SBS celebrates 50 years with a bold, original and entertaining line-up of landmark Australian stories and international blockbusters 30 October, 2024
Media releases
Landmark documentaries from SBS will lean into true crime, culture and identity, and new series will feature Rachel Griffiths, Jacki Weaver, Claudia Karvan, Melissa Leong, Steph Tisdell, Marc Fennell and Nazeem Hussain. The record-breaking smash hit survival series Alone Australia returns for a third season, this time to the cold and rugged landscape of The West Coast Ranges, Tasmania, lutruwita.SBS scours the globe for the best in international drama with the return of blockbusters The Handmaid's Tale, Rogue Heroes and Blue Lights, and the highly anticipated TV adaptation of Smilla's Sense of Snow, alongside three new SBS Digital Original drama series Warm Props, Moni and Moonbird.NITV delivers more bold and unapologetically Blak storytelling, with Big Backyard Quiz back as a series, personal and powerful documentaries, and new kids content - along with the launch of NITV Muy Ngulayg, a dedicated hub for First Nations content on SBS On Demand.SBS continues to be the leading destination for premium food programming, serving up new shows with some of the biggest names in food including Marion Grasby, Matt Moran and Nornie Bero.
SBS has today revealed a bold and original content line-up with distinctive stories Australians won't see anywhere else. In 2025, the network celebrates 50 years of connecting the country through storytelling that informs, inspires, entertains and authentically reflects contemporary Australia.
Managing Director of SBS, James Taylor said: Over five decades, SBS has evolved from two multilingual radio stations to one of the world's most distinctive multiplatform broadcasters. Within an ever more competitive landscape, SBS stands alone with its long history of truly representing Australia. As SBS prepares to mark this 50th milestone next year and look to the next 50, we will continue to lead the way in being a media network for all Australians - through storytelling that explores and reflects contemporary Australia, through digital innovation, and through our commitment to sustainability.
SBS Director of Television, Kathryn Fink said: SBS has continued to redefine entertainment with bold, human stories that connect us all. Our success is underpinned by our truly unique offering, with SBS On Demand the linchpin of our network. In 2025, our content slate will inform and entertain, with landmark documentaries including 2.6 Seconds, Robodebt and The Idea of Australia with Rachel Griffiths, and returning hits like Alone Australia, The Handmaid's Tale and Rogue Heroes. SBS will continue to go places other networks won't, to ignite important conversations that challenge, move and inspire all Australians.
SBS Director of Indigenous Content, Tanya Denning-Orman said: As a network, SBS will continue to lead the way in First Nations storytelling, with NITV at the heart of our commitment to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a vital voice in the media. We have a powerful line-up of Blak excellence coming in 2025, and from today, the best of First Nations storytelling has a dedicated streaming destination with the launch of our new SBS On Demand hub, NITV Muy Ngulayg. We thank the Western Torres Strait communities for their input and feedback on the use of this term which means inner knowledge, as we invite all Australians to learn and be inspired by stories from the world's oldest storytellers.
In 2025, SBS continues to break new ground with landmark documentaries that challenge, inform and entertain. Presented by Rachel Griffiths, The Idea of Australia is a bold and provocative four-part series that explores the myths that bind Australia and the events and people that have shaped our democracy, place in the world, cultural identity and the relationship between non-Indigenous and First Nations peoples. Presented by SBS and NITV, 2.6 Seconds, examines the death of Kumanjayi Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri and Luritja teenager shot three times by a police officer at close range in his home community of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. The series looks at the impact of those fatal 2.6 seconds on families, communities and race relations in this country. ROBODEBT (working title) will use a combination of hard-nosed factual and high-end drama to shine a much-needed spotlight on an unprecedented chapter in recent Australian history, while Jacki Weaver presents Australia: An Unofficial History, an insightful, broad, and playful series that cracks open a forgotten vault of Australian films to explore the social and political change of the 70s.
The record-breaking smash hit survival series Alone Australia returns for a third season. This time, 10 survivalists will be dropped into the cold and rugged landscape of The West Coast Ranges, Tasmania, lutruwita. In this new location the 10 participants face extreme flooding, an abundance of wildlife and deep personal revelations. The harsh conditions ignite never-before-seen innovation and survival skills, forcing the human spirit to its very limit. With no camera crews they must try to survive by their own wits and ingenuity to be the last person standing and take home $250,000.
Inspired by the hugely successful Great Australian Walks, Great Australian Road Trips pairs actress Claudia Karvan with comedian Steph Tisdell in one car and TV presenter Melissa Leong with comedian Nazeem Hussain in another to reveal untold Australian stories one pit stop at a time. For 15 years, popular genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? has surprised and delighted audiences with secrets from the past. In 2025, Claudia Karvan, Mark Coles Smith and Marc Fennell are among the next line-up of iconic Australians. Marc Fennell will
