SBS Essential

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SBS Essential

Launched	October 14, 2002
Closed	January 25, 2007
Owned by	Special Broadcasting Service
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Website	sbs.com.au
Availability
Terrestrial
SD Digital	Channel 31

SBS Essential was a Special Broadcasting Service television channel available to digital television viewers in Australia. It began broadcasting on October 14, 2002, and was discontinued on January 25, 2007. The channel was broadcast 24 hours a day when "SBS Sports +" was not on-air.

SBS Essential broadcasted 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.

1 SBS Sport +
2 Criticisms
3 Closure
4 Identity
5 See also

[edit] SBS Sport +

SBS Sport +, is SBS's multiview service that is provided during major sporting events such as Soccer, and the FIFA World Cup. The service provides a highlights loop that is updated constantly during a game, this allows for Digital Television viewers to review specific moments, or catch up on the progress in a game.

[edit] 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' lineup in early 2007.

[edit] Closure

SBS ceased transmission of SBS Essential on January 25, 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 lineup. 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.

[edit] Identity

SBS Essential on May 22, 2005

SBS Essential's on-air look was changed several times, between the channels launch and closure. The channel previously had a Blue and Cream theme, with a very abstract design.

On May 22, 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 broadcasted with a low bitrate.