| 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. |
Know what you’re voting for!
Do you know what each Party has promised for SBS if elected?
Save Our SBS looks at the election policies of four Parties.
The Greens will provide $130m over three years to remove in-program advertising on SBS and Labor will not increase advertising ensuring SBS remains a properly publicly funded broadcaster.
Labor will invest $40m for people who work in Australian media and an extra $20m for SBS.
The Greens and Labor have promised to increase funding for SBS.
The… »
SBS World Movies channel
SBS is launching an international movie channel.
The new channel - SBS World Movies - will be on air from 1 July.
At least half the content will be in languages other than English (LOTE) and that may increase over time.
The channel will broadcast in HD.
Save Our SBS President, Steve Aujard, said, “The World Movies channel comes about after the SBS Board of Directors considered a submission from Save Our SBS proposing a languages other than English TV channel. Our… »
Farewell 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 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… »
Budget for SBS not brilliant
SBS has not fared well in this year's Budget.
Over the next three years, SBS will receive an average of $295 million per year which includes almost $29.6 million over the period to "guarantee the ongoing quality of its television, radio and online services", according to a statement issued by the Communications Minister, Senator Mitch Fifield .
This is a far cry from the boost in funding that SBS sought to commission more Australian content. Only two percent of… »
SBS & 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… »
SBS appoints new MD
James Taylor is the new Managing Director of SBS.
Mr Taylor (pictured) has been working at SBS for the past six years as its Chief Financial Officer and filled the position of Acting Managing Director after the unexpected departure of former MD Michael Ebeid.
"We have already met James and look forward to working with him in the future" said Save Our SBS president, Steve Aujard.
Save Our SBS welcomes Mr Taylor to his new role.
SBS chairman Dr Bulent Hass Dellal… »
 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
