On Wednesday, 30 October in Sydney, SBS presented its slate of new Australian and international content for the year ahead to advertisers and media.
The hybrid-funded multicultural broadcaster will celebrate 50 years in 2025, with a strong focus on factual, lifestyle and documentary programming that, in various ways, attempts to fulfil the national charter of examining who we are as Australians – while also trying to attract and keep advertisers and viewers of all kinds.
Speaking at the network’s Upfront presentation, 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 that SBS on Demand was ‘the linchpin of our network’ and that, ‘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,’ said Fink.
NITV Muygulayg
NITV, the Indigenous strand of the SBS network, also announced a new SBS On Demand hub called NITV Muygulayg – which means ‘inner knowledge’ – a dedicated streaming destination for First Nations storytelling.
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 … we invite all Australians to learn and be inspired by stories from the world’s oldest storytellers.’
2025 highlights from SBS
The Idea of Australia
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.
2.6 Seconds
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
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. Based on the book by journalist Rick Morton.
Australia: An Unofficial History
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.
Alone Australia: Season 3
The record-breaking smash-hit survival series 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. (Season 2 was Aotearoa/New Zealand.) 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.
Great Australian Road Trips
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.
Who Do You Think You Are? and The Secret DNA of Us
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 also present an eye opening documentary series The Secret DNA of Us that will DNA test four Australian towns to reveal the hidden history of our nation and unknown connections that unite us.
Australian Drama: SBS Digital Originals to premiere 2025
SBS said it was proud to continue elevating new and under-represented voices in front of and behind the camera with the premiere of three new Australian drama series in 2025 through its Digital Originals initiative with Screen Australia.
Warm Props
A comedy series filmed in Broome, WA, and created by award-winning First Nations director Jub Clerc (Sweet As), based on her personal experiences as an Extras Casting Director, writer, director and actor in theatre, film & TV.
Moni
Pasifika-led series set in Western Sydney about Moni, a gay Samoan man who must reluctantly work out why his dead mother has unexpectedly plummeted from the heavens, and in doing so, learn to embrace his own truth. Led by creator, writer, and showrunner Taofia Pelesasa, director Alana Hicks, producer Nicole Coventry and executive producer Eliorah Malifa with Pelesasa Pics, the series explores identity, belonging and self-acceptance.
Moonbird
Moonbird explores the relationship between a recently sober father and his son who attempt to reconnect through a traditional muttonbirding season on a remote Tasmanian island. A co-production between the first-ever Tasmanian Aboriginal screen production company, Kutikina Productions, and Sheoak Films, Moonbird is produced by Catherine Pettman and Adam Thompson, directed, co-created, and co-written by Nathan Maynard, and co-created and co-written by Adam Thompson.
Other drama acquisitions
In 2025, SBS will see the return of some of its biggest hits including the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, the second season of the adrenaline-fuelled Rogue Heroes and Belfast police drama Blue Lights.
The network has also acquired Playing Nice, based on the J.P. Delaney book of the same name, starring James Norton and Niamh Algar as a couple who face a horrifying dilemma amid a hospital mix-up.
2025 will also see Smilla’s Sense of Snow, an epic, genre-bending action thriller based on the bestselling novel by Peter Høeg. Set in a near future, surveillance state, the multi-layered story centres on Smilla Jaspersen, a fascinating and unique heroine living in Copenhagen.
NITV
After a one-off debut earlier this year, NITV’s bold Blak comedy entertainment show Big Backyard Quiz is back for a series of episodes.
NITV will also deliver its take on sport documentary with Skin in the Game, with NRLW commentator Marlee Silva taking a personal look at the sport of rugby league.
Following the success of the all access ob-doc series about First Nations law enforcers, Our Law, new series Our Medicine shines the light on First Nations professionals taking back control of Indigenous health.
Dreaming Big is a new children’s series that takes an intimate look into the lives of gifted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths on the cusp of becoming sports stars.
In an SBS Food and NITV co-commission, Island Echoes with Nornie Bero sees the celebrated chef on a vibrant culinary adventure through the Torres Strait Islands as she reconnects with friends and family.
NITV will also continue to curate a unique collection of locally and globally acquired First Nations programs, including Earth Oven where Māori actor Temuera Morrison heads off on a globe-trotting adventure to visit communities and uncover how earth ovens shaped their cultures.
Finally, there will be Eurovision of course, with Australia confirmed to compete in Basel, Switzerland.
