Managing Director’s address at SBS 2020 Upfront, Sydney
James Taylor
Managing Director, SBS
Address at SBS 2020 Upfront, Sydney
Wednesday 20 November 2019
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Thank you for taking the time to join us today. You’re all important partners for SBS and we’re so grateful for your ongoing support.
I’d also like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and the pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Thank you Yvonne for that beautiful welcome to country.
I stood up here a year ago having only just been appointed Managing Director of SBS. And here I stand today, as surprised perhaps as many of you that I made it through my probation period.
On that note, I’d like to recognise SBS Chair, Hass Dellal and board member Peeyush Gupta who have joined us today, and thank them and rest of the Board for their support.
I mentioned Hass, our Chair. Hass’ 10 years on the SBS Board comes to an end mid next year, making this his last SBS upfront as Chair. His nuanced understanding of and passion for Australia is inspiring, and I’m incredibly grateful for his significant contribution to SBS.
Last year, I promised that SBS would continue to provide a genuine point of difference in an increasingly challenging and homogenous market.
That we would champion the benefits of an inclusive society through telling stories otherwise untold and sharing voices often unheard.
That our innovative approach would deliver world-class content and digital products.
We’ve delivered on that promise.
- We’ve reached more than 12 million Australians every month across television.
- Unlike others, we’ve seen growth in audience share in both regional and metro markets, and we’ve achieved our highest ever recorded network share.
- Our digital products, led by SBS On Demand, have surpassed seven million users, growing by almost 30 per cent over the last 12 months.
- And our active user rate on SBS On Demand has increased by 80 per cent during that time.
- We launched a fifth free-to-air channel in SBS World Movies, making us the only Australian network with three HD channels.
- SBS Food goes from strength to strength – and will soon, once again, be the only free-to-air food channel in the market, a testament to our unique capacity to engage audiences in culture through cuisine.
- And SBS Radio continues to provide invaluable services for multicultural communities in 68 languages – achieving record engagement on air and online.
It’s never been tougher to be in this business – but we have never been more confident in our role, our strategy and our team.
There has been a bit of noise recently about diversity, as some in our industry are waking up to the benefits of reflecting all Australians in their content and workplaces.
But a discussion about diversity as an outcome in and of itself is the wrong conversation.
Diversity has long been a fact in this country. It’s not a new thing. SBS has long had a workforce and content slate that authentically reflects the society from which it is drawn.
We need to move past discussions about diversity. Diversity unharnessed is just a bunch of people who are different. Diversity harnessed delivers inclusion.
When all Australians are included – and when all of us are able to participate regardless of where we were born, our family ancestry, the language we speak, our gender, sexual orientation or faith – this will be the spark that fires Australia to greater heights.
Inclusion not only feels good, it also makes good economic sense.
I recently announced the findings of a report we commissioned from Deloitte Access Economics which quantifies the economic imperative for improving social inclusion in Australia.
Through becoming a more inclusive society, an annual 12.7 billion dollar economic dividend can be generated from areas including improved employment outcomes and increased workplace productivity.
By this we mean better inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, of the almost seven million migrants from 270 ancestries who have migrated to Australia since 1945, the 50,000 households that have same sex couples and the one in five Australians who have a disability. We mean more women in senior leadership roles.
Put simply, when we embrace difference – everyone in society benefits.
And storytelling is a powerful vehicle with which to drive inclusion.
There’s the old saying that “if you can’t see it, you can’t be it”. NITV’s award-winning children’s animation, Little J and Big Cuz, provides a perfect example.
Not only does it provide Indigenous children the far too seldom opportunity to see themselves portrayed positively in mainstream media, it also engages non-Indigenous children with positive First Nations storytelling.
The second series will air in January, and will once again be available in multiple Indigenous languages.
Sport is also a powerful way to connect communities through shared passions.
Basketball is a sport loved and played by many across Australia and participation is growing everywhere and particularly within young multicultural communities.
SBS is the new free-to-air home of basketball in Australia, with every game of the NBL as well as coverage of the WNBL, NBA and WNBA. It’s an exciting new era for sport on SBS.
Then there is the power of communicating with people in their first language, especially through digital – currently, three million visitors come to SBS’s language websites each month.
This year, we increased the volume of subtitling of SBS’s original television productions – so that multicultural communities can enjoy more of our TV programs in their first language alongside our unrivalled radio offering.
Next year, we’ll become the first media operator in Australia to offer in-language login and navigation on SBS On Demand, significantly extending the utility of our language investment.
This is part of a much bigger strategic focus for SBS. Not only does it extend our commitment to multicultural audiences, but it also brings untapped commercial opportunities for advertisers to authentically connect with communities in their first language and via our growing digital video assets.
Instead of chasing the same eyeballs with the same messaging, language tied to digital enables advertisers to reach new audiences with more emotional resonance. This is where the future lies, and SBS is the only Australian media operator that can deliver it.
Before you leave today, I encourage you to experience the installation set up over there, that SBS has created for an exhibition being held at the Museum of Australian Democracy, exploring the vital role – and future – of media freedom in Australia.
Next year SBS marks 40 years since its first TV broadcast – and we’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings.
Modern Australia is multicultural and diverse. We are wonderfully different.
SBS is a modern media company. The modern broadcaster for a modern Australia.
All of you in this room play an important role in helping us to do what we do so I thank you again for your continued support. Please enjoy the show.
ENDS