SBS to launch free to air news channel aimed at Mandarin, Arabic speakers

Multicultural broadcaster SBS will launch a new free-to-air television channel next year, in a move to expand its focus on delivering multilingual services to audiences.

SBS will deliver two local news bulletins in Arabic and Mandarin, which will appear alongside international news coverage on the channel. SBS managing director James Taylor said the creation of a dedicated channel for news was a better way to serve the needs of multicultural communities in Australia.

“Since it was established, SBS has been providing opportunities for Australians to connect with
news, information and entertainment in their preferred language,” Mr Taylor said. “The launch of a free-to-air multilingual news channel, along with the creation of new TV news bulletins in Arabic and Mandarin tailored to the needs of these communities in Australia, demonstrates our commitment to the core, critical and unparalleled services that SBS provides.”

SBS has run international news bulletins from broadcasters on its main channel and SBS Viceland through a programming block called WorldWatch, which has run since 1993. This programming block has not run consistently in recent years because programs such as one-off sporting events have caused programming clashes.

Documents filed with Australia’s trademark register indicate the new channel will become known as WorldWatch. The new channel will feature international news bulletins in more than 30 languages as well as two local bulletins in Mandarin and Arabic, which will be presented by SBS journalists.

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This means the international news programming will no longer air on SBS and SBS Viceland, with that content to be replaced by other programs that fit the broadcaster’s charter.

SBS’ new bulletins in Mandarin and Arabic are an expansion of bulletins the multicultural broadcaster currently runs through its radio network and online. The new bulletins will run for 30 minutes on weeknights and will be produced by a newly established local team. They will also be available through SBS’s online platform, SBS On Demand, from January.

SBS’ main function is to provide multilingual and multicultural broadcasting and digital media services that reflect Australia’s multicultural society, with one in five Australians speaking a language other than English at home.