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SBS Upfronts: 2016: Eurovision, drama, comedy & docos.

Updated: Australia in Eurovision again, plus Family Law, Deep Water & a doco on Pauline Hanson.

Eurovision - Julia Zemiro & Sam Pang

Australia will compete at Eurovision 2016 after all, SBS has announced.

Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang will return as hosts of the annual broadcast, next year in Stockholm, with an Australian entry yet to be announced.

SBS Upfronts highlights also include:

  • local drama on gay hate crimes Deep Water
  • local comedy series The Family Law, based on the writing of Benjamin Law
  • Inside Heston’s World filmed in Melbourne
  • new food content from Poh & Co., Maeve O’Meara and Adam Liaw
  • DNA Nation featuring Julia Zemiro, Ian Thorpe and Ernie Dingo
  • documentary Hanson: The Years that Shook Australia
  • Who Do You Think You Are?, Shaun Micallef’s Stairway to Heaven and First Contact renewals
  • international dramas The Missing, Tutankhamun, The Last Panthers, The Bridge, The Returned, Masters of Sex and 2 x Vikings seasons.
  • UnREAL on SBS 2
  • Apple TV and Google Chromecast

SBS Managing Director, Michael Ebeid, said: “In 2016 Australian audiences can expect engaging programs that explore and celebrate the people and stories of modern multicultural Australia in a way that no other media company can and importantly, they can come to SBS for a genuine point of difference.

“Our distinctiveness is why audiences trust us, value us and it’s why they are passionate about our programs and services. In the year ahead SBS will be available on a record number of platforms and devices as we bring Australians brave and unique programs that help all of us to understand what it means to be Australian today.”

Director of Television and Online Content, Marshall Heald said: “Across all of our channels – SBS, SBS 2, Food Network, NITV and SBS On Demand – 2016 is set to be a bumper year of content that gives Australians a richer, deeper understanding of the world. SBS will inspire Australians to seek different perspectives, to feel a sense of connection, belonging and empowerment, and explore how our differences make us great.”

Heston Blumenthal.

In 2016, SBS will bring the nation together with landmark events, take Australia to the world stage, expand our horizons through powerful documentaries, be home to some of the world’s most distinctive drama, and entice and inspire with more food programs from home and afar.

Launching in early 2016, SBS will deliver the first truly cross-genre and cross-platform network event with Deep Water – a four-part drama series, a feature documentary and an online prequel series, presenting the full account of the gay hate crime epidemic that bloodied Sydney’s coastline during the 1980s and 1990s, and remains unsolved today.

The world’s biggest singing competition is back in all its glittery goodness. Live from Stockholm, Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang will return as hosts of the 61st annual Eurovision Song Contest. SBS is also excited to announce that, following the huge success of Australia’s first ever competitive entry in 2015, it has once again secured an opportunity for an Australian artist to officially compete on the world’s biggest stage. Next year in Stockholm, Australia will be competing from the semi-finals, fighting it out with 41 other nations and SBS will announce in the New Year who the lucky artist will be.

From the global stage to the very heart of Australia, SBS’s Logie Award winning documentary series First Contact will return for a second instalment. Host Ray Martin will take six well-known Australians with strong opinions on a unique journey into Aboriginal Australia, in another cross-network event with NITV.

In 2016, drama on SBS will be bigger and better than ever before, with comedy drama series The Family Law leading the way in February. Funny, frank and fearless, The Family Law is created by critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Law and adapted from his memoir of the same name. The series will give Australian audiences a vivid glimpse inside the gloriously dysfunctional world of a hilarious and heartwarming Chinese-Australian family.

It joins new drama series The Missing, Tutankhamun starring Sam Neill, The Last Panthers, and returning franchises Bosch, The Bridge, The Returned, Masters of Sex and Vikings.

SBS will continue to take audiences on an exploration of the world’s cultures through food in 2016, with some big stars to feature and favourites to return. There’s no star bigger in the food world than Heston Blumenthal and SBS is giving Australians a fly-on-the-wall insight into the mammoth challenge Heston undertook as he transported his entire Fat Duck restaurant from the UK to Australia, in the three-part observational documentary Inside Heston’s World. The deliciously epic series lays bare the blood, sweat and tears of the restaurant industry and the private world of one of its greatest mavericks.

SBS will also welcome back some familiar foodie faces including Poh Ling Yeow who returns for a whole new set of adventures in series two of Poh & Co. Maeve O’Meara will burn up screens in Food Safari Fire, Adam Liaw returns with his beautiful new series Destination Flavour Scandinavia, and former chef turned farmer and food critic, Matthew Evans, goes full circle – from reviewing restaurants to building his own in Gourmet Farmer: Fat Pig Kitchen.

Because more food is never enough, today also marks the launch of Australia’s first free 24/7 television channel dedicated to the world of food: Food Network. From 1pm AEDT, all Australians will have access to food inspired travel, entertainment and cooking programs handpicked from across the globe, as the channel dishes up everyday food inspiration all day, every day.

SBS’s unique ability to provoke debate, inspire change and explore what determines social cohesion will continue in 2016 with landmark documentaries inspired by the bigger picture.

Twenty years after Pauline Hanson gave her maiden speech, Hanson: The Years that Shook Australia will explore how the extreme views of one of Australia’s most divisive politicians have influenced race and racism in politics today. Meanwhile, DNA Nation joins some much-loved Australians including Olympian, Ian Thorpe, Ernie Dingo and Julia Zemiro, as they take a journey of genetic time travel across 12 countries to discover their DNA and unlock their past to answer the big questions about the human family and our place in it.

Hanson

Other new documentaries in 2016 include Vietnam: The War That Made Australia which charts the course of the men who lived, fought and died in the most hostile warzone of the modern era, and four-part series Untold Australia which will explore hidden worlds of multiculturalism across the country. Next year also sees the return of Who Do You Think You Are? with series eight of the landmark series coming to SBS, as well as Shaun Micallef’s Stairway to Heaven, as he continues his mission to unravel extreme belief systems.

SBS’s reputation for providing Australians with news and current affairs with a unique multicultural focus continues in 2016 with SBS World News, leading forum for debate Insight, and international current affairs program Dateline. SBS will also premiere a new in-house news production. The Logan Project – an inspiring documentary series charting the journey of the Queensland town’s aspiring singers and musicians as they work together to create a new, positive narrative for their city, and a place that has had a reputation for doing it tough.

It will also be another big year for sport on SBS. The Tour de France returns with every stage broadcast live on TV and analysed by cutting edge digital technology through the Tour Tracker App, and SBS will continue bringing the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Matches to all Australians for free.

News and current affairs will be at the heart of NITV’s schedule in 2016, with a fresh new look, and with news content online first, with breaking live on-air updates and mini-bulletins hosted by Natalie Ahmat, leading to new primetime, agenda-driven show, The Point with Stan Grant, from February. Each weeknight, renowned journalist Stan Grant will deliver a unique First Nations voice and investigate Indigenous cultural, political and social events of importance to all Australians.

NITV favourite The Marngrook Footy Show returns in 2016 and is joined by a new and exciting weekly entertainment sport series, League Nation Live. Hosted by newly retired Broncos captain Justin Hodges, Deadly Award and Logie nominee actor Aaron Fa’Aoso, new faces and league fanatics Hannah Hollis and Jodan Perry and community ambassador Nathan Appo, the 32-week series will capture the best of Australia’s favourite football code, the NRL, with big league personalities and the latest and greatest in entertainment, up close and personal in the studio.

On SBS 2, mass cult hit If You Are The One continues in 2016 and in a network first, two Australian specials of the Chinese dating show are currently being filmed and will be broadcast as a part of SBS’s Lunar New Year celebrations in February. That loving feeling continues with Unreal, the critically-acclaimed satire and vicious behind-the-scenes drama series about the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition, providing an eye-opening look at what happens in the outrageous world of unscripted television.

Audiences will also be able to discover an incredible world of content on digital channel SBS On Demand. The service now has well over 600 free movies spanning all genres as well as more than 350 documentaries, and those numbers will continue to grow in 2016 with all programs from Food Network available to catch up on SBS On Demand. In 2016 SBS is also introducing support for Apple TV and Google Chromecast making the service available on 25 platforms – still more than any other Australian broadcaster.

SBS

NETWORK EVENTS
Deep Water
TX: October 2016 on SBS

Deep Water is SBS’s first cross-genre, cross-platform event – a 4-part drama series, a feature documentary, and unique online web series and content. Both the drama and feature documentary will be produced by Blackfella Films for SBS. The drama is a crime thriller set in contemporary Bondi, and is partly inspired by the epidemic of gay hate murders in Sydney in the 80s and 90s. The documentary will tell the full true crime story for the first time – the brutal murders, the scores of assaults, the unsolved cold cases. It’s a network event that goes to the heart of the SBS Charter and purpose of promoting cultural diversity and social cohesion.

First Contact season 2

TX: November 2016 on SBS and NITV

Six out of ten who call Australia home have had little or no contact with Indigenous people. The provocative, controversial and Logie-winning network event First Contact returns to SBS and NITV for a second series produced by Blackfella Films. This time Ray Martin takes a group of six well-known Australians with strong opinions on a unique journey into Aboriginal Australia. The group meet face to face with individuals, families and communities who define Indigenous Australia today. They are immersed into Aboriginal culture and experience what life is really like on the ground for the nation’s First Peoples. Leaving their high profile lives behind the six are taken deep into a world far away from their everyday reality. They are confronted and challenged by the stories they find and the people they meet. It is an experience that reveals the beauty, hope, history and trauma of Aboriginal Australia.

Eurovision 2016

TX: May 2016 on SBS

The Europeans were wowed and all of Australia was swept up in Eurovision fever when Guy Sebastian delivered an incredible performance as our first ever wild card Australian entrant, and now the world’s biggest song contest returns to SBS in 2016. SBS has once again secured an opportunity for an Australian artist to officially compete on the world’s biggest stage in Stockholm, 2016. This time, we will be competing from the Semi-Finals, and fighting it out with 41 other nations. SBS will exclusively broadcast all the glitz, glamour and madness of the Semi Finals and Live Grand Final of the 61st Eurovision Song Contest from Stockholm, Sweden, and will continue to lead the way in multi-platform event television, with extensive coverage across on-air, online and radio as well as live interactive social media integration into the broadcast.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

TX: February 2016 on SBS

In 2016, Sydney’s most fabulous party shimmies its way into to lounge rooms around Australia as SBS exclusively broadcasts the spectacular Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in a special event for the third year running. The coverage will include the best of the parade, with commentary from SBS’s hosts on the ground and a colourful line-up of fresh LGBTI content including the premiere of the controversial Australian documentary, Gayby Baby. SBS is also adapting Dr Alfred Kinsey’s famous sexuality test so Mardi Gras TV audiences will be able to participate in a live interactive test to work out ‘how gay they are’.

FOOD
Food Safari Fire
TX: Premieres Thursday, 7 January at 8pm on SBS

Food Safari returns in a blaze of glory to explore how cultures across the world cook with fire. Hosted by Maeve O’Meara, Food Safari Fire is an inspired ten-part SBS series that is a feast for the senses and a must-see for barbecue-lovers, devotees of the wood-fired oven, spit roasters and those keen to learn new techniques from the gurus of fire. Each episode follows a different cooking style and reveals secrets for preparing food for the fire including the best cuts, marinades and spices, plus the professionals’ insider tips on cooking techniques. The power and palatable potential from the simple act of grilling is highlighted in its use within a diverse range of cultures, including Japanese, Chilean, Italian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Greek, Chinese and Mexican cuisines. Join Maeve as she takes you on a fiery journey, revealing the secrets of this timeless and highly-developed style of cooking.

Inside Heston’s World

TX: March 2016 on SBS

For the first time ever, cameras have been allowed behind the scenes of the world’s most unique restaurant and inside the life and mind of its creator, Heston Blumenthal, during a period of change for the Fat Duck. Heston picks up his entire restaurant – 50 staff, all cutlery, crockery and his often difficult to source menu ingredients – and moves it 10,500 miles to the Crowne Melbourne where he opens and runs a new Fat Duck restaurant while the Bray, UK restaurant is being renovated – a mammoth challenge with many obstacles. The 10-part series spends a year following the extraordinary and exclusive adventure. With exclusive behind the scenes access to the legendary three Michelin star restaurant, the series will explore the amazing creative adventures of Heston to reveal the ‘real’ wizard of fantastic food creations.

Poh & Co. season 2

TX: May 2016 on SBS

In season one, Poh along with her family and friends set up a market stall, built an edible garden and invented the world’s first fridge tattoo. One year on, Poh returns to our screens, taking her humble stall from a single tent at the back corner of Adelaide’s Farmers’ Markets to a catering “megatent”. This growth drives Poh, hubby Jono and business partners’ Sara and Matt to learn a host of new skills to navigate their complex busy lives. To cope with the pressure, Poh bakes, paints and hangs out with her dogs, Rhino and Tim. The 10-part SBS series sees Poh transform from domestic dreamer to suburban success story. Every episode will be jam-packed with sumptuous dishes from Poh’s own baking repertoire along with delicious Asian classics and a few secret family recipes.

Destination Flavour Scandinavia

TX: 2016 on SBS

The latest series of Destination Flavour sees Adam Liaw head to stunning Scandinavia to reveal that there is so much more to Scandi fare than pickled herring and meatballs. In what is possibly the cleanest, healthiest, and happiest part of the world, Adam immerses himself in Nordic culture, history and cuisine. He travels to Denmark, Norway and Sweden and explores the new Nordic food revolution that has spread like wildfire across the region and rest of the world. In an evocative and stylish Scandi food adventure, Adam investigates the future of global and local food trends sparked by innovative Nordic influence.

Gourmet Farmer season 4

TX: 2016 on SBS

Change is afoot on Fat Pig Farm. The architects have been called in, a business plan formed and Matthew is about to go full circle – from reviewing restaurants to building his own. Over three series so far, audiences have grown along with Matthew, sharing not just his triumphs, but his missteps as well. In this series, worlds will collide as guests are invited onto the farm to experience a locavore restaurant offering the knowledge of where the food comes from and how it’s produced.

COMMISSIONED DOCUMENTARIES

DNA Nation
TX: 2016 on SBS

Our DNA holds deep secrets to our past. Now, three well-known Australians – Ian Thorpe, Ernie Dingo and Julia Zemiro – set off on an epic journey of genetic time travel to discover their origins in this series produced by Blackfella Films for SBS. Through genetics we can unlock this past to answer fundamental questions about the human family and our place in it. We will discover why we look the way we do, our ancestors’ extraordinary story of survival and why despite appearing to be so diverse and different, we all share a common past that connects us all.

Untold Australia Season

TX: 2016 on SBS
Norfolk Island: The Lost Tribe

Sitting 1500km off the east coast, Norfolk Island is one of Australia’s oldest and most remote communities. Its population of 2,000 are descended from the mutineers from The Bounty. Recent hard times have forced the island to reach out to the mainland for help. But with mainland help comes mainland rules, and the gradual erosion of a culture they have worked so hard to preserve.

Indian Wedding Race

Explore the challenges facing many young migrants in Australia. Can arranged marriages still work, or are Indian-Australian parents out of step with modern Australia? With the natural drama of a wedding laced with simmering family tensions, this documentary reveals a hidden portrait of what it is to be Australian today.

Strictly Jewish: The Secret World Of Adass Israel

Opens a window into an Australian ultra-Orthodox Jewish subculture – the reclusive Adass Israel community in Melbourne, as it battles to maintain its millennia-old traditions in the face of modernity. Following three central characters – a young rabbi, a delicatessen owner and an elder – the documentary thrusts the spotlight on this highly insular subculture for the very first time. It will reveal how they have managed to maintain their cradle-to-grave community, steeped in ancient rites and rituals, in the face of the frivolities of modernity.

Caged

Caged offers an unprecedented look at the controversial world of Australian cage fighting. It follows the trials and tribulations of several male and female mixed martial arts fighters living in Sydney’s multicultural western suburbs – some who have the hopes of their community on their shoulders, others who otherwise would be following a life of crime, all of them fighting the media’s perception of MMA as an ultra-violent sport. Not just a story about individuals sacrificing everything, but a story about families, community and a rare glimpse into a hidden world.

Hanson: The Years that Shook Australia

TX: 2016 on SBS

As the 90s most divisive politician, Pauline Hanson is the woman we love to hate: the blue collar battler who said what some Australians were thinking, and was destroyed for it. Hanson has made an indelible mark on the racism debate. Twenty years after her maiden speech this feature documentary, produced by CJZ for SBS, will reveal how her extreme views have influenced race and racism in politics today. Her rise and fall was remarkable, and Hanson: The Years That Shook Australia will reveal telling new insights for the first time.

Shaun Micallef Stairway to Heaven season 2

TX: 2016 on SBS

In his youth Shaun Micallef almost joined the Catholic priesthood. Since then he has often wondered if he has missed his one shot at the answers to life’s big questions. Having explored Hinduism and the world of Gods, Gurus and the Ganges, he continues his mission to unravel extreme belief systems. In this new season produced by Artemis for SBS, Shaun will tackle Mormonism, a psychic medium who carries out surgery without anaesthetic, and more.

Vietnam: The War That Made Australia

TX: 2016 on SBS

This is the story of an elite fighting force, the AATTV, better known as the Team. They were the first Australians soldiers sent into Vietnam, and the last team to leave – they were also the most decorated unit of their time. They fought a unique war, living and fighting alongside the South Vietnamese, forming bonds unlike any other unit. Now many of them speak for this first time, returning to the scene of the battles that they fought so long ago, confronting the past. From secret missions for the CIA in the jungles of Vietnam, to the arrival of the first Vietnamese boat people, this SBS commissioned series produced by Joined Up will reveal how the Vietnam War changed them and the face of Australia.

Who Do You Think You Are? season 8

TX: 2016 on SBS

SBS’s hit genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? returns for an eighth season in 2016. High profile Australians search through their family tree to piece together their history, and ultimately find the answers to where they came from. The clues to their ancestry are found in all corners of Australia and the globe as these Australians trace their genealogy to unexpected places. Histories are revealed, and secrets uncovered.

Who Do You Think You Are? Australia retrospective

TX: 2016 on SBS

Across nearly 50 episodes, Who Do You Think You Are? has revealed a surprising and moving portrait of Australian history. For some of the diverse cast of prominent Australians, it has profoundly affected their lives and their families. This one off special brings together the very best moments of the past Who Do You Think You Are? seasons, and new interviews reveal what happens behind the scenes, and the impact it has had on participants.

BEST DOCUMENTARIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

The Great Wall of China: The Hidden Story
TX: 2016 on SBS

The Great Wall, symbol of the turbulent relationship between China and its northern neighbours, influenced the destiny of the Middle Kingdom in every era. The construction of the Wall claimed countless human lives. Yet it is more than merely a defence. It is a symbol of a division between cultures. In the form of an elaborate documentary drama, The Great Wall of China: The Hidden Story paints a fascinating picture of the construction, and ultimate failure, of the Great Wall.

Mankind from Space

TX: 2016 on SBS

Mankind from Space is an epic journey of discovery. Using mind-boggling data and CGI, it traces humankind’s story from hunter-gatherers to dominant global species. Seen from the global perspective of space, this two-hour special shows the breathtaking extent of our influence, revealing how we’ve transformed our planet and produced an interconnected world of extraordinary complexity.

Barack Obama: Inside his Presidency

TX: 2016 on SBS

With unprecedented access to Barack Obama’s White House, this series from Norma Percy’s acclaimed documentary team tells the inside stories of Obama’s greatest successes and failures. Four one-hour programmes look at how he brought America out of the Great Recession faster than anywhere else; how his triumphant reform of America’s healthcare system was followed by defeat at the polls at the hands of the Tea Party; the inside story of the secret nuclear negotiations with Iran; and how he has so far failed to close down Guantanamo or pass gun control. This is one of the most important stories of our times.

Meet the Roman Empire

TX: 2016 on SBS

Meet the Roman Empire is a four-part television series written and presented by classicist and historian, Professor Mary Beard. Drawing on her immense scholarship, unique viewpoints and myth-busting take on Roman history, Mary Beard offers a definitive series on the Roman Empire for her times.

DRAMA
The Family Law
TX: Thursday, 14 January at 8.30pm on SBS

The Family Law is a new six-part series created by critically acclaimed writer Benjamin Law and adapted from his hit 2010 memoir of the same name. Funny, frank and fearless, The Family Law is the story of a quirky Chinese-Australian family on the Sunshine Coast over the course of a long hot summer, as told by 14-year old Benjamin – slightly self-obsessed with aspirations to be famous despite his severe lack of talent. For the Law family, all communication can lead to misunderstanding and unlikely comedy stems from tragedy. This is a show about sabotaged expectations, growing pains, finding your place in the world, and the strange embarrassment we feel towards the people we’re supposed to love the most: our family.

The Missing

TX: Wednesday, 6 January at 8.30pm on SBS (double episode premiere)

When five year-old Oliver disappears while on holiday in France, it sets off a manhunt that will last for years and years to come. Eight-part series The Missing takes you inside the mind of a father, Tony Hughes (played by James Nesbitt), desperate to find his lost son. Told through a delicate and complex narrative that reflects the fractured and frantic battle for a lost child, The Missing is a thrilling and heart-breaking drama of a life consumed by hope, love, truth and obsession.

Tutankhamun

TX: 2016 on SBS

Sam Neill leads the cast of this epic four-part drama, which tells the compelling story of Howard Carter’s famous discovery of the lost tomb of Tutankhamun, set against the majestic backdrop of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and combining history, romance, intrigue and adventure.

The Last Panthers

TX: 2016 on SBS

A little girl’s accidental death during a diamond heist in the south of France sparks a series of dramatic events across Europe. Inspired by real events, The Last Panthers is a sophisticated, contemporary thriller with a truly international cast including Samantha Morton and John Hurt. The Last Panthers also marks the first time David Bowie has contributed to a film or television show in 20 years – with Bowie recording an original track for the opening credits. The Last Panthers, is a joint pan-European commission from Sky and CANAL+.

The Returned season 2

TX: 2016 on SBS

In a small mountain village, people who have been dead for years suddenly start re-appearing at their homes with no knowledge of where they have been. Set six months on from the events of the first season, season 2 will see Adele (Clotilde Hesme) about to give birth to Simon’s (Pierre Perrier) child. Meanwhile Lena (Jenna Thiam) and her father Jerome (Frederic Pierrot) search desperately for Claire (Anne Consigny) and Camille (Yara Pilartz). Matters are complicated further when a stranger named Berg (Laurent Lucas) – who knows more than he claims – arrives into town.

The Bridge season 3

TX: 2016 on SBS

Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge returns for a third season on SBS. The story begins with the murder of a famous Danish activist and owner of Copenhagen’s first gender-neutral children’s nursery on a building site in Malmö. Detective Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) is forced to work with a new Danish colleague, who has difficulties gelling with Saga. The pair quickly conclude that the murderer wanted them to find the body, marking the beginning of a line of spectacular murders that eventually become personal for Saga.

Bosch season 2

TX: 2016 on SBS

Based on Michael Connelly’s internationally best-selling book franchise the U.S. crime drama Bosch will return to SBS for a second season in 2016. Set in Los Angeles, California, Bosch stars Hollywood veteran, Titus Welliver (Sons of Anarchy, The Good Wife) as LAPD homicide detective Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch, a relentless detective who will stop at nothing to bring justice to victims. In the second season the relentless LAPD detective will investigate the murder of a Hollywood producer who laundered money for the mob. He will also pursue serial killer Chilton Hardy and the investigations take Bosch from the Hollywood Hills down through the gritty back streets of L.A. and Las Vegas.

Vikings season 4

TX: 2016 on SBS

The fourth series of the gripping award-winning drama Viking begins with trepidation as King Ragnar Lothbrok’s (Australia’s own Travis Fimmel – The Beast ) fate hangs in the balance. Ragnar’s relationships with his most trusted allies including his wife Aslaug (Australia’s own Alyssa Sutherland – Devil Wears Prada) and his boat builder Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård – The Way Back ) are tested to the extreme.

Masters of Sex season 4

TX: 2016 on SBS

Critically-acclaimed and award-winning U.S. hit drama, Masters of Sex starring Emmy- nominated actor Michael Sheen and film and television star Lizzy Caplan, returns to SBS for its fourth season. The series follows real-life pioneers of human sexuality, William Masters (Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Caplan), chronicling their unusual lives, romance and pop culture trajectory. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a mid-western teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time magazine.

Rectify season 4

TX: 2016 on SBS

The critically acclaimed drama Rectify, starring Australian actors Aden Young (Killer Elite) and Adelaide Clemens (The Great Gatsby), is set to return for a fourth mesmerising season. It is the poignant and captivating series that follows the life of Daniel Holden (Young) who returns to his small hometown in Georgia after serving 19 years on death row. Having spent his entire adult life in prison, Daniel must now try to find a way to deal with his past and somehow start a normal life.

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

World News Australia

SBS World News is Australia’s best nightly source of international news with a domestic focus. Presented week nightly by anchors Anton Enus and Janice Petersen, and finance editor Ricardo Goncalves, and on weekends by Lee Lin Chin.

Insight

Insight is Australia’s leading forum for debate and powerful first person stories. Each week on Tuesday nights, host Jenny Brockie brings together surprising and unpredictable guests: people with first-hand experience of the issue as well as experts and those with strong opinions.

Dateline

The multi award-winning Dateline program has been bringing Australians an intimate and provocative view of the world’s most important stories since 1984. Dateline’s team of video journalists seek unique access to people and places at the heart of key events – exploring and uncovering stories that help make sense of the world.

The Logan Project

TX: 2016 on SBS

Logan, Queensland has had a reputation for doing it tough, with an unemployment rate twice the national average, and racial tensions that have sometimes come to the boil. But the melting-pot of over 200 ethnic groups is determined to turn things around. Drawing from the community’s immense pool of diverse talent, the Logan mayor and the Queensland Music Festival set the ambitious task of holding a live musical created by the community, for the community – in front of a crowd of thousands. The Logan Project is an inspiring SBS original documentary produced by the News and Current Affairs team charting the journey of Logan’s aspiring singers and musicians as they work together to create a new, positive narrative for their city.

SPORT

Football

In 2016, SBS will continue to deliver premium international football matches with the 2015/16 and 2016/17 UEFA Champions League. Audiences will also get to cheer the green and gold with Socceroos world cup qualifiers, and of course, to wrap it all up for football lovers, SBS’s flagship football program The World Game, with SBS football experts Craig Foster, David Zdrilic and Lucy Zelic.

Cycling

SBS continues to bring Australians all the action from the biggest races on the international cycling calendar. The Tour de France returns with all stages live on TV and online, as well as

Grand Tours Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a Espana, and cycling classics from the European season.

MOVIES

SBS continues its tradition for bringing the best films from around the world, with curated movie seasons to cover all tastes. In December audiences can look forward to seasons covering the complex and enthralling work of Australia’s own Cate Blanchett, as well as a family movie season just in time for the holidays. In the lead up to the 2016 Academy Awards, SBS will run an Oscars season of some of the award’s most memorable winners, before launching into a season of cutting edge Asian cinema for Lunar New Year. March brings classics from the modern French master Luc Besson, followed by a season of war films in April, with more exciting movie seasons to be announced throughout the year.

SBS 2

ENTERTAINMENT
If You Are the One – Australian Specials TX: 2016 on SBS 2

Ever since the series hit Australian screens in 2013, If You Are The One has developed a mass cult following proving popular with local audiences for its earnestness and the contestants’ business-like approach to finding their life partners. Now the world’s biggest dating show has upped the ante – and in a network first, SBS 2 presents two Australian specials direct from Nanjing, China. Featuring 10 Aussie boys and 18 Aussie girls, strap yourself in and prepare for some cut-throat contestants and blunt dating advice.

Pop Asia

Australia’s number one destination for all things Asian pop, Pop Asia will continue to bring the hottest Asian pop tracks including K-pop, C-pop and J-pop throughout 2016.

DRAMA
UnReal
TX: February 2016 on SBS 2

Set against the backdrop of the hit dating competition show “Everlasting,” UnReal is led by flawed heroine Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby), a young producer whose sole job is to manipulate relationships among the contestants to get the vital dramatic and outrageous footage that the program’s dispassionate executive producer, Quinn (Constance Zimmer), demands. What ensues is an eye-opening look at what happens in the outrageous world of unscripted television, where being a contestant can be vicious and being a producer a whole other reality.

Spotless

TX: 2016 on SBS 2

Jean Bastiere’s (Marc-André Grondin) life is turned upside down when his outlaw brother, Martin (Denis Ménochet), crash lands in his world. Set against the backdrop of Jean’s crime scene cleaning business, the brothers must confront dark sins of the past and very real dangers in the present. Ensnared by mob boss Nelson Clay (Brendan Coyle), corruption, drugs and death pose a constant hazard. With Jean’s wife Julie (Miranda Raison), the entire family struggles to gain control over their lives and future. Produced by TANDEM Productions, the ten-part series, is a CANAL+ Création Originale.

COMMISSIONED COMEDY

Top Knot Detective
TX: 2016 on SBS 2

Top Knot Detective is a mockumentry looking back at the completely made up Japanese 90s SBS hit Ronin Suiri Tentai, or as it’s better known in Australia ‘Top Knot Detective’. Follow the scandals, the fabled lost episodes and the insane fans of the greatest show that never actually existed.

Wizards of Aus

TX: 2016 on SBS 2

For centuries, war had waged across the seven planes of the Magical Realm – battles so legendary, their ferocity was matched only by their scale. It’s all a little intense which is exactly why Jack, a wizard commanding the elemental forces of nature, has decided that maybe he’ll give living in Footscray a try. At least the rent is cheap.

DOCUMENTARIES

Motorkite Dreaming

TX: 2016 on SBS 2

Filmmaker Charlie Hill-Smith and remote area nurse Aidan Glasby embark on a never attempted before trip flying tiny microlight aircraft south to north across Australia, crossing five deserts and 5000km in seven weeks. Motorkite Dreaming is a personal investigation into modern remote Australia – a journey into the country’s uncomfortable past, which pushes us to see more of the beauty of its cross cultural present. The documentary plays out within the context of the often farcical unfolding microlight quest, keeping the inquiry upbeat and playful.

Unplanned America season 3

TX: 2016 on SBS 2

SBS 2’s trailblazing road-trip documentary series, Unplanned America returns with a third series as Aussie mates Gonzo, Nick and Parv continue to explore the lesser-seen side of American culture. This time around the boys fear for their lives when they go on psychedelic voyage with a cannabis shaman in Colorado; go off the-the-grid at anarchist skate commune Skatopia; spend time with internet sex workers while exploring cam girl culture; have Thanksgiving Dinner with The Church of Satan; experience the blood, sweat and beers of the World Beer Pong Championship; get a lesson in the second amendment from the Texas Militia and a whole lot more.

MOVIES

SBS 2 has recently launched a new Family Movie Season in an effort to ensure young Australian children have access to wonderfully diverse films from across the globe. Featuring a mixture of innovative live-action and critically-acclaimed animated titles, from the work of legendary Japanese animation studio Ghibli, to Oscar nominated Irish, African and Canadian animations through to the big budget franchises, each week we’ll take viewers – young and old – on a fantastical journey somewhere they’ve never seen before. SBS 2 will continue to bring the best, often provocative and cutting edge, films from around the world with Movies for Mondays, themed Movie Mayhem nights with Marc Fennell, and more throughout the year.

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Feed

The Feed is SBS 2’s flagship news program, covering the topics you never knew existed and giving you a new perspective on the ones you did. The program airs weeknights at 7.30pm and will be hosted by both Marc Fennell and Jeanette Francis, with reports from Patrick Abboud and guest appearances from the one and only Lee Lin Chin.

SPORT

The 2015/16 Hyundai A-League season continues live on SBS 2 on Friday nights, with coverage hosted by Socceroo and former A-League Champion David Zdrilic and chief football analyst, Socceroo Craig Foster. With match commentary delivered by David Basheer and former English Premier League star Michael Bridges, Lucy Zelic returns pitch side at each match with player and coach interviews as well as updates throughout the night.

NITV

NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Point with Stan Grant
TX: Early 2016 on NITV

Placing News and Current Affairs at the heart of its schedule, NITV will offer audiences a trusted slate that leads the agenda from an Indigenous lens. News content will be online first with breaking live on-air updates and mini-bulletins hosted by Natalie Ahmat, leading to new prime- time, agenda-driven show, The Point with Stan Grant, on air from February. Fronted by renowned journalist Stan Grant, each weeknight, the show will deliver a unique First Nations voice and investigate Indigenous cultural, political and social events of importance to all Australians. Travelling into the heart of communities, it will challenge perceptions, celebrate achievements and facilitate debate through digital engagement.

Living Black

Covering some of the most important Indigenous issues and telling vital stories that matter to all Australians, Australia’s award-winning and longest running Indigenous current affairs show, Living Black, investigates contemporary issues of concern to Indigenous Australians, through compelling human stories in a documentary-style format.

Awaken

Offering in-depth analysis and discussion of Indigenous issues, NITV’s flagship current affairs program Awaken presents a range of informed Indigenous perspectives and brings together influential Indigenous voices and smart incisive thinkers. Award-winning journalist Stan Grant puts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues under the microscope to debate matters of importance to Indigenous Australians.

ENTERTAINMENT

League Nation Live
TX: March 2016 on NITV

New and exciting weekly entertainment sports series, hosted by newly retired Broncos captain Justin Hodges, Deadly Award and Logie nominee actor Aaron Fa’Aoso, new faces and league fanatics Hannah Hollis and Jodan Perry and community ambassador Nathan Appo. Capturing the best of Australia’s favourite football code, the NRL, each week will bring 90 jam-packed minutes of entertainment and sports, covering all layers of the game, combining big league personalities with the latest and greatest in entertainment for a unique offering.

SPORT
The Marngrook Footy Show
TX: March 2016 on NITV

Successful and unique AFL series will return with all the action and news from the footy season, featuring big name guests in the studio and celebrating the huge contribution made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders throughout the game.

DOCUMENTARY
Putuparri and the Rainmakers
TX: March 2016 on NITV

2015 CinéfestOZ award winner, Putuparri and the Rainmakers is a compelling production that follows the journey of Tom “Putuparri” Lawford as he and his community fight for their native title claim for the Kurtal lands, in the Kimberley’s Great Sandy Desert region. Caught between two worlds – torn between his life in the modern world of Fitzroy Crossing and his destiny as a cultural leader of his people, Tom battles with all the temptations of western society at the same time as he reconnects with his ancestral lands, learns about his traditional culture and shoulders his responsibility to pass this knowledge onto the next generation.

Colour Theory

TX: April 2016 on NITV

Art series Colour Theory, will return for a third series in April. Hosted by award-winning artist Tony Albert, this four-part series will feature some of the most exciting contemporary artists working in Australia today, including Frances Belle Parker, Julie and Clive Freeman, Jason Wing and Karla Dickens. Despite their differences in geography, medium, artistic training, and conceptual concerns, they are united by a sense of pride and belief in their culture.

Scaredy Blacks

TX: October 2016 on NITV

A frightening and funny observational documentary series that follows two inquisitive Aboriginal men who hunt the lands where legends and myths lie and ask the questions we would never dare. Travelling across the country, they meet with locals, storytellers and elders, investigating ominous creatures and entities, including the water-creature lurking in South Australia’s Lake Alexandrina, the wailing Poinciana woman of Darwin, Northern Territory and Min Min lights in Outback Queensland.

SHORT FILMS

Songlines on Screen
TX: May 2016 on NITV

The Songlines on Screen series presents ten short films from the remote regions of Western, Northern and Central Australia, giving place to some of the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songlines that are integral to the makeup of Indigenous Australia. Representing Indigenous people’s ongoing connection to land and culture as told throughout time by the way of creation songs, the series incorporates the full spectrum of storytelling including dance, song, art, body painting, and sites of significance.

FOOD NETWORK

Food Network is Australia’s first free TV channel dedicated to the world of food, serving up a 24/7 menu of everyday food inspiration to all Australians from 1pm AEDT on Tuesday 17 November 2015. Food Network will feature an appetising selection of food inspired entertainment, travel and cooking programs handpicked from across the globe. Australia’s own Curtis Stone will be a star ingredient in Food Network’s programming mix with several of his shows to be featured on the channel including Beach Eats USA, Kitchen Inferno, and Surfing the Menu. Other program highlights include home cooking inspiration with Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and Giada at Home, Reza: Spice Prince of Vietnam, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Diners, Drive Ins & Dives, and Chopped hosted by Ted Allen, sourced through an output deal and licensing agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive, the world’s leading producer of high quality engaging lifestyle content.

ONLINE
I’m Your Man

After the huge success of The Boat, SBS Online returns with its first-ever adaptation of an existing theatre piece. I’m Your Man is an interactive adaptation of the play of the same name, focussing on the rise of boxer Billy Dib as he trained for his first world title fight. The project uses Roslyn Oades’ play as a springboard to explore Australia’s multicultural history through the lens of boxing –specifically the motivation, fear and skills that underlie our national and international champions. Whether it be extreme poverty, racism or the need to defend oneself and one’s family, this online interactive explores personal stories through new videos, archive and technology that allows the user to train and fight with the boxers. Keep a look out for more exciting online projects like I’m Your Man throughout the year. On Demand

On Demand continues to bring inspiring and entertaining content to all Australians for free, wherever and whenever they want. Audiences can discover an incredible world of content often never seen before with hits from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Europe. On Demand now has over 600 free movies spanning all genres – from martial arts epics and high-octane action thrillers, to heart-warming French romantic comedies. There are also over 350 documentaries, and it will continue to grow throughout 2016 with the addition of the world’s best food programs to coincide with the launch of Food Network.

In 2016, On Demand introduces support for Apple TV and Google Chromecast – making the service available on 25 platforms, more than any other Australian broadcaster.

11 Responses

  1. Not much sport on SBS. Maybe they should consider getting WNBL or other sports that are worthy of TV even if on SBS, i am thinking Baseball, Volleyball, maybe beach Volleyball, Tennis, hopefully they they can get he ATP highlights show this used to air on ABC about 14 years ago. As for their A League coverage i wouldn’t mind if SBS let that go or didint even bother trying to keep it considering FFA wants big money and SBS cant afford it.

  2. What I saw in terms of promotion was insanely Australia centric. As for the actual show I wouldn’t have a clue. I watch the satellite feed of the show without commentary.

  3. Glad Poh, Food Safari and Destination Flavour are back.
    Growing up, seeing an Asian actor was very rare and when you did see one it was seldom that they ever interacted with another Asian actor. So I’m ecstatic to see an Asian-Australian focused series on TV.

  4. So good we will be in Eurovision once again. Be interesting to see how we go in the semis this year tho!

    I’m guessing the fact Stan Grant has a nightly NITV show means he’s defected or been dumped from his nightly two hour Sky News show. That’s a big gap in primetime for Sky to fill. It was only extended to from 1 to 2 hours in June after Peter van Onselen moved his show to daytime.

  5. Very disappointed that we will be competing again. It was fun as a one-off but the charm of it is watching the bizarre acts as an outsider not trying to join in (with all the parochial coverage that follows).

    1. As much as I like Eurovision, I think you’re right. Everyone involved is having fun, nobody really takes the entries too seriously (voting is a different matter though!), and I think Australians are culturally incapable of having fun that way. Our (frankly, unpleasant) national psyche means we either have to win, or show we’re not total losers by nastily denigrating others (in the name of “just having a laugh, mate, what’s wrong with you?”, of course). Frankly, as a nation I don’t think we’re capable of just sharing our cheese with everyone else…

      And what, no Hoges or ONJ mini-series coming up next year? Get with the plan, SBS!

      1. That would be true if it were a commercial channel – but it’s SBS. They know their audience well enough there’s no way they’d allow it to get too Australia centric. Neither would Julia and Sam allow it.

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