.
SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins in Mandarin and Arabic.
↑ "SBS ends Movie Show". The Advertiser. Adelaide: News Limited. 6 June 2006. p.23. ProQuest355211610. AFTER a three-month winding-down period, embattled SBS program The Movie Show is gone.
↑ Barber, Lynden (9 May 2007). "Destruction far from negative". The Australian. Canberra: News Limited. p.50. ProQuest357482054. PLANS by SBS for a new multiplatform version of The Movie Show sound disappointingly tokenistic. The new show will take the form of a 10-minute television program -- yes, a whole 10 minutes -- hosted by actor Lisa Hensley and Empire magazine's Michael Adams, plus "a broad and interactive online environment for film fans". In other words, a website.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
