Special Broadcasting Service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) | |
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| Type | Broadcast radio and television |
|---|---|
| Country |  Australia |
| Availability | National |
| Owner | Government of Australia |
| Key people | Carla Zampatti, Chairman; Gerald Stone, Deputy Chairman |
| Launch date | 1975 (radio); 1980 (television); 2001 (digital TV) |
| Website | www.sbs.com.au |
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is one of two government funded Australian 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 FAQ).
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[edit] History
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 in respectively seven and eight foreign languages.
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 1978-01-01, with the new broadcaster taking responsibility for 2EA and 3EA[1].
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".
On 18 February 1985 the station changed its name to SBS and began daytime transmissions. In June SBS expanded to Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Gold Coast.
On 5 January 1986 SBS ceased broadcasting on the VHF0 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[2].
In August 1986, the Government proposed legislation that would merge SBS into the ABC. This was highly unpopular with ethnic communities, and in April 1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced that the proposed amalgamation would not go ahead.
[edit] Services and divisions
The radio division broadcasts in 68 languages in all Australian states, and SBS Television has transmitters in all state and territory capitals, as well as numerous regional areas. A large percentage of its morning TV schedule is devoted to 17 non-English-language news bulletins. It also shows many films in languages other than English (with English subtitles). Its own news and current affairs programs have a higher concentration on international affairs than the ABC or the commercial networks, and carry less "soft news". It also broadcasts many current affairs documentaries, and its sports coverage tends to focus on international sports, primarily soccer and cycling (especially the Tour de France). The idea that no other station will show soccer in Australia, has led to the station being called Soccer Broadcasting Station or Soccer Bloody Soccer (SBS).
SBS is also one of the world's largest subtitling organisations. It produces subtitles not just for films to be shown on its own screenings, 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.
[edit] Digital Television
SBS has been one of the most progressive networks in regard to digital television, in part due to multi-channel restrictions on the commercial networks. Its second channel, SBS World News Channel, primarily shows foreign language news broadcasts. It also had an electronic program guide (EPG) channel which rotated upcoming program schedules, news headlines and weather information.
SBS's callsign is always SBS no matter where the license area is. SBS in the capital cities broadcasts analog television on UHF channel 28 and digital television on various frequencies.
[edit] Language services
Given SBS's multicultural expertise, has branched its operations to also include language services such as translating, subtitling, typesetting and voiceovers.
[edit] Other information
The network provides a rehearsal venue for the SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra, an orchestra that records many broadcasts for the network and regularly tours overseas.
