SBS Radio

SBS Radio
Company type	Public broadcasting
Industry	Broadcasting, Radio
Founded	1975
Headquarters	Sydney and Melbourne, Australia
Area served	Australia
Products	Multilingual radio programming in 68 languages
Owner	Special Broadcasting Service
Website	www.sbs.com.au/radio

SBS Radio is an Australian broadcasting network operated by the Special Broadcasting Service, primarily aimed at immigrants newly settled in the country. It originated with two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, initially delivering pre-recorded multilingual information about the Medibank health care system. Currently, SBS Radio reaches over 4 million Australians who communicate in languages other than English within their homes, offering programming in 68 different languages.

Similar to SBS Television, SBS Radio complements government funding through revenue generated from paid informational campaigns for government bodies, non-profit organizations, commercial advertisers, and sponsorship arrangements.

History and development

The inception of SBS Radio traces back to the 1970s when the government identified a need for multilingual broadcasting services following waves of immigration after World War Two.

In January 1975, Community Relations Commissioner Al Grassby proposed establishing two trial stations in Sydney and Melbourne with a budget allocation of $67,000 to broadcast primarily in languages other than English. Subsequently, on 12 May 1975, ABC launched station 3ZZ in Melbourne featuring mainly non-English content.

Sydney’s 2EA (Ethnic Australia) began transmissions on 9 June 1975, followed by Melbourne’s 3EA on 23 June. Both stations operated under provisional licenses and offered programming in multiple languages aimed at educating ethnic communities about healthcare reforms through Medibank. By the end of that year, broadcasts included Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maltese, Mandarin, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Turkish.

Initial studio facilities were housed at Sydney’s 2CBA and Melbourne’s Armstrong Audio Video. In 1976, the Consultative Committee on Ethnic Broadcasters was created to strategize the future direction of ethnic broadcasting. That year marked a substantial expansion with 19 new languages added to 2EA and four to 3EA; both stations were granted permanent status.

By 1977, weekly programming increased to 119 hours across 33 languages on 2EA and 103 hours in 22 languages on 3EA. Newly incorporated languages included Finnish, Romanian, and Vietnamese on 2EA; Bulgarian, Estonian, Hungarian, and Portuguese on 3EA. The government closed station 3ZZ on 15 July 1977.

Legislation passed in November 1977 established the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which assumed control of both 2EA and 3EA starting January 1978. That year saw a combined broadcast schedule of 68 languages totaling 229 hours weekly. A highlight included a live soccer match from Yugoslavia aired on SBS radio in April. New studios were inaugurated at Clarence Street in Sydney and Bank Street in South Melbourne.

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, additional languages such as Albanian, Armenian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Punjabi, Russian, Slovak, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Urdu were incorporated. Broadcast reach extended into Queensland via community station 4EB. The introduction of talkback shows and live sports coverage like the World Cup enhanced audience engagement. Programs in Sinhalese and Khmer were introduced alongside Aboriginal-focused content on 3EA.

In August 1986 a government proposal aimed to merge SBS with ABC met resistance from ethnic communities and SBS employees; Prime Minister Bob Hawke ultimately abandoned these plans in 1987. Following this decision, SBS upgraded its infrastructure by opening new studios at Bondi Junction (2EA) and the Australian Ballet Centre (3EA).

The decade of the 1990s brought technological advancements including live broadcasts from the Soviet MIR space station and coverage of Berlin governmental proceedings after the fall of the Berlin Wall. New language offerings included Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, Kurdish, Samoan, and Tongan. A staff restructuring initiative sparked strikes in 1992. Persian-Farsi was introduced on Sydney’s service while Dari was added to Melbourne’s programming.

By the mid-1990s SBS consolidated operations at Artarmon premises and rebranded its stations as SBS Radio Sydney and Melbourne. The addition of FM frequencies doubled airtime enabling broader language coverage across AM/FM bands. The World Cup final was broadcast nationwide via FM.

Global events such as the Kosovar crisis in 1999 and post-9/11 developments led to increased news production featuring Afghan-language programs with extended durations.

A comprehensive review conducted in 2003 resulted in discontinuing less widely spoken languages like Irish Gaelic and Belarusian while introducing Amharic, Malay, Nepali, and Somali programs. Melbourne studios relocated to Federation Square’s Alfred Deakin Building.

A similar evaluation about ten years later added Malayalam, Pashto, Swahili, Dinka, Hmong, and Tigrinya services.

On 20 November 2017 SBS realigned its radio offerings based on census insights; twelve less commonly spoken language programs were discontinued while seven new podcast services launched including Hakha Chin and Rohingya.

In November 2022 another restructuring plan involved removing Albanian, Bulgarian, Finnish, Romanian Slovak and Slovenian programs replacing them with Bislama, Malay Oromo and Tetum. SBS reaffirmed its commitment to Telugu services while incorporating Afrikaans content through Dutch programming and Hazaragi via Dari services.

On 1 March 2023 SBS Radio became part of SBS Audio as an element of a wider brand transformation.

Programming and content

The majority of SBS Radio's shows integrate news, current affairs, sports, community updates, and music specifically curated for various ethnic or linguistic audiences. Notable exceptions include the English-language NITV Radio show and overnight segments sourced from the BBC World Service. Frequently listened-to language programs such as Greek and Mandarin incorporate talkback sessions near the conclusion of the broadcast.

Typically, programs are presented by one or two hosts and often feature a pre-recorded Acknowledgment of Country, honoring the traditional custodians of the land from which the broadcast is transmitted. SBS Radio's production studios are located in Sydney and Melbourne, with certain programs primarily aired from a single city due to historical scheduling patterns—for instance, the Albanian program is mainly produced in Melbourne.

Radio stations

SBS Radio manages three principal services: Radio 1, Radio 2, and Radio 3, in addition to a nationwide FM channel. Radio 1 is transmitted on AM frequencies in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Wollongong (1107, 1224, 1440, 1485 respectively) and is also accessible via FM through the SBS Audio app. Radio 2 broadcasts on FM in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra (97.7, 93.1, 105.5) and on AM in Wollongong (1035). Radio 3 operates exclusively on digital platforms, delivering BBC World Service content daily except during special programming periods. The national FM service reaches most Australian regions (AM in Newcastle) and VAST satellite users, blending programming from Radios 1, 2, and 3. Additionally, some community radio stations without SBS transmitters also relay SBS content.

All three radio services can be accessed nationwide through digital terrestrial television, DAB+ digital radio where available, free-to-air Optus D1 and B3 C-band satellites, as well as Foxtel.

Prior to the April 2013 launch of Radio 3, programming on Radios 1 and 2 varied depending on platform and location; for example, Brisbane’s digital radio schedule mirrored Sydney’s lineup while Adelaide and Perth followed Melbourne’s programming.

SBS further offers digital-only stations across major metropolitan areas and platforms such as VAST and online streaming:

SBS Chill – featuring chillout and global music genres
SBS PopAsia – broadcasting J-pop, K-pop, C-pop since 2010
SBS South Asian – delivering Bhangra, Bollywood hits, South Asian pop along with news; previously known as SBS PopDesi
SBS Radio 3 – launched in April 2013; airs SBS language shows weekdays from 11AM to 5PM with BBC World Service at other times; became available on Foxtel/Austar in September 2013
SBS Arabic 24 – introduced in March 2016 as a dedicated Arabic-language station broadcasting around the clock; initially included BBC Arabic programming until January 2023 when it transitioned to music-focused content

Discontinued channels include:

SBS PopAraby – formerly an Arabic pop music station now incorporated as a segment within SBS Arabic 24
SBS Radio 4 – mainly rebroadcasted BBC World Service content; Australian programming was transferred to Radio 3 in April 2019

The station’s slogans have evolved over time from The many voices of one Australia and Six Billion Stories and Counting... to the current tagline A World of Difference.

Languages

As of , SBS Radio delivers broadcasts in numerous languages predominantly through its national service.

In November 2017, SBS Radio restructured its language offerings by discontinuing twelve less commonly spoken languages based on data from the 2016 census while introducing seven new languages. However, due to limited airtime availability, these newly added languages are not presently broadcast on radio. A further reorganization took place in November 2022 following insights from the 2021 census.

Languages broadcast on Radio 1

English for Indigenous Australians (NITV Radio)
Albanian
Amharic
Armenian (excluded from national service)
Bosnian
Bulgarian (limited broadcast)
Cantonese
Croatian
Dinka
English (SBS World News Radio plus overnight segments)
Estonian (currently inactive)
Finnish
French
Greek
Hebrew (includes English portions)
Hungarian (currently inactive)
Japanese
Khmer
Korean
Macedonian
Mandarin
Polish
Romanian (limited broadcast)
Samoan
Serbian
Slovenian (limited broadcast)
Tigrinya
Vietnamese
Yiddish

Languages broadcast on Radio 2

Arabic
Assyrian
Bengali
Burmese
Czech (currently inactive)
Dari
Dutch
Filipino
German (includes English portions)
Gujarati
Hindi
Hmong
Indonesian
Italian
Kurdish
Lao (currently inactive)
Malayalam
Maltese
Nepali
Pashto
Persian
Portuguese
Punjabi
Russian
Sinhala
Slovak (limited broadcast)
Somali
Spanish
Swahili
Tamil
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian (limited broadcast)
Urdu

Languages distributed via podcast

Hakha Chin
Karen
Kirundi
Mongolian
Rohingya
Telugu
Tibetan

Former languages

Segments from SBS Chill are also broadcast on Radio 1 to fill scheduling gaps or substitute programs during breaks. A radio edition of SBS World News formerly aired on Radio 1 and is currently accessible as a podcast.

SBS Radio features programming in multiple languages sourced from BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle, while SBS Arabic24 incorporates content from BBC Arabic.

All Radio 1 languages were accessible with limited airtime on the national FM service, as were all Radio 2 languages except for Dari, Lao, and Maltese. Languages broadcast on Radio 3 were not transmitted via analogue radio.

RDS pilot program

In November 2012, SBS Radio initiated a trial of the Radio Data System (RDS) in Sydney and Melbourne, offering "Now" and "Next" program information. This service, identified by the RDS PS label "SBSRadio," has since been extended.

Electronic Program Guide deployment

Starting November 2012, SBS began transmitting a 14-day Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for SBS Radio on digital television (DTV). Real-time updates for DAB+ receivers and upcoming schedules for DTV are provided by Aim Rapid 2 from All In Media. Pay TV schedule data is supplied by HWW.

SBS Radio management

SBS Radio Operations, located in Sydney and Melbourne, oversees the management, supervision, and upkeep of SBS Radio services. Distribution of content is entrusted to external providers such as Broadcast Australia. The operations teams coordinate programming sources and resources to ensure delivery across all SBS broadcast markets.

External links