Smells of sour grapes to me. The commercial networks have no interest in airing a majority of shows in the list and yet the networks suggest they should not be shown on SBS. Do they want the shows to be on Foxtel or streaming services only? Viewers deserve choice.
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Nine wanted the Food Network produced shows for 9Life, iirc.
SBS CEO Michael Ebeid is stepping down.
From SBS
Statement regarding SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid AM
Michael Ebeid AM will step down as Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director after 7.5 years at the helm of Australiaâs most unique and distinctive national media organisation and the worldâs most linguistically diverse broadcaster.
Since joining SBS as its Managing Director in June 2011, Ebeid has led the organisation through a period of immense transformation, growth and achievement. He has led organisational strategies and introduced new initiatives which have led to more Australians engaging with SBS than ever before. These strategies ensure the organisation is well-equipped to deliver on the responsibilities of the SBS Charter, with programs and services which are relevant to an increasingly diverse Australian society, in a tough environment for media operators.
On his departure, Ebeid said: âMy decision to step down has been one of the most difficult decisions Iâve made. Serving as the SBS Managing Director has been a real honour and privilege and I depart feeling confident that this is the right time for a new Managing Director to take the organisation forward.
âSBS is the strongest it has been in over 40 years. We are more relevant than ever and we are ready for the future. Considering the struggle of societies globally to integrate diverse communities harmoniously, SBS today performs a critical role in the Australian community. We are the media organisation audiences can come to, on their preferred platform or device, for distinctive programs and different perspectives that create a better shared understanding within our diverse, multicultural society.âWe have been through a lot of change over the past seven years and our successes have only been achievable with the support of the SBS Board of Directors, our SBS Executive team and of course, our dedicated SBS employees. The SBS team is the most passionate and committed that Iâve worked with in my 30 year career. Our people come to work every day motivated to make an impact and Iâve learned a lot from them during my tenure.
âImportantly, I depart the organisation knowing that we have a very strong and experienced leadership team to help guide SBS forward. The organisation is honoured and humbled that SBS is valued by the communities we were created to serve four decades ago, and whom are at the heart of our organisation and the decisions we make today.â
Chairman of the SBS Board of Directors, Dr Bulent Hass Dellal AO said: âOn behalf of the SBS Board of Directors, I thank Michael enormously for his service and dedication to SBS as our longest serving Managing Director.
âWhilst we are very disappointed that Michael is leaving us, there is no doubt that he departs an organisation which is stronger, sustainable and backed by an important and valued purpose to contribute to the ongoing social and economic development of our nation through media services which foster greater understanding and encourage social cohesion.
âIn particular, I commend Michael for his focus on negotiating sustainable government funding, whilst also improving commercial revenues, which have secured SBSâs financial capacity to deliver on its Charter. The Board has valued Michaelâs attention to extracting value from SBS activities to position the organisation as a distinctive media provider as changes in the media sector continue to present challenges and opportunities.
âMichael had the foresight to recognise early that the SBS Charter and the organisationâs commitment to diverse multicultural communities provided an opportunity for relevant digital evolution and in-depth storytelling on new and emerging platforms; a strategy which continues to serve the organisation well. He has also invested significant time in improving employee engagement which is critical for the organisationâs future success. We certainly would not have been able to achieve such success without the absolute dedication and professionalism of our SBS people and Michael also leaves with a strong and capable leadership team in place. We wish him all the very best in his next endeavours.â
During Ebeidâs service, SBS has arrested its declining television audiences to achieve seven years of continuous growth in reach in a rapidly fragmenting market, with an average of 13 million Australians each month engaging with the networkâs channels. SBS today is regularly considered among the most trusted and impartial news sources. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander broadcasting is part of mainstream media since the launch of the National Indigenous Television (NITV) as a free-to-air channel in 2012. Migrants to Australia are well-serviced having modernised SBSâs language programs on radio and digital platforms, which are aiding their participation in Australian life with 2.8 million unique visitors coming to SBS language and audio sites each month. SBSâs many Australian-made television programs continue to earn critical acclaim and drive bigger national conversations about the countryâs success and challenges.
Under Ebeid, SBS has transformed its content-making and distribution models to leverage its unique capability for diverse storytelling on digital platforms afforded by the SBS Charter and launched two new free-to-air television channels in addition to NITV, in Food Network and SBS VICELAND. Having launched SBS On Demand in late 2011, it has evolved to be a highly-regarded streaming service now with almost five million registered users and the respected SBS News app is engaging more Australians than ever before.
Ebeid also secured long-term rights agreements for the FIFA World Cup⢠through to 2022, a 10-year deal for the Tour de France and negotiated Australian representation in the Eurovision Song Contest. In addition, innovative distribution and transmission agreements have produced significant efficiencies for SBS, and the organisation has been found by various independent reviews to be lean and efficient.In 2017, Ebeid was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to broadcast media and multicultural affairs as an executive, innovator and business leader, and was also named CEO of the Year for 2017 by CEO Magazine.
Ebeid will depart SBS on 1st October 2018 and will make an announcement in coming weeks about his next role.
The SBS Board of Directors will immediately begin a recruitment process to recruit a new SBS Managing Director.
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He quickly found another job.
SBS Managing Director
The SBS Board of Directors today announced the appointment of SBS Chief Financial Officer James Taylor to the role of Acting SBS Managing Director.
The announcement follows the decision of Michael Ebeid AM, to step down from the role from 1 October after seven and a half yearsâ service to SBS, to take up a new Group Executive role with Telstra.
Chairman of the SBS Board of Directors, Dr Bulent Hass Dellal AO said the Board had determined to establish acting arrangements to ensure a smooth transition and a handover period between Michaelâs departure and appointment of an SBS Managing Director.
James joined SBS six years ago and leads SBSâs Finance, Corporate Strategy, People & Culture, Legal, SBS Media Sales and commercial teams. He has over 18 yearsâ experience in media and telecommunications across corporate and public sector organisations in Australia and abroad, with expertise in corporate finance, human resources, operational leadership and corporate and digital strategies. His appointment as Acting Managing Director comes into effect from 2 October.
The SBS Board of Directors is responsible for the appointment of the SBS Managing Director and continues the recruitment process for the new Managing Director.
Former Dateline executive producer Bernadine Lim has joined Screen Australia as head of documentary.
SBS staff farewell popular MD Michael Ebeid
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Acting MD James Taylor announced as the new SBS MD.
SBS chief audience and content officer John Sintras has quit after only six months in the job.
SBS is making changes to its Code of Practice, coming into effect from Friday 8th February: https://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/corporate/view/id/109/h/Codes-of-Practice
It will include SBS & SBS Viceland airing M rated programming at 12-3pm on any day of the week, including school holiday periods (which is what ABC have been doing on its main channel since 2016), as well as providing Consumer Advice graphic for M & MA rated programming appear at the start of the program (like what the commercial channels have been doing since late 2015/early 2016).
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Promos advising of the Classification changes airing tonight include a preview of what the M/MA Start of Program Supers are expected to look like:
Not bad, but I was kind of hoping theyâd do with something that fits the theme of each channel for the program content info boxâŚ
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SBS launched their new slogan and presentation today.
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Been a big week for presentation relaunches, this change I wasnât expecting! I always thought that the previous package dated back to 2016, but apparently SBS changed the name from SBS One in June 2015 so iâd say that it launched then. I thought it had aged quite well!
Like the new style, reminds me of something else though but I canât think of what it is.
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July 4 2015 (same day a nationalised edition of Seven News from Melbourne had to air in Sydney - you donât forget stuff like this), to be precise.
It probably makes sense that SBS have used the opportunity to launch a new look given the age of the previous stuff and also the classification guideline changes.
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Most would. 
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In tonightâs Federal Budget, SBS will get $887 million funding over three years, which includes almost $29.6 million to maintain the quality of its television, radio and online services.
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