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.

The economic reason to remove in-program advertising on SBSThe economic reason to remove in-program advertising on SBS

Apart from ease of viewing, there are many reasons to shift advertising away from programs on SBS but until now, the economic benefits have not been explored. SBS aims to inspire “inclusivity and social cohesion.” That's what drives the broadcaster and this aim is articulated in its Corporate Plans, underpinned by its Charter. Despite SBS's aims, The Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion 2007‑2018 shows that social cohesion has been falling in… »

Farewell Darce CassidyFarewell Darce Cassidy

The first Secretary of Save Our SBS, Darce Cassidy (pictured), died this week. 'Darce' as he was affectionately known, was instrumental in transforming Save Our SBS from an unincorporated club to an incorporated association; this enabled Save Our SBS to operate as a legal entity. Darce first became known to Save Our SBS in August 2007, when he wrote a lengthy comment about the impact of advertising on SBS. Six months later and having made personal contact, Darce took up the… »

New TV channel proposed with more foreign language content and commercially less intrusive than current SBS channelsNew TV channel proposed with more foreign language content and commercially less intrusive than current SBS channels

The Directors on the SBS Board have been asked to consider a new, different type of TV channel. The new channel - proposed in a submission by Save Our SBS to the SBS Board - is for a free-to-air television channel scheduling programs predominately in languages other than English - LOTE TV - with programs subtitled in English. The submission, which was driven by community views and published evidence from reputable sources including separate studies of four different… »

SBS & friends say ‘fully-fund Australian content on SBS’ senate committee toldSBS & friends say ‘fully-fund Australian content on SBS’ senate committee told

This year, the Senate’s communications committee has been inquiring into the economic and cultural value of Australian content on our media services. Written submissions to the committee from SBS and Save Our SBS put the case for set quotas of Australian content saying it ought to be fully-funded. Save Our SBS argued that if content were fully-funded, there would be no point in SBS carrying advertisements. To stay faithful to its Charter, Save Our SBS said that SBS… »

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
     

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.

At SBS, we share the concerns of media organisations in Australia and around the world of any activity which has the potential to impact freedom of the press.

The ability of journalists to hold individuals and organisations to account, to scrutinise and bring to light matters in the public interest, is critical to any democracy and underpins the trust Australians have in our independent media.

We stand by our colleagues across the industry in continuing to defend the values of a free press.

James Taylor, SBS Managing Director, 7 June 2019

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