Pre-Production Channel Research (SBS)

Channel Research (SBS)

Since channel 4 has no in house production teams and commissions much of its content from external sources. Its overseas cousin SBS will make an excellent partner. But to explore why this is we need to learn more about SBS, its origins, parallels, differences, audience etc.

Similarly to channel 4 SBS is a publicly funded broadcaster in Australia that is also part of a larger network of channels that help to expand its brand and audience. Originally operating as a radio broadcaster SBS came in to fruition due to a lack of media that targeted minorities in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Launched initially as a hybrid between a public and government funded broadcaster the network initially distributed radio shows designed to target the niche audiences in Australia that the other networks were struggling to appeal to (these included the youth market, as well as ethnic minorities). And thanks to its popularity among these groups the network was able to transition in to being a publicly owned company and significant investment lead it to start broadcasting on Television in October of 1980 (only two years before Channel 4 debuted in the UK).

Even in its early days SBS was pioneering the documentary front, broadcasting shows such as “True Tales” which was an insightful documentary series that looked in to the lives of ordinary indigenous and low income Australian people who were either facing some kind of societal difficulty or had overcome a major obstacle in their life. Paving the way for other hard hitting grounded documentaries that would find a home on the network in years to come. Similar to channel 4 the show also broadcast its fair share of light entertainment and studio based shows, these would form the day time portion of the channels content, with more actuality and documentary series airing in the evening (5PM onwards) which would appeal to a wider and more mature audience.

Another interesting thing to not about SBS as a broadcaster, is the fact that it shares a very similar remit to that of channel 4 “The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society". Its strong focus on informative entertainment makes it a great platform for a show such as mine (especially since it has not broadcast as large a number of similar content shows as the UK, proving there’s easily a gap in the market overseas), not to mention its inclusion of multicultural content.

Like Channel 4 SBS is also a part of a wider network. SBS is the primary broadcaster but it also owns/operates in conjunction with several other channels that fall under its brand. These include SBS Vineland (a channel which has a primary audience of 16-30 year olds, and produces content of both factual and fictional nature designed to target the youth market); SBS Food (a channel which not only broadcasts food related actuality shows, but a series of other programmes that are actuality and often studio based); and NITV (a network which SBS recently took over and seeks to target the older end of the networks age range with hard hitting news, politically relevant programming, and adult entertainment such as mature cartoons).

SBS also has a strong online presence. This is where it does the majority of its advertising and self promotion. Using animated ads that are hosted on sites like twitter, as well as teaser trailers that air both on TV and online. Not only this but similar to ALL 4, SBS provided a free online streaming service that audiences can use to catch up on terrestrial broadcasts as well as receive recommendations for similar shows they might like (based on their search habits and watch history), meaning that should Channel 4 collaborated with SBS our show would have an expansive secondary audience that could view the show online without concerns over region locked content.