What proportion of Australian programming does SBS broadcast?
Around a third of the programs broadcast by SBS TV, across SBS ONE and SBS TWO, is local Australian content. Almost all of our Australian programming is either commissioned or produced by SBS. SBS’s local news, current affairs and sports programming is produced by SBS. Other programming is commissioned by SBS from the independent production sector. In 2008/09 SBS broadcast 434 hours of SBS-commissioned Australian comedy, drama, documentary and entertainment programs, of which 143 hours were first run programs. In the same period SBS commissioned 209 hours of Australian comedy, drama, documentary and entertainment programs for production and development.
Does SBS TV cover multicultural festivals, either on the news or in special programs?
Each year SBS receives hundreds of requests to cover festivals and special events throughout Australia. Unfortunately, we have neither the funds nor the resources to meet the vast majority of these requests. Occasionally we do cover single special events of national significance or relevance. The emphasis of SBS programming is on multicultural issues and stories as distinct from multicultural events.
A true story:A team of 50 highly qualified and experienced subtitlers, subtitle editors, re-narration producers and technical editors work behind the scenes to bring the SBS audience our unique multilingual programs. The aim is always to remain true to the original language while communicating the message in natural, concise English.
