SBS has today revealed its biggest ever content line-up across drama, documentaries, food, sport, entertainment, news, and current affairs. In 2024, the network will continue to break new ground with more entertaining, original and impactful stories Australians won’t see anywhere else.
Key highlights from todays event include:
- Breakout hit of the year Alone Australia returns in 2024, exclusive to SBS, with the South Island of New Zealand revealed as the location and a companion podcast presented by S1 winner Gina Chick.
- SBS will remain the home of the World Game – with the national broadcaster today confirming it has secured the exclusive rights to the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
- From Avatar to Swift Street, Cliff Curtis joins the cast of SBS’s dynamic crime drama, plus a second major SBS Original announced – romance Four Years filmed in India and Australia.
- SBS puts the spotlight on Australia’s identity with a powerful slate of documentaries featuring Melissa Leong, Costa Georgiadis, Samuel Johnson, Miranda Otto, Pat Rafter, Ray Martin, Shaun Micallef, Julia Zemiro, Gina Chick, Susie Youssef and Wayne Blair.
- NITV to premiere animated children’s series Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, inspired by former AFL star Eddie Betts popular book series, in partnership with Netflix.
- The highly anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale and Rogue Heroes, alongside the top new international drama Paris Has Fallen, Sherlock & Daughter and The Doll Factory add to 15,000 hours of curated content on SBS On Demand.
- SBS to premiere a new season of Emmy Award-winning food travel series Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy and SBS’s largest commissioned series The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, plus new food shows with Guillaume Brahimi, Dan Hong and Silvia Colloca.
James Taylor, Managing Director of SBS said:
“At SBS our goal is to be a contemporary national broadcaster, one which not only reflects contemporary Australia, but which has digital, diversity, and sustainability at its heart,”
“2023 has seen us take great leaps in our digital transformation across television and audio, be it with the success of Alone Australia or the transformation of SBS Radio to SBS Audio. Next year will be no different as we continue to adapt to the consumer expectation of personalisation and improved advertising experience.”
SBS Director of Television Kathryn Fink said:
“At SBS, we tell stories no one else will, in a way that no one else can. We‘re a purpose-led organisation, and home to some of the biggest shows in the country.”
“We’re reaching more Australians than ever across linear and SBS On Demand. Our success is underpinned by our truly distinctive offering. From smash hits like Alone Australia, Rogue Heroes and The Handmaid’s Tale, to our compelling slate of original content. In 2024, demand edge-of-your-seat entertainment you won’t see anywhere else on SBS.”
Alone Australia – Season 2
Alone Australia became the breakout hit of the year and most successful original show in SBS history. It averaged more than one million viewers each episode, dominated the digital rankings and outperformed some of the biggest TV franchises in Australia.
Announced today, Alone Australia Season 2 is coming exclusively to SBS in 2024. Another ten brave Australians will confront the merciless forces of nature, hunger, and isolation, but this time, in the South Island of New Zealand (Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa). Mountainous terrain, snow, freezing winds, and this time, the 10 can take in bows and arrows in their quest to survive for $250k.
This time around, Alone Australia S1 winner Gina Chick will present an S2 companion podcast with SBS Audio.
Local Dramas
The network also revealed details of two major SBS Original drama series set to premiere in 2024. From the producers of The Twelve, and Colin from Accounts comes Four Years – a romance about a married couple who are separated for four years and try to find their way back to each other. In the vein of Normal People, the series explores love, yearning and miscommunication and will shoot in India and Australia.
Swift Street is a fast, dynamic, and cinematic series from creator and director Tig Terera. Hollywood star Cliff Curtis (Avatar: The Way of Water) and Tanzyn Crawford (Tiny Beautiful Things) lead a stellar cast as a deliciously dysfunctional father-daughter duo who become partners in crime.
International Drama
SBS curates the best dramas from across the globe. In 2024, the network will see the return of some of its biggest hits including the final season of ratings juggernaut, The Handmaid’s Tale, and the second season of the adrenaline-fuelled Rogue Heroes, which dominated the digital rankings with Alone Australia when it premiered in April.
The network has also acquired major international series Paris Has Fallen, based on the Has Fallen action franchise, mystery thriller Sherlock & Daughter and historical thriller The Doll Factory, an adaptation of the number one bestselling novel.
Documentaries
SBS continues to be a leader in ground-breaking documentaries that challenge, inform and entertain. In 2024, Melissa Leong, Costa Georgiadis and Samuel Johnson explore the challenges facing the Australian public health system in a new three-part series The Hospital: In the Deep End.
Shaun Micallef will travel abroad with some of Australia’s leading comedians to explore their cultural roots in Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey. Ray Martin plans his own funeral, uncovering how Australia is choosing to say goodbye to our dead in Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye.
Returning Series
The network welcomes the return of some of its biggest long-running series with another season of Who Do You Think You Are? Australia today revealing Pat Rafter, Wayne Blair and Miranda Otto are among the next line-up of iconic Australians.
Great Australian Walks has been renewed for a second season with Susie Youssef and Alone Australia winner Gina Chick joining Julia Zemiro as fellow explorers. Insomniac Dr Michael Mosley is back to help Australia’s worst sleepers using ground-breaking science in Australia’s Sleep Revolution with Dr. Michael Mosley and single documentaries will be celebrated with another season of the acclaimed single documentary strand, Australia Uncovered.
NITV
From 5 December 2023, NITV will be launching in high definition, as it prepares to bring a bold and unapologetically Blak line-up of new content to audiences over the year ahead.*
It includes NITV and Netflix premiering new animated children’s series, Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, inspired by the popular book series of the same name by former AFL star Eddie Betts. Powerful feature documentary Journey Home: David Gulpilil will follow the ceremonial path of Yolngu man and renowned actor, David Gulpilil, on his journey back to Country.
Logie Award-winning children’s series Little J and Big Cuz returns for a fourth season, Going Places with Ernie Dingo returns for a sixth season, and series two of all-access observational documentary series, Our Law, will expand nationwide, following First Nations police officers as they tackle the justice system from within.
NITV will also continue to curate a unique collection of locally and globally acquired programs, including in 2024 premiering scripted anthology series, The Green Veil, exploring oppression in America.
SBS Food
In 2024, SBS and SBS Food remain the leading destinations for premium food programming. The network today revealed the return of Stanley Tucci’s critically acclaimed Emmy Award-winning food travel series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, SBS’s largest commissioned food series The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and Guillaume Brahimi’s bite-sized gastronomical accompaniment to the Tour de France, Plat du Tour.
Brahimi will also transport audiences to The Atlantic Coast of France to discover history, culture and unforgettable food in his brand-new series Guillaume’s French Atlantic. Esteemed Executive Chef Dan Hong hits the bustling streets of culinary mecca Hong Kong to uncover the city’s best-kept food secrets in The Streets Hong Kong and Silvia Colloca blends the cherished tastes of the past with the vibrant stories of Italians in Australia today in Silvia’s Tastes Like Home.
SBS Sport
SBS remains the home of cycling in Australia and will continue to broadcast the iconic Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes after securing the exclusive broadcast rights until 2030. Other major cycling events include the Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the Women’s and Men’s Australian National Road Series as well as the Women’s and Men’s European Cycling Spring Classics.
Also announced today, SBS has secured the rights to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ marking 40 years of partnership between FIFA and SBS (1986-2026). The deal will see SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand be the home of the world’s biggest sporting event, which will be held in June and July of 2026 and feature 104 matches, after FIFA confirmed it will expand the competition to have 48 different national teams compete in the FIFA 2026 World Cup™.
* NITV on free-to-air channel 34 will be available as an HD channel from 5 December, and SBS will launch channel 36 as NITV available in standard definition.
