SBS Television

SBS Television is a service of the Australian Special Broadcasting Service, providing a nation-wide network of digital and analogue television services. Unlike the television stations of Australian Broadcasting Corporation and commercial networks, SBS provides a national service based in Sydney, as opposed to a local or state-based one.

Channels

SBS TV

SBS' main channel, SBS TV, which began transmission in 1979, originally broadcasting foreign-language programming on Sunday mornings using ABC TV through ABV-2 Melbourne and ABN-2 Sydney, before launching as a standalone channel in October, 1980. SBS TV is available nationally through a network of terrestrial transmitters in addition to the Optus Aurora satellite service. SBS TV devotes a significant part of its morning television schedule to news bulletins in languages other than English [ [http://203.15.102.140/news/worldwatch/worldwatch.php3 SBS - WorldWatch] , accessed 20 May 2007] , as well as showing many subtitled, foreign-language films. Its own news and current affairs aim to have a higher concentration on international affairs than the ABC or the commercial networks, and carry less "soft news". It also shows many documentaries and current affairs programs, while its sports coverage has a strong focus on international sports, primarily football (soccer) and cycling (especially the Tour de France) - often leading the station to be lampooned as "Sex Between Soccer" or the "Soccer Broadcasting Station".

At the end of 2006, SBS began showing ad breaks during programs [http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/index.php?id=1214 Commercials and Promotions FAQ] ] [ [http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/index.php?id=1216 SBS to Bolster News and Current Affairs. Increase Australian Content] SBS Corporation, June 2006] , a move which was intended to increased funding for the commission of multicultural drama and documentaries, and to support World News Australia's shift to a one-hour format, a change unpopular with many viewers [ [http://dailyflute.com/?p=1072 Daily Flute: SBS advertisements] accessed 26 May] .

Callsign

Regardless of state or territory, SBS television services always use the callsign 'SBS'. In capital cities, SBS is broadcast on UHF channel 28, while regional and digital television is on a range of frequencies.

SBS World News Channel

The SBS World News Channel, SBS' first and only digital "multichannel" was launched in June 2002 soon after the introduction of digital television to Australia in 2001. Although it is available nationally through digital terrestrial television, it is not available through the Optus Aurora remote television service.

Other

In addition to its two main services, SBS also broadcast SBS Essential, a datacast channel mainly providing information on upcoming programs, in addition to some news, sport, and weather slides. The datacast service was discontinued in January, 2007. As part of its coverage of various soccer events (including the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup), a multiview service called SBS Sport+ was created, showing live matches, game statistics and player profiles. [ [http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/UEFA-Champions-League-160407.html 2006-2007 UEFA Champion's League LIVE Semi Finals] eBroadcast.com.au, accessed 26 May 2007]

SBS also owns part of the independent company that controls the subscription television channel World Movies [ [http://worldmovies.net/?page=corporateinformation World Movies: Corporate Information] , accessed 26 May 2007] , which as part of a working relationship with SBS typically has the rights to show movies around 12 months before they can appear on SBS TV.

References

External links

* [http://www.sbs.com.au/ Official website]
* [http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/ Corporate Site]