SBS (Australian TV channel)
national public television network in Australia
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is a public television network in Australia and part of the broader SBS television division. As of 2024, SBS had a 9.3% audience share, an increase from 8.5% in 2023.
SBS originally began airing full-time transmissions on 24 October 1980 under the name 'Channel 0/28'; broadcasting on UHF Channel 28 and VHF Channel 0 in Sydney and Melbourne. On 18 February 1985, the station was renamed SBS. By 27 June 1985, the station had expanded its service to Brisbane, Adelaide, Newcastle, and Wollongong. By 16 March 1986, the expansion had grown to include Perth, Canberra and Hobart.
As of 2025, SBS TV is the fifth-rated television network and primary channel in Australia, behind the Seven Network, Nine Network, ABC TV and Network 10.
History
Origins
SBS began test transmissions in April 1979 under the name "SBS Ethnic Television", broadcasting foreign-language programs on ABV-2 Melbourne and ABN-2 Sydney on Sunday mornings. Full-time transmission commenced at 6:30 p.m. on 24 October 1980 (United Nations Day) as Channel 0/28. At the time, SBS broadcast on UHF Channel 28 and VHF Channel 0.
“SBS (Australian TV channel)” enters the record as national public television network in Australia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Australian, channel and national can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“SBS (Australian TV channel)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Australian, channel and national provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6668212. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024, 2023, 1980 and 1985.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “SBS (Australian TV channel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.