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SBS wants “four channels in five years”

More channels, improved news and current affairs and more local programs are all on SBS's wish list.

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With an increase in funding SBS could offer four channels within five years, according to newly-installed Managing Director Michael Ebeid.

In an article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, he talks about some of his ambitions for the public broadcaster.

With more money, SBS could also offer viewers improved news and current affairs, more local programs and much more online and on-demand.

But if the money does not come Ebeid warns of “a lot tougher decisions” on what to show and what to skip.

Earlier this week he told TV Tonight that plans for a big budget drama, Dusty, had been shelved.

Meanwhile the government has asked SBS to launch an indigenous TV service with the $15 million it gives National Indigenous Television.

“Fifteen million might sound like a lot but it’s not when you have to commission content. You can’t buy indigenous content from the BBC.”

On the question of SBS identity, he wants to take it back to charter basics: less Top Gear and more Go Back To Where You Came From.

You can read more here.

24 Responses

  2. How about one good channel? With their ancient movies and foreign news services you can get elsewhere, I would much rather they use the money to focus on their strengths rather than dilute what is already a bit of a mediocre mix of shows spread far too thinly. How about some current European or Asian TV series? How about having enough money to make some of their excellent local ones? The US version of Wilfred, for instance, is now making them money. Surely this is a good enough reason to invest in more local comedy.

  3. So if they had four channels, that would be one for soccer, one for cycling, one for cooking and one for foreign news programmes…and no ratings. If they really want to get back to their original charter, they should acknowledge that multiculturalism is a lot more than they are currently providing. I totally agree with the suggestions of a world movie channel, no mid programme ads and less of those stupid watermarks and branding. Then the two channels they have might actually regain their alienated audiences. Then they could consider asking “us” for more money!!

  4. Err, davodavo, I think you don’t understand how spectrum allocation works, in Australia. And 7,9 and 10 don’t want any more channels. They don’t even use the ones they have got properly.

  6. I don’t agree that SBS should merge with ABC. I think they deserve to keep their own identity. They were willing to show a lot of programs that ABC would not even consider. So despite their muddied focus. They provide something different to all the other networks.

    Regular documentaries, foreign movies, extensive coverage of cycling/football, overlooked overseas programs like South Park, mad men, mythbusters, Oz, shameless etc and they made some reasonable locAl drama series.

    But I don’t have any sympathy for calls for increased funding. They lost a lot of goodwill with the way they treated their audience when their former boss played at being a commercial network.

    1. Merging public broadcasters rated very low on issues in the recent Audience Inventory, meaning people either don’t want it or don’t see it as a pressing issue. And it’s been that way across 3 annual surveys.

  11. Why not sell the SBS TWO frequency to 7, 9 or 10 and use that money to get SBS One up to speed. SBS TWO is only good for once a year clashes of Cycling and Soccer.

  12. SBS & ABC should merge into one major network offering:

    ABC HD – Showcasing the very best from the ABC in full 1080i HD. (Predominantly a simulcast of ABC1).

    ABC1 – Primary channel, broadcasting mainstream comedy, drama, documentaries, films, news, sport, and some children’s programmes.

    ABC2 – Home to more specialist programming, including comedy, documentaries, dramas, children’s programming and minority interest programmes, as well as imported programmes from other countries.

    ABC3 – Home to mainly youth-oriented programming, comedy shows and sitcoms.

    ABC4 – Niche programming for an intellectual audience, including specialist documentaries, occasional ‘serious’ dramas, live theatre, foreign language films and television programmes.

    CABC – For children aged six and above.

    ABC 4 Kids – For children under six.

    ABC News 24 – A dedicated news channel.

    ABC Parliament – Dedicated politics channel.

    ABC World – International News.

  13. A network that does WeatherWatch on 3 channels for 6 hours a day, needs two more channels? Pfft. Unless it’s designed to give all the multi-lingual news services a new home (like the original SBS World News Channel), then I think they’re just wasting their time and money.

  14. I would hope that any additional funding would be spent on acquiring or creating some new content rather than diluting what they have now. World Movies on FTA is a good idea.

    I watch a lot less drama on SBS these days. I miss the Saturday night cult movie with Des Mangan. There were also some great European or Hong Kong movies shown at other times but there doesn’t seem to be much decent new stuff lately.

  18. Is there some sort of short term gain to be had from increasing the number of channels? Because surely it doesn’t increase your audience, if anything it would dilute it and spread it too thin. I can’t see the benefit, so there must be some behind-the-scenes shenanigans that nets them something.

  19. For heavens sake just merge SBS into the ABC and get it over with. SBS can become ABC5 and programme an indigenous channel, everything else can slot into ABC1-4. Just use the money to commission content otherwise these are the kinds of decisions that well continue to be announced “Sorry X programme cannot proceed due to budget restriction, but staff and overhead cost remain stable”. New Eps, MDs, CEOs, Board members all constantly appointed but no money to make anything. It’s ridiculous.

  20. The only way SBS could launch another two channels in the next five years is if they make World Movies Channel and STVDIO FTA. SBS do a great job of those pay-TV channels and I think that would be the only way for them to launch more FTA channels without going under.

  21. Given that SBS Two ratings are low is offering more choices a wise idea? Sure, give them more money to make local productions, but adding more channels isn’t good use of taxpayers money in my opinion.

  22. Good. SBS has probably the best news service in the country (up there with ABC). They provide so much more international news that it really is quite an eye-opener to see what happens around the world. Seven and Nine never-ever report news which is important and tend to ignore stories which matter- frankly their news is frightful in comparison to SBS.
    I would really like to see both SBS and ABC get more funding- they need it to continue the great reporting and work they do already.

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