What you need to know:

• SBS’ move to allow BVOD viewers to opt-out of gambling, alcohol and fast food ads could provide a template for other broadcasters to front-run regulation. SBS has 25 per cent commercial share of the BVOD market.
• The network has also committed to VOZ, OzTam’s total TV measurement system, as Australia’s TV currency faces fragmentation.
• SBS joining the market rush to free ad supported TV, or FAST.
• Agency execs from Starcom, This is Flow and Avenue C liked what they saw – and backed SBS to deliver on ESG both within its operations and across its audiences with a diverse, considered content slate.
• They also liked the new ad products.

Turn on, tune in, opt-out

Multilingual broadcaster SBS is sharpening up its ‘audience experience’ and SBS On Demand platform in 2024.

Aside from planting a flag in the net zero arms race – it claims it is the first Australian TV broadcaster to decarbonise direct emissions – its major announcement is one that might puzzle some brands – it wants to allow viewers to switch off ads from slightly contentious categories.

From Q1, 2024, viewers watching SBS On Demand can opt out of gambling, alcohol and Quick Service restaurants (fast food) ads. For the broadcaster, the move puts it in a leadership position when it comes to social responsibility. Users can register interest now in advance of the new option via the SBS Help Centre.

In announcing the decision at SBS upfront, the broadcaster’s managing director, James Taylor, said there was a moral and commercial imperative to getting this kind of responsible advertising play right.  

“We already take steps to ensure we bring responsible advertising to our audiences. For example, we enforce age restrictions on SBS On Demand. We also remove certain ad categories from particular programs, especially shows that deal with difficult or sensitive topics, such as Addicted Australia,” he said. 

“Today, we put greater control into the audience’s hands. In 2024, SBS will introduce Ad Control, an opt-out feature that enables viewers to opt-out of one category of advertising campaigns across gambling, alcohol and QSR. Audiences had complete control of what they watch on SBS On Demand -now they have control over the ads they see as well.

“Just as there is with sustainability, there is a moral and commercial imperative to get this right. The audience benefits from being able to customise their advertising experience. The advertiser benefits by not paying to reach people who are not interested in their product. This is responsible advertising at its best.”

The announcement was endorsed by Endeavour Drinks Group CMO, Jo Rose, and Tabcorp GM of Marketing and Media, Vanessa Sanford, with the latter describing it as “an innovative initiative that ensures advertising reaches a receptive audience”.

Wagering ads are the most contentious of the bunch. In 2022, north of $300m was spent on gambling ads with nearly two-thirds punted into broadcast TV, according to previously published SMI and Nielsen figures. SBS, which holds relatively few sports rights, reduces even further with SBS On Demand. It is arguable how much of an impact this would have on SBS ad revenue, but coupled with alcoholic beverages and fast-food advertising, it is still a bold move in a contracting TV advertising market.

Either way, the broadcaster is presenting an opt-out for viewers, handing over responsibility and control. It will be interesting to see how many block those ads – and provides a playbook that could potentially enable other broadcasters to adopt in the face of potential regulation.

Owning ESG

On the sustainability front, SBS claims to be the first national broadcaster to reach Net Zero on direct carbon emissions. It’s now set a 2045 target for Net Zero across its entire supply chain, no mean feat given the carbon intensity of TV production and distribution.

The first milestone covers Scope 1 and 2 direct emissions and is being measured and managed using Sustainable Screens Australia’s Albert Toolkit. Scenario modelling has enabled SBS to project a target to reach Net Zero by 2045 across all three scopes. SBS said it will begin the process of applying for endorsement of this Net Zero target by the Science Based Targets Initiative, the global standard for Net Zero commitments that are backed by science. 

The work sees the national broadcaster measuring the carbon emissions of shows including Insight, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, and Going Places with Ernie Dingo. SBS was among the first broadcasters in Australia, alongside the ABC, to begin measuring carbon emissions for its operations and supply chain in 2020-2021. The firm recently hired Abigail Thomas as Head of Sustainability and in the last financial year switched to 100 per cent renewable power.

SBS director of media sales, Adam Sadler, said media agencies are now starting to walk the talk on withholding investment from ESG laggard publishers.

"We're seeing more and more in briefs from agency groups like GroupM, OMG and IPG Mediabrands that you must have a plan around sustainability, you must have a plan around DE&I and you must be able to demonstrate ROI in this space," he commented.

Last year, GroupM introduced a global media decarbonisation framework to measure and ­reduce the carbon emissions across its supply chain, including media owners, and has warned it could choose to partner with media companies that are more progressive on reducing emissions. Carbon-based buying, as GroupM Australia’s former investment chief Seb Rennie describes it, could kick in within two years.

IPG-owned Magna is now starting to rank publishers based on their ESG credentials while tech firm Scope3 is opening up its carbon calculator to brands and agencies, showing the impact of their ads – and how to reduce it via channel and platform choices.

Winning the World Cup

The third headline item revealed by Taylor at upfront was SBS securing all the exclusive rights for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. 2026 will mark the 40^th year of SBS’s broadcast relationship with FIFA on the world’s biggest sporting event.

In the past year, SBS’s broadcast of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar attracted 52 million consumption hours and digital viewing totalling 28 million hours. 

“We will bring every match, live, free and exclusive and in high definition to all Australians,” Taylor said. In all, 48 teams will play in the mens’ tournament across an extended 104 games.

Reaffirming VOZ status

While there were many things on show at SBS upfront, one thing largely absent from the limelight was total TV measurement. That was until a sole mention from SBS national sales manager, Andrew Mudgway, during a quick cameo onstage, where he took the opportunity to reaffirm SBS’s commitment to OzTam’s VOZ audience measurement platform for its dynamic TV buying platform, SBS Connect.

“To ensure our product is best-in-class and future-proof, we’ve tied into development of VOZ Total TV audience measurement system and will be rolled out early in the new year,” Mudgway told attendees. 

The side comment was no doubt in response to news last week that Foxtel is planning to build an alternative TV and streaming trading currency via a coalition of global platforms and local TV networks, with SBS “on board”, per Foxtel Media CEO, Mark Frain.

Overcoming 'choice paralysis'

In FY23, SBS reported 12.5 per cent growth in advertising and sponsorships to $171.7m and a record network share of 9.2 per cent (up on 8.5 per cent last year). SBS On Demand reported 13.3 million registered user accounts (its total reach on linear and BVOD was 13.9 million), up 2.4 million on the previous year.

The reporting period saw a 22.3 per cent increase in BVOD viewing minutes to 9.6bn, powered by the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Alone Australia.

In spite of growing its audience and external revenue, the network reported a deficit of $22.1 million, largely due to the cost of broadcasting the FIFA World Cup. Its advertising revenue accounts for about 35 per cent of its overall funding with the taxpayer picking up the rest.

To bolster a strong year in viewing, particularly on BVOD, SBS is taking a leaf out SVODs like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video by placing “audience experience squarely at the forefront of all that we do” with an improved recommendation engine. It’s similar to what Seven promised for 7Plus at its upfront two weeks ago.

SBS said this also means the launch of SBS Rewind, which will show users a summary of their viewing in the year prior and recommend new programming based on these preferences. 

With a swipe at the ‘hyper-targeting’ of its streaming rivals, SBS Media national technology manager, Lee Callagher, noted recent streaming research which uncovered two major customer annoyances: Choice overload – too much content and too many choices; and hyper-targeting, with the same show being recommended repeatedly.

“When the experience is dictated by algorithms, it can lead to endless variations, inhibiting serendipitous discovery,” SBS On Demand head of product, Chris Tangye, continued. “The SBS On Demand experience will strike a balance between traditional algorithmic recommendations, and curated destinations based on relevancy. This way we can still impart editorial expertise while presenting content that’s highly relevant to every user.

“We want to help eliminate the choice paralysis that people often encounter on other major streaming platforms. With destinations showcasing content as varied as cycling, to Korean cinema to world cuisine or the latest Australian documentaries, the SBS On Demand experience helps audiences learn and get acquainted with a particular theme, genre, topic, nationality or other interest. 

“This improves the user’s onward journey and drives people deeper into the SBS catalogue to discover content they didn’t even know they were interested in.”

Decluttering advertising, FAST

In terms of ad products, the upfront highlighted two main initiatives: Solus 2.0 and SBS Measure. Solus 2.0 only allows one sponsored ad in a show, another initiative to declutter advertising for those willing to pay a premium; SBS On Demand already has a relatively low ad load (five minutes per hour) compared to rivals.

SBS Measure, in partnership with Experian, is an attribution play intended to close the loop and verify the path to purchase, which the broadcaster said delivers a “more compelling offering to brands”.

“Now, with our partners at Experian and your data, we can measure the success of driving your target audience from SBS on Demand through to purchase,” Callagher said. “This proves the value of your investment with SBS. We’re excited for this one and believe it will make SBS a partner of choice for many brands.”

Meanwhile, SBS is joining the market-wide push into free ad-supported TV, or FAST channels. Paramount and Seven already have dozens of FAST channels and Nine last week joined the fray. Analysts suggest FAST channels will attract north of $300m dollars in Australian ad revenues by 2027. By the end of this year, SBS On Demand will run content-specific FAST channels, beginning with channels from Vietnamese-Australian celebrity, chef Luke Nguyen, and SBS Chill, a previously-audio only music station viewers will now be able to experience with visuals.

In 2024, SBS will introduce audio description for Australians who are blind or have low vision.

NITV and SBS Audio

SBS Radio rebranded to SBS Audio in early 2023 and the broadcaster went live with a new linear radio schedule earlier this month. Programs across more than 60 languages will move to a platform agnostic model that houses where most of its audio content is published online at 5pm each day. New languages added to the schedule include Bislama, Malay, Oromo, Telugu and Tetum; SBS PopDesi is evolving into a more holistic offering that caters to the more than 1.5 million Australians who speak a South Asian language.

In a year dominated by The Voice referendum, NITV reached 1.8 million Australians consuming 24 million hours of First Nations content in FY23.

From December, NITV is moving to HD and in 2024, its ‘Beyond 3%’ initiative will add new tiers for clients following NRMA’s commitment to become the first brand to commit to 3 per cent of ad spend on First Nations programming.

Indigenous programming remains a clear investment imperative for SBS next year. NITV and Netflix are premiering a new animated children’s series, Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, inspired by the book series authored by former AFL star, Eddie Betts. There is a feature documentary Journey Home: David Gulpilil that follows the ceremonial path of Yolngu man and renowned actor. Logie Award-winning children’s series Little J and Big Cuz returns for a fourth season, Going Places with Ernie Dingo returns for a sixth season, and Our Law, which follows First Nations police officers as they tackle the justice system from within is back for season two. 

Alone Australia… with bows and arrows 

Then there’s the rest of the content pot in store for 2024. Top of the list is second two of top performing show for 2023, Alone Australia. The survival reality TV program pulled a total TV audience of 1.4m, including a 385 per cent uplift from SBS On Demand viewing for Episode 1.

Ten Australians will confront nature, hunger and isolation in the South Island of New Zealand (Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa), battling mountainous terrain, snow, freezing winds – and each other – for a prize of $250,000. Bows and arrows will be allowed, and season one winner, Gina Chick, will present an S2 companion podcast with SBS Audio. 

Local SBS Original drama series set to premiere in 2024 it hopes will also reverberate include Four Years, a romance shot in India and Australia about a married couple who are separated for four years and try to find their way back to each other. Swift Street is about dysfunctional father-daughter duo who become partners in crime from creator and director Tig Terer and starring Cliff Curtis (Avatar: The Way of Water) and Tanzyn Crawford (Tiny Beautiful Thing)

Also returning are Rogue Heroes, The Handmaid’s Tale new international drama Paris Has Fallen, Sherlock & Daughter and The Doll Factory.

Reaction: VOZ cat amongst currency pigeons

SBS reaffirming its commitment to OzTam’s total TV measurement currency Voz just days after Foxtel broke cover on plans to build a rival currency and coalition “put the cat amongst the pigeons,” per Starcom client services director, Sam Down. But he backed it. “Being able to compare apples with apples is an important piece.”

Down also lauded SBS for taking the initiative on opt-outs for gambling, drink and fast food ads. “Someone is taking accountability in the marketplace,” he said, and it also has an efficiency angle, “minimising wastage” for advertisers. “It’ll be interesting to see the impact on the delivery … But it is an important step and something we should do across those industries,” per Down. “This is a reckoning moment for gambling, and I think we will see outright bans on gambling advertising in the not-too-distant future. Giving people the choice to opt-out is an important step. We don’t want to advertise to people who don’t want to see the messaging.”

Down also congratulated SBS for focusing on cultural distinctiveness amid a broader industry upfront focus on new tech bells and whistles. “While everyone else talks about technology – and they did talk about UX and things like that – the most important thing for us is SBS focuses on the cultural importance of Australians and diverse audiences as well,” said Down.

“The reason we continue to work with them is we’re buying reach you don’t get elsewhere.” He said the same applied to content, with SBS’ commitment to local shows enabling greater opportunity for in-program integration.

Overall, per Down, “The biggest thing for me is the ability to tap into cultural moments and really thoughtful moments that connect with people on a deeper level, than just buying into your everyday content … The benefit of SBS is it brings people in with something like Handmaid’s Tale, but it’s also a great way to discover something you may not have seen before. As a discovery tool it’s a great buy.”

‘An easy sell to clients’

This is Flow strategy chief Catherine Rushton said the broadcaster “quietly impressed” with an upfront that delivered a “diverse and inclusive” content slate and a “bold yet smart move to wrangle back control from the algorithms and introduce Australia’s first personalised ad experience. Even better was the buy-in from launch partners Tabcorp and Endeavour Group. This adds credibility to this initiative. For all the talk about attention, this move signals positive action that will benefit the humans at the other end of the screen.”

A “personal highlight”, per Rushton, “was when Anna Dancey from NITV provided a clever angle on how to get more brands closer to committing to ‘Beyond 3%’- accessing Reconciliation Action Plan budgets to essentially increase brand’s media budgets. Backing this up with 7.7 per cent prime time metro audience growth means it should be an even easier conversation with clients.”

She also highlighted the “sprint” workshops from SBS’ partner content division, Cultural Connect, as a winner in helping brands and agencies “better connect with their diverse audiences including First Nations and the 5.6 million Aussies who speak a language other than English … it reminded those listening that this is not an ‘or’ choice to include SBS but an ‘and’ incremental extension of a brand’s presence”.

Rushton said SBS’ net zero commitment was “the most ambitious of any broadcaster”. Now it’s down to delivery.  “As they pointed out, SBS is already demonstrating this leadership position as measured by Nielsen so this proclamation feels believable… time will tell. This announcement also felt necessary if they wanted to maintain their leadership position based on the range of sustainability claims made recently. “

‘BVOD bragging rights, best UX’

Two initiatives stood out for Avenue C managing partner, Daniel Cutrone: the gambling, alcohol and fast food opt out and SBS Solus Impact, which he said, “will allow advertisers exclusivity target individuals with greater SOV”.  Cutrone also lauded SBS for leading its upfronts with BVOD for many years, though other networks are increasingly taking the same approach. “Rightly so – its on demand product is a leader user experience and has bragging rights to 25 per cent commercial share versus its 10 per cent linear share.

He commended SBS on the diversity and quality of its content slate and of its commitment to diversity, inclusion and sustainability. “SBS are leading the way and has challenged the industry to ‘demand different’” per Cutrone, “and they will deliver. ​​​​