SBS Radio

Experimental ethnic radio stations 2EA (Sydney) and 3EA (Melbourne) began operations on 9 June 1975,[1] under 3-month temporary licenses, with 42 hour per week schedules in seven and eight languages, respectively. The initial purpose was to inform ethnic communities about proposed changes in the healthcare system via the Medibank scheme. During 1977, programming and language coverage expanded to 119 hours per week in 33 languages on 2EA and 103 hours per week in 22 languages on 3EA.[2][1][3]

In November 1977, the Broadcasting and Television Act 1942 was amended to form the Special Broadcasting Service, which commenced operation and assumed responsibility for 2EA and 3EA on 1 January 1978.[2]

Original SBS Radio logo

Most programs contain a mix of news, current affairs, sport, community information and music relating to a specific ethnic or language group. The exception is the English language news program World View, and overnight programming from the BBC World Service.

SBS Radio has three main radio services, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3, as well as a national FM service. Radio 1 is available on AM in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Wollongong (1107, 1224, 1440 and 1485 respectively, and can also be listened to in FM on the SBS Radio app) while Radio 2 is available on FM in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra (97.7, 93.1 and 105.5) and on AM in Wollongong (1035). Radio 3 is only available on digital platforms. It broadcasts the BBC World Service on all days of the week unless of special circumstances. The national service (branded simply as SBS Radio) is available throughout the rest of the nation through FM broadcasting (except in Newcastle, where it is available on AM) and on the Viewer Access Satellite Television satellite service, and is composed of material from Radios 1, 2 and 3. Additionally, a few community stations in areas without dedicated SBS Radio transmitters carry some SBS Radio content.

Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3 are all available nationwide through digital terrestrial television, through DAB+ digital radio in available areas, on satellite from free-to-air Optus D1 and Optus B3 C-band satellite transmissions, and on major subscription television services (such as Foxtel). Until the launch of Radio 3 in April 2013, programs available on Radio 1 and Radio 2 varied depending on the platform and the location: for example, digital radio and television in Brisbane largely followed scheduling in Sydney, while digital radio and television in Adelaide and Perth largely followed scheduling in Melbourne.

On digital radio in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra, SBS has some additional digital-only services: SBS Chill, a mix of chillout and world music; SBS PopAsia, a mixture of J-pop, K-pop and C-pop; SBS PopDesi, a mixture of Bhangra, Bollywood music and South Asian pop music; SBS Arabic 24, a 24-hour Arabic radio station, which uses BBC Arabic programming, and SBS PopAraby, featuring Arabic pop music. All of these services are also available online.

SBS Radio 3 began broadcasting 29 April 2013. It is available on VAST, DAB+, DTV and Online. Radio 3 services were added to all FOXTEL/Pay TV platforms, including Austar and Optus from 2 September 2013.

SBS Radio 4 used to relay BBC World Service, however on 18 April 2019, all programs on SBS Radio 4 were transferred to SBS Radio 3, and Radio 4 is mostly defunct.

The old slogans were The many voices of one Australia, Six Billion Stories and Counting..., and Seven Billion Stories and Counting... and the current one is A World of Difference.

As of February 2021, SBS Radio broadcasts in the following languages. All languages are available on the national service unless otherwise noted.

On 20 November 2017, SBS Radio reorganised its radio service, which included dropping services in twelve languages that either weren't as widely spoken, or had communities who weren't in need of a dedicated service in their language, based on the national census that was conducted by the government the previous year. SBS will also launch services in seven new languages, but none of these services are available as of February 2021.[5]

Radio 1 also broadcasts segments of SBS Chill.

A radio version of SBS World News also aired on Radio 1.

Notes: All languages broadcast on Radio 1 were available (with reduced hours) on the national FM service, as well as all languages on Radio 2, except Dari, Lao and Maltese. None of the languages which have programs on Radio 3 were available on analogue radio.

1. Aboriginal services are and African services were mostly conducted in English. The Aboriginal service used to be called Aboriginal and then Living Black Radio. The German service includes English segments.
2. Not available on the national service.

• Official website