SBS Radio to change name

Australian multimedia group SBS has announced that in 2023, its radio offering will become SBS Audio to reflect its complete cross-platform offering across more than 60 different languages.

David Hua, SBS’s director of audio language content, said radio will always be an important part of SBS and that the change from SBS Radio to SBS Audio next year reflects the ongoing success in transforming into a cross-platform audio provider, covering broadcast radio, live streaming, digital publishing and podcasting.

SBS Radio currently serves the more than 5.5 million Australians who speak a language other than English at home. It also has three music channels (SBS PopAsia, SBS PopDesi and SBS Chill) that engage all Australians through music and culture from around the world. SBS Arabic24 and SBS 中文 (SBS Chinese) provide comprehensive services for Australia’s largest language communities across a growing audio and digital offering.

“SBS’s audio offering is not just a linear radio network — we have transformed into a truly platform-agnostic multilingual audio and digital broadcaster and publisher, and we are continuing to evolve our services for an increasingly diverse Australia,” said Hua. “Every week, we broadcast more than 262 hours of original audio content and publish hundreds of articles in more than 60 languages. We are seeing audiences embracing audio streaming and podcasting, with more than six million streams and podcast downloads every month.”

“The change to SBS Audio in 2023 reflects that, at a time when every publisher and broadcaster is pivoting to audio and podcasting, SBS is already well established,” Hua added.