SBS World News Channel
| Company type | Digital television channel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | June 12, 2002 |
| Defunct | June 1, 2009 |
| Fate | Replaced by SBS 2 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Owner | SBS Television |
The SBS World News Channel was an Australian digital television service introduced by SBS Television on 12 June 2002. It marked SBS's inaugural digital-only multi-channel, delivering news content for eighteen hours each day from fifteen different nations. Between news segments, viewers were presented with weather information, headline summaries, and occasional advertisements.
History
The channel was officially launched by Minister Richard Alston on 12 June 2002 and initially operated under the name The World News during its first year. In 2003, SBS expanded its WorldWatch schedule by incorporating broadcasts in Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic. The Vietnamese programming, provided by the government-affiliated VTV4, sparked controversy within the Vietnamese Australian community due to its display of the communist flag and omission of reports on political oppression. This led SBS to introduce disclaimers clarifying that the channel did not endorse external editorial viewpoints.
Following legislative reforms to media ownership laws enacted by the Australian parliament on 18 October 2006, restrictions on digital multi-channel genre classifications were removed.
Promotional materials emphasized that the channel aired more than 200 weekly news programs in their original languages, featuring uninterrupted transmissions from esteemed international news organizations and magazine-style shows on Sundays. It positioned itself as a comprehensive source of global news, sourcing content from 17 countries.
The channel was available on channel 33 until January 2009, after which it shifted to channel 32. It ceased operations and was succeeded by SBS 2 on 1 June 2009.
Programming
Operating eighteen hours per day, the SBS World News Channel retransmitted over 200 weekly news broadcasts originating from 23 countries. Its schedule included bulletins from a variety of international broadcasters, such as:
In addition to these international broadcasts, SBS TV aired selected programs from this lineup alongside PBS's Nightly Business Report and PBS NewsHour. SBS TV also featured World News Australia as well as the English-language bulletin from Deutsche Welle.
earthTV
earthTV was utilized as supplementary programming on the SBS World News Channel, filling gaps during news interruptions or transitions between scheduled shows.
See also
- SBS WorldWatch, a comparable channel introduced in 2022