The (SBS) is one of two government funded
Australia n
Public Broadcasting radio and
Television Networks , the other being the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's
Multicultural society"
SBS: Frequently Asked Questions SBS Corporation, accessed 26 May 2007.
In 1975, the Australian Government introduced the
Medibank health insurance scheme. Concerns that minority communities might require details in their own languages led to the establishment of two ethnic radio stations, 2EA in
Sydney and 3EA in
Melbourne . These started broadcasting in June 1975, seven and eight foreign languages, respectively.
The following year, the Government created the Consultative Committee on Ethnic Broadcasting. Following the recommendation of this and subsequent committees, the ''Broadcasting and Television Act 1942'' was amended to found the Special Broadcasting Service. This legislation came into force on January 1, 1978, with the new broadcaster taking responsibility for 2EA and 3EA
SBS: History SBS Corporation, accessed 26 May 2007.
SBS TV began test transmissions in April 1979 when it showed various foreign language programs on
ABV-2 Melbourne and
ABN-2 Sydney on Sunday mornings. Full-time transmission began at 6.30pm 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, with a planned discontinuation of the latter at some time in the future.
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.
On
16 October ,
1983 the service expanded into
Canberra ,
Cooma , and
Goulburn and at the same time changed its name to Network 0-28. Its new slogan was the long-running "Bringing the World Back Home". The network changed its named to SBS on the
18th February ,
1985 , and began daytime transmissions. SBS expanded to Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Gold Coast in the June of that year.
On
5 January ,
1986 SBS ceased broadcasting on the
VHF 0 frequency. Although many Australians at the time did not have UHF antennas, SBS's VHF license had already been extended by a year at this stage and not all antennas had worked well with the low-frequency Channel 0 either
The History of Australian Television: SBS Television , accessed 22 May 2007.
In August 1986, the Government proposed legislation that would merge SBS into the
ABC . This was highly unpopular with ethnic communities, leading Prime Minister
Bob Hawke to announce in 1987 that the proposed amalgamation would not go ahead. The SBS Youth Orchestra is launched in August, 1987 with founding conductor
Matthew Krel .
Plans to introduce limited commercial program sponsorship, and the establishment of SBS as an independent corporation with its own Charter were put into place in July, 1989. The proclamation of the ''Special Broadcasting Service Act 1991'' officially made SBS a corporation in
1991 . Throughout the early 1990s,
SBS TV coverage is expanded further to include new areas such as the
Latrobe Valley ,
Spencer Gulf ,
Darwin , northeast
Tasmania ,
Cairns and
Townsville .
In 1992, the SBS' radio and television facilities were gradually moved to new headquarters in
Artarmon, NSW from its original studios at
Milson's Point . The new building was officially opened in November, 1993 by
Prime Minister Paul Keating . A national radio network was launched in January, 1994. The new service initially covered
Brisbane ,
Adelaide ,
Perth and
Darwin , while original stations 2EA and 3EA were renamed Radio Sydney and Radio Melbourne, respectively. The new national service was launched on a separate frequency in Sydney and Melbourne in July, of that year. Throughout 1996 radio services were expanded to cover
Hobart and
Canberra , while
SBS TV 's coverage was further expanded to include the
New South Wales north coast and
Albury .
South Park , SBS' most successful ever television series was first shown on the network in 1998. A time-delay system was installed for
South Australia in
May, 1999 , shortly before the establishment of the Transmission Services division (intended to manage transmission and self-help services). A New Media division, responsible for the SBS website, was established at the start of 2000, in time for the first
Webcast of the
AFI Awards . Ratings continued to increase throught 2000 to 2001 - increasing to an overall 5.2% average weekly audience share.
Four languages were dropped, and four added, from SBS Radio in April, 2003, while hours for
Cantonese ,
Mandarin and
Arabic Language broadcasts (amongst others) were increased. SBS broadcast the 2004
Athens Olympics in partnership with the
Seven Network .
SBS Radio broadcasts in 68 languages in all Australian states, producing an estimated 13,500 hours of Australian programming for its two frequencies in
Sydney and
Melbourne , as well as its national network. Much like
SBS TV , SBS radio is funded by a mix of government grants, paid-for government information campaigns, and commercial advertising
About SBS Radio .
Following "extensive community consultation", in 2003 a range of new programs were introduced, including services in
Malay ,
Somali and
Amharic in addition to the expansion of many existing programs.
and cycling (especially the
Tour De France ) - often leading the station to be lampooned as "Sex and Bloody Soccer".
At the end of 2006, SBS began showing ad breaks during programs
Commercials and Promotions FAQ SBS to Bolster News and Current Affairs. Increase Australian Content SBS Corporation, June 2006, a move which was intended to increased funding for the commission of multicultural drama and documentaries, and to support
World News Australia 's shift to a one-hour format, a change unpopular with many viewers
Daily Flute: SBS advertisments accessed 26 May.
Regardless of state or territory, SBS television services always use the callsign 'SBS'. In capital cities, SBS is broadcast on
UHF channel 28, while regional and
Digital Television is on a range of frequencies.
Much like the
ABC , SBS has been one of the most progressive networks with regard to digital broadcasting, primarily due to government restrictions on commercial multichanneling. Since 2001
SBS TV has been broadcast to the
Sydney ,
Melbourne ,
Brisbane ,
Adelaide ,
Perth and
Canberra .
SBS broadcasts a second digital channel, the
SBS World News Channel - launched in 2002 - which broadcasts a mix of foreign-language news bulletins similar to
SBS TV 's morning
WorldWatch timeslot. Despite being available nationally through
Digital Terrestrial Television , the channel is unavailable on the
Optus Aurora satellite platform.
SBS is one of the world's largest subtitling organisations, producing subtitles not just for films to be shown on its own television channel, but also for foreign film and documentary producers around the world. Services include translation from English to other languages, and from foreign languages to other languages, as well as to English
SBS Subtitling SBS Corporation, accessed 20 May.
Through its Language Services unit, SBS also provides a range of translation, typesetting, and voiceover services.
SBS Language Services SBS Corporation, accessed 26 May.
The network provides a rehearsal venue for the
SBS Radio And Television Youth Orchestra , an orchestra that records many broadcasts for the network and tours regularly overseas.
