SBS Essential

Last updated

SBS Essential
Sbsessentiallogo.png
Country Australia
Broadcast areaNationally
Network SBS Television
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner Special Broadcasting Service
Sister channels SBS
SBS HD
SBS World News Channel
History
Launched14 October 2002
Closed25 January 2007
Availability
Terrestrial
SD Digital 31

SBS Essential was a Special Broadcasting Service television channel available to digital television viewers in Australia. It began broadcasting on 14 October 2002, and was discontinued on 25 January 2007.

Contents

SBS Essential broadcast news headlines, sports headlines, weather and program information. The channel also made use of SBS' SMS Code schedule service, where viewers could SMS a program number to SBS, and when the program was soon to air, SBS would SMS the viewer back. The channel was automated, fed via RSS news from SBS' website.

SBS Sports +

SBS Sports + was a highlights loop service provided on SBS Essential during major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup. The service allowed for digital television viewers to review specific moments, or to catch up on the progress of another game.

Criticisms

The Special Broadcasting Service was often criticised for broadcasting SBS Essential by HD Digital enthusiasts. This was mainly due to the channel consuming bitrate from SBS's other Digital Television services such as SBS TV, the SBS World News Channel, and SBS HD. Due to similar reasons the channel was removed from SBS' line-up in early 2007.

Closure

SBS ceased transmission of SBS Essential on 25 January 2007. The reasons for the closure include the fact that many of the services that were provided by SBS Essential, were available via the onscreen electronic program guide on SBS TV and elsewhere on the digital TV channel line-up. Also, SBS and the SBS World News Channel schedule are freely available in newspapers and on the internet.

Another major reason for the closure was that SBS Essential consumed about 10%–15% of SBS's national digital TV bandwidth, of which will now be available for other uses. It is speculated however, that subject to Government funding, SBS will introduce new digital services over the coming years.

Identity

SBS Essential's on-air look was changed several times, between the channels launch and closure. The channel previously had a blue and cream colour scheme, with an abstract design.

On 22 May 2006, SBS Essential had a revamp of its on-air presentation. The design was then simple, and allowed for higher text legibility, as the channel broadcast with a low bitrate.

See also

Related Research Articles

BBC Two Television channel operated by the BBC

BBC Two is a British free-to-air television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One.

Special Broadcasting Service Australian public radio and TV network

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is a hybrid-funded Australian public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates five TV channels and seven radio networks.

TVNZ State-owned television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand

Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.

Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in clear (unencrypted) form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription, other ongoing cost, or one-off fee. In the traditional sense, this is carried on terrestrial radio signals and received with an antenna.

Television in Australia Overview of television in Australia

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.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available.

SBS World News Channel

The SBS World News Channel was an Australian television channel broadcast by SBS Television that launched on 12 June 2002. The channel, which used to be available only to digital television viewers in Australia, was the first digital-only multi-channel for the Special Broadcasting Service. The news service was broadcast for eighteen hours per day, seven days a week, retransmitting news from fifteen countries. In between news retransmissions, the channel displayed weather information, news headlines, and some commercial advertising.

Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth using DVB-T standards. The phase out of analogue PAL transmissions began on 30 June 2010 and was completed by 10 December 2013.

BBC HD was a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before closing on 26 March 2013. It broadcast only during the afternoon and evening and only broadcast material shot in high definition, either in a simulcast with another channel or by inserting a repeat of an HD programme.

In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual program stream, and multiplexing to combine them into a single signal. The practice is sometimes called "multicasting".

ITV HD

ITV HD is a British free-to-air high-definition television channel operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV services across the UK. ITV HD simulcasts them in high-definition. ITV HD is available to view in England, Wales and the Scottish Borders on Freesat via channel 103, Freeview channel 103, Sky channel 103, Virgin Media channel 103 and in Switzerland on SwisscomTV.

SBS (Australian TV channel) National public television network in Australia

SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share.

Ten Guide

The Ten Guide was a television channel provided by Network Ten to digital television viewers in Australia. It began broadcasting on 1 July 2004 network-wide simultaneously on Network Ten in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth and was broadcast 24 hours per day. The channel ceased broadcasting on 20 November 2007.

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 half-hourly nightly NITV News, 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.

9HD Australian television channel

9HD is an Australian television channel owned by Nine Entertainment, originally launched on 17 March 2008 featuring unique "breakaway" programming until 2009 and a high-definition simulcast of the Nine Network from 2009 to 2010 and again since 26 November 2015. The channel is available on high definition digital television viewers in metropolitan and regional areas through a number of owned-and-operated and affiliate stations. Originally 9HD only simulcast blocks of programming from the Nine Network, and in 2008 it added time-shifted news, movies, drama and entertainment programs. Following the launch of 9Go! in August 2009, 9HD reverted to a HD simulcast of the Nine Network. The channel was replaced completely in 2010 and the space occupied by the newly launched multichannel 9Gem. Following the government's decision to remove the SD Primary Channel limitations, the channel returned as a HD simulcast on channel 90 on 26 November 2015.

The Netherlands now has three major forms of broadcast digital television. Terrestrial (DVB-T), Cable (DVB-C), and Satellite (DVB-S). In addition IPTV services are available. At the end of the first quarter of 2013 almost 84% of the households in the Netherlands had some form of digital television.

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 planned phasing out of analog 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.