First Contact on SBS gets Australia talking

First Contact on SBS gets Australia talking

Wednesday 19 November 2014

News Release

Program premiered last night on SBS ONE and NITV

Last night the SBS ONE broadcast of the first episode of dramatic three-part documentary series First Contact hosted by Ray Martin attracted a combined Metro and Regional audience of 612,000 (433,000 metro, 179,000 regional) reaching a peak audience of 774,000 and a metro FTA share of 10.3%.

Broadcast simultaneously on SBS ONE and NITV, with a delayed 9:30pm broadcast on SBS 2 First Contact reached 996,000 Australians based on 5 consecutive minutes of viewing (Metro + Regional).

The First Contact broadcast on NITV attracted a combined Metro + Regional audience of 39,000 (26,000 metro, 13,000 regional). On SBS 2 at 9:30pm the program recorded a combined Metro and Regional audience of 56,000 (40,000 metro, 15,000 regional).

The Awaken: First Response program hosted by Stan Grant at 9:30pm continued the conversation following the NITV broadcast and was the highest rating program ever for NITV with a combined Metro + Regional audience of 131,000 (Metro audience of 97,000 and 34,000 Regional viewers) and a metro FTA share of 3.0%.

SBS Director of Television, Tony Iffland said:

SBS and our production partner Blackfella Films are incredibly proud of this landmark series that shines a light on the divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia. First Contact goes to the heart of our charter and is an example of SBS's ability to deliver bold event television that provokes debate.

It's fantastic that so many Australian viewers tuned in to witness this important national story which has and will continue over the next few nights to contribute meaningfully to the conversation about what it means to be Australian today.

First Contact was a true network event, bringing our three channels and their distinctive audiences together, to successfully deliver this series to as many diverse Australians as possible and encourage them to join in to this national discussion and debate.

The hash tag #FirstContactSBS trended worldwide and number one on twitter in Australia.

First Contact continues tonight on SBS ONE and NITV at 8:30pm, and will be replayed on SBS 2 at 9:30pm, as the participant's emotions are pushed to the limit and for one the journey becomes all too much to take. The NITV broadcast will be followed by an Awaken special on Indigenous personality Ernie Dingo.

LINK:	http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/news-media-releases/view/id/935/h/First-...
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