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| Save Our SBS – friends of SBS – joins all supporters and every friend of SBS in celebrating SBS radio, television, digital and online services. We are a not-for-profit association of ordinary people defending the original special purpose of SBS. DONATE here. |
SBS cannot be privatised: Michael Ebeid explains
"people who talk about privatising SBS really have no idea what SBS does"
SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid was recently asked if SBS should be privatised to save taxpayers footing the bill.
Answering the question, Mr Ebeid said, "I think people who talk about privatising SBS really have no idea what SBS does.
"It would be impossible to privatise SBS because of its Charter.
"When you think about the role that we play in, for… »
Government backs down on SBS advertising Bill
Former SBS World News Australia presenter, Mary Kostakidis and Save Our SBS today thanked thousands of ordinary people who opposed a government Bill to further commercialise SBS.
Save Our SBS President, Steve Aujard said, "The government has killed the Bill. The Minister's Office phoned me a short while ago."
Ms Kostakidis said, "We are pleased the government has listened to SBS viewers; all were strongly opposed to the Bill.
"We now call on the… »
Mary Kostakidis speaks out against government Bill to increase SBS advertising
Mary Kostakidis today called on ordinary people to oppose the further commercialisation of SBS in a campaign called, Preserve our media diversity: Don’t turn SBS into Australia’s fourth commercial TV network.
The former SBS World News Australia presenter, Ms Kostakidis said, “Save Our SBS and I launched the website campaign so that SBS viewers can voice their concerns about the government’s plans to make SBS even more reliant on advertising. We expect the government… »
Advertising bill will manoeuvre SBS away from its Charter obligations
by Mary Kostakidis
The relentless push to further commercialise SBS has been ramped up yet again with SBS management and government set on increasing advertising within programs. This destructive policy will ultimately make the public broadcaster - SBS - indistinguishable from mainstream commercial television.
Not only will advertising be more intrusive, it will also increasingly become the driver of programming decisions and the public broadcaster will continue to be… »
Preserve our media diversity: Don’t turn SBS into Australia’s fourth commercial TV network
National survey shows SBS viewers do not want gambling ads and reject government’s SBS commercialisation policy
Save Our SBS released the findings of a nationwide survey today that showed 91% of SBS viewers want an end to SBS broadcasting betting and gambling advertisements.
Save Our SBS President, Steve Aujard said, "SBS viewers believe that such advertisements are not good for social cohesion. This finding is significant because the SBS Corporate Plan states that the purpose of SBS is to contribute to a cohesive society" (SBS Corporate Plan 2016-17, pg 2).
Mr Aujard… »
Précis of Survey 2017 about SBS
95% of SBS viewers nationally do not want increased advertising on SBS and say that if there is an increase in ads, then the law ought to restrict advertisements to before or after programs only - except in sport - like SBS used to be.
The results are in of the Survey 2017 about SBS. It is the third in the series of periodic surveys undertaken about SBS.
Across all three surveys, three different cohorts totalling 4953 SBS viewers nationally have been surveyed… »
Save Our SBS welcomes new SBS Chairman
SBS has a new Chairman, Dr Bulent Hass Dellal AO. Dr Dellal is no stranger to SBS.
The Minister for Communications, Senator Mitch Fifield announced the appointment today.
Save Our SBS president, Steve Aujard welcomed the appointment and said, “Dr Dellal was appointed as a Director to the SBS Board in 2010 and has been the Deputy Chairman since 2011. He has been Acting Chairman for the past year. Previously we have met with Hass and look forward to working with him in… »
SBS to double primetime advertising if bill passes
At Senate Estimates today, the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Communications & The Arts, Nerida O'Loughlin said that the government would soon introduce a bill to increase advertising on SBS.
Later, SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid acknowledged the advertising bill remark.
Last year Save Our SBS gathered 62,000 signatories in a petition opposing the bill that would have increased commercial disruption on SBS to similar levels as seen on commercial free-to-air… »
Identity theft or giving up on Charter: how the ramping up of commercialism has weakened SBS a decade on
A couple of months ago, when the ABC’s 4 Corners program broadcast the excellent but heart wrenching documentary titled "Children on the Frontline: Escape from Aleppo" by Marcel Mettelsiefen, something was inadvertently portrayed about SBS – what it is not doing.
The entire Children on the Frontline program was in a language other than English (LOTE). All this occurred in primetime.
Children on the Frontline was told through the eyes of four children filmed over… »
Minister asked to limit gambling ads on SBS
Today, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Senator Nick Xenophon gave notice of a joint motion calling on the Minister for Communications Senator Mitch Fifield to limit gambling advertisements on SBS.
The motion comes on the back of SBS broadcasting Sportsbet ads in the mid-year UEFA Cup.
In July, Save Our SBS called for a total ban of all betting and gambling advertisements on SBS.
In a statement Mr Wilkie said, “The new Parliament presents a perfect opportunity to… »
Gambling ads ought have no place on SBS
Forever chasing the commercial dollar, SBS has succumbed to broadcasting advertisements that promote betting in their sporting programs. Viewers watching the recent UEFA Cup competition would have seen Sportsbet ads on SBS at 5:30pm on Sundays and 6:30pm on weekdays.
The broadcaster has proceeded down this path under the SBS Codes of Practice and as an associate member of Free TV Australia, under the advertising and betting restrictions contained in the Commercial… »
What will the Parties do with SBS after the election?
Save Our SBS put six questions - the same questions - to the Coalition, Labor and Greens parties about their policies for SBS. This is what they promised.
The full unedited answers are in the Q&A section lower down this screen.
The Greens are the only party who will move advertising away from programs on SBS.
Labor does not plan to alter the advertising arrangement at all.
The Coalition have already introduced a Bill to… »
Why the proposed takeover of SBS failed
Although SBS is currently without a permanent chairman, this week high profile supporter of multicultural broadcasting and former chair of SBS Joseph Skrzynski AO spoke out against the idea of an ABC-SBS merger. Mr Skrzynski wrote in Fairfax Media that for every $1 SBS spends to reach each TV audience member, the ABC spends $3, and SBS delivers double the amount of TV per TV employee compared to the ABC. The former SBS chairman detailed why a merger made no economic sense and… »
Why the ABC wants to gobble SBS, not save it
This opinion piece by Save Our SBS President Steve Aujard, was first published on 23 February 2016 in the New Daily, here.
ANALYSIS: A merger of Australia’s two public broadcasters would spell the end of multicultural programming in this country.
While ABC chief Mark Scott is prone to talking up the idea of merging Australia’s two public broadcasters, he has never been able to justify how multicultural broadcasting would be improved under ABC control.
Let’s be… »
 Save Our SBS – friends of SBS – joins all supporters and every friend of SBS in celebrating SBS radio, television, digital and online services. We are a not-for-profit association and defend the original special purpose of SBS. We advocate greater public funding for SBS, value multilingual & multicultural programs, and treasure the diverse culturally rich service intended for SBS – without in-program commercial breaks. |
When the 1991 Parliament incorporated the phrase “natural program breaks” into the SBS Act it intended the placement of advertising on SBS television would not disrupt programs, that SBS not present itself like a commercial broadcaster and that “natural program breaks” would be restricted to:-
- Mr SMITH Liberal half-time in a soccer match … in effect what will happen is that advertising will top and tail programs
- Sen ALSTON Liberal natural program breaks, one would think that it is not too difficult to identify … clearly the half-time break in football and other sporting programs is a fairly common occurrence. The topping and tailing of programs so that good quality films are not massacred by advertisements is something that most people will readily identify with and recognise the breach of very quickly
- Sen COLLINS Labor natural program breaks will be so unobtrusive on audiences as to be almost undetectable
- Mr LEE Labor advertisement–at the beginning and the end of the sponsored program. In that way the viewers were not disturbed and were not constantly interrupted, as is the case on some of the commercial television programs
- Mr SINCLAIR National let us not try to get the advertising revenue that will make the SBS another commercial channel. If we do, again, that will change its character, and I do not think that is really what we are about
