Following a delay in the hopes of doing an in-person upfront, SBS has confirmed its plans for 2022 at its Upfront today.
The headlines announcements include:
• Six new Australian dramas in 2022: Safe Home and True Colours plus four new Digital Originals
• Confirmed: Australian version of Alone
• Jess Hill returns with Yes, No, Maybe
• SBS to launch sixth free-to-air channel, SBS WorldWatch, providing news in more than 35 languages
• All 64 games of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 live, exclusive and free
• Over 800 hours of cycling content including Tour De France, Giro d’Italia, the Vuelta a España, the inaugural Tour De France Femmes
• SBS Food to premiere Dishing It Up
• 200 more episodes of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
• New shows with Dan Hong and Guillaume Brahimi
• Multi-year partnership secured with StudioCanal
• Exclusive new shows on SBS on Deman including SAS: Rogue Heroes and Django
• Commitment to on- and off-screen diversity with the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines,
SBS managing director, James Taylor, said: “SBS in 2022 is natively multilingual, digital-first, truly innovative, and trusted by a growing audience. Come to us on any platform and you’ll find stories that give a voice to communities otherwise unheard, perspectives that break down barriers, entertainment and sporting moments that unite us, news that Australians turn to, and programs that are capturing the hearts and minds of people around the world.
“Our distinctive content and world-class services are underpinned by the incredibly diverse creative talent that exists in Australia. At SBS, we want to ensure that everyone in our sector can participate with equal opportunity to succeed, and we have expanded our commitment to on-screen and off-screen inclusion through new commissioning guidelines and targets we’re sharing today – the most ambitious, nuanced and comprehensive commitment in our industry. As we grow more diverse as a nation, all Australians will continue to recognise themselves and their communities on SBS.”
SBS Upfront: Inclusivity
As part of its commitment to leading the way to a more inclusive future for the Australian screen sector, SBS has created the SBS Commissioning Equity and Inclusion Guidelines. The Guidelines outline genre-specific targets for on and off-screen roles for SBS-commissioned content and internal productions across
its scripted and unscripted programming. Designed in consultation with industry stakeholders to remove
barriers for people representing communities and experiences often under-represented in the screen sector,
they are part of a wide-ranging investment in inclusion to make sure everyone has a career pathway, that
there is a more level playing field for creatives on and off-screen, and that all Australians can see themselves
reflected on SBS. They also outline an additional commitment to accountability through new reporting each
year, over a three-year period.
SBS will also launch its next Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) – an Elevate RAP, the highest status available from Reconciliation Australia – which will see SBS champion initiatives to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and create societal change.
SBS Upfront: A New Channel
SBS will expand its multiplatform multilingual services in 2022, with the launch of the new free-to-air television channel, SBS WorldWatch, from May 23. Featuring news bulletins from leading international broadcasters in more than 35 languages, it will also be the free-to-air television home SBS’s new Arabic and Mandarin language news programs – SBS عربي News and SBS 中文 News – produced locally, and which premiered on SBS On Demand in February.
SBS Upfront: SBS Documentaries
SBS has secured the exclusive rights to commission an Australian version of Alone, the series where participants are forced to survive on their own in harsh terrain. Alone is the most successful factual franchise in the history of SBS On Demand, and Alone Australia will see 10 Australians dropped in remote wilderness, where they’ll be challenged by the merciless forces of nature and hunger as they compete for a life-changing prize.
Following See What You Made Me Do, investigative journalist Jess Hill returns to SBS with Yes, No, Maybe, a bold new documentary series exploring consent in Australia.
Jess Hill
Premiering Wednesday 16 March, Wentworth’s Danielle Cormack will host the ground-breaking documentary series Life on the Outside, tackling recidivism and asking the question – would you let a formerly incarcerated person stay in your home? The series follows convicted criminals as they’re placed into households for the first 100 days of release.
Hosted by Rachel Perkins, The Australian Wars examines how the settlement wars have shaped Australia today.
In Our Law from NITV, documentary cameras are granted access to the Indigenous officers and cadets attempting to break the cycle of Indigenous incarceration and repair a deeply troubled Aboriginal-police relationship, while giving voice to the communities being policed.
Off Country follows the lives of seven Indigenous students over a year at the prestigious Geelong Grammar School, grappling with family tragedy, mental health and identity issues.
And hosted by Tahlia Lidde, Larapinta takes audiences on a historical, cultural and artistic journey of the oldest river in the world.
Another season of Australia Uncovered has been confirmed and a new 30-minute factual initiative Curious Australia will put unexpected issues in the spotlight.
The network will also bring back several documentaries and factual programs including the thirteenth season of Who Do You Think You Are? which will feature Matt Moran, Paula Duncan and Myf Warhurst among the prominent Australians uncovering the secrets of their ancestry.
Jay Laga’aia will also be back for the second season of Lost for Words and Noni Hazlehurst returns for the third season of Every Family Has a Secret in March.
SBS Upfront: Dramas
SBS has commissioned six new drama series to Australian audiences in 2022.
Phoebe, a woman whose life gets turned upside down when she begins working at a women’s legal centre.
Imogen Banks
Joining Safe Home are four new short-form dramas from Digital Originals, the successful joint initiative between Screen Australia, SBS, and NITV supporting screen creatives currently under-represented in the sector.
Dark comedy, A Beginner’s Guide to Grief will examine death, grief and identity and Nightbloomers is an anthology horror series from the Korean diaspora. In Latecomers, two strangers with cerebral palsy are determined to explore their relationships with sex and each other after watching their carers hook up at a bar. And in Appetite, a food delivery rider dies on the streets of Sydney, and an unlikely trio of fellow riders are entangled in a mystery to uncover the truth.
SBS and NITV also revealed the first look at new drama co-commission, True Colours, a breakneck mystery that takes viewers deep into the world of a First Nations community as it has never been seen before. The series starts with the investigation of a car accident but soon turns into an epic hunt for a killer. 30% of this groundbreaking series is in the First Nations language of Arrernte.
SBS Upfront: News and Current Affairs
NITV’s The Point and Living Black will return alongside SBS’s Tuesday night current affairs line-up including Insight, Dateline and The Feed.
SBS Upfront: Entertainment
Australia Decides will determine which artist will represent Australia on the global stage at the Eurovision Song Contest in May. NITV will also be broadcasting the National Indigenous Music Awards again.
Returning this year as well is Celebrity Letters & Numbers with host Michael Hing, wordsmith David Astle and
expert Lily Serna as they put celebrity guests’ linguistic and numerical skills to the test. The quiz show Mastermind will also return in 2022.
On NITV, Going Places with Ernie Dingo will return to NITV, introducing a new suite of iconic
destinations from the Kakadu National Park to the Great Barrier Reef. After four seasons, Ernie will be hitting the road with some friends Aaron Fa’aoso, Rae Johnston, Narelda Jacobs, and Bianca Hunt. NITV will also launch a new series called Skip Ad, a half-hour program looking at what’s going viral across social media.
SBS Upfront: Sport
This year will see SBS once again broadcast the FIFA World Cup, with 64 matches live and exclusively on SBS. This will be the first-ever summer tournament offering the most sociable kick-off times.
SBS will continue to broadcast the Tour de France after securing the exclusive broadcast rights until 2030. SBS will also broadcast the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. This year will also see the premiere of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes – the long-awaited women’s Tour de France. More highlights in cycling for 2022 include the Women’s and Men’s Australian National Road Series as well as the Women’s and Men’s European Cycling Spring Classics.
Tour de France
NITV will broadcast Yokayi Footy and Over The Black Dot. These shows offer an Indigenous perspective of the AFL and NRL, including analysis, guest interviews and bold conversation.
SBS Upfront: SBS on Demand
There are now over 10 million registered users of SBS On Demand, which will bring over 1,600 hours of new content every month. In a new multi-year partnership agreement between SBS and StudioCanal, audiences will have access to a pipeline of critically acclaimed dramas.
Set in the Wild West of the 1860s, Django centres around a gunslinger who is haunted by the murder of his family eight years early – he is still looking for the daughter he believes may have survived.
Other dramas include the Australian premiere of SAS Rogue Heroes, which tells the story of how the world’s most famous Special Forces Unit, the SAS, was born. From the creator of Peaky Blinders, SAS Rogue Heroes stars Dominic West, Alfie Allen and Connor Swindells.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Joining this slate of programming is Tokyo Vice (from director Michael Mann), Martin Freeman in the BBC smash hit The Responder, as well as new seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, Atlanta, War of The Worlds, Das Boot and The Orville.
SBS Upfront: SBS Food
SBS will premiere Dishing It Up, a format following six families as they attempt to chop, cook and sauté along with their favourite chefs on television.
Dishing It Up
The Streets with Dan Hong will see the acclaimed chef uncovering the best food from the streets and putting his spin on it.
Guillaume Brahimi will also return to France this year for Guillaume in Paris, an immersive series exploring the very best in Parisian cuisine, arrondissement by arrondissement.
Adam Liaw will return for another 200 episode series of The Cook Up, airing every weeknight at 7pm on SBS Food.
Silvia Colloca will also return for a third season of Cook Like an Italian.
SBS Upfront: SBS Viceland
In 2022, Richard Ayoade will return with Question Team, alongside season 4 of Wellington Paranormal, season 2 of Patriot Brains and season 8 of The Curse of Oak Island.
—
Top Image: True Colours