Viewers who do not want to see gambling, alcohol and fast food ads will soon be able to block them. Uninterrupted viewing will also be available.
A media release issued by SBS stated that:
The SBS On Demand audience will have the option to opt-out of the advertising categories of wagering, alcoholic beverages and quick service restaurants.
An SBS spokesperson told Save Our SBS:
The initiative will be rolled out to account based audiences for On Demand, but not live or free-to-air TV services.
Public broadcasting advocate, Quentin Dempster tweeted:
Audiences are citizens in a democracy … not just consumers to be aggregated and delivered up to advertisers. SBS should not be running ads. It has an arts and multicultural remit for national cohesion. Commercial networks need/deserve the ad revenue.
Since 2007, Save Our SBS, politicians, and tens of thousands of viewers have put the case for a return to uninterrupted viewing on SBS, as it was prior to late 2006.
SBS Media’s National Manager, Operations and Commercial Product, Lee Callagher, said:
[SBS is] also introducing Solus Impact, a product that eliminates all but one sponsored ad in a show, providing an uninterrupted viewing experience and unrivalled brand recall. This is a win-win for brands and viewers.
In what appears to be a comment directed to advertisers Callagher stated they can "measure the success of driving your target audience from SBS on Demand through to purchase" claiming that will be done by ‘sharing viewers data with Experian’ – a multinational information services company, providing data and analytical tools including credit reports.
This year SBS On Demand will also introduce audio description for Australians who are blind or have low vision. Users will have a choice of different audio tracks.