As the year reaches its midpoint, SBS is shaking off the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year has seen the release of major shows like The Unusual Suspects, documentaries See What You Made Me Do and Are You Addicted To Technology?, and the return of the Eurovision Song Contest. Mediaweek spoke to SBS director of TV and online content, Marshall Heald, about what the last year has been like for SBS and what the future looks like.
The Unusual Suspects
One of the major shows SBS has launched this year is The Unusual Suspects, a show about friendship, scheming, and very expensive jewellery.
“It’s a heist caper set in the glamorous eastern suburbs,” says Heald.
“It combines a number of really lovely qualities – it’s part whodunnit, part heist, part mad-cap comedy with a really riotous fun tone, and then it marks the first major representation of Filipino Australians on Australian TV.
“It’s really about exploring female friendship and empowerment. It manages to deftly deliver a mix of humour, but it’s also incredibly heartwarming and emotional as well. It’s quite a sophisticated mix of tones. It’s a real credit to Aquarius Films and the writers in particular.”
See More: How SBS’s The Unusual Suspects brought a jewellery heist to life
Eurovision 2021
Covid canceled last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and had a major impact on the 2021 competition. Australia’s representative, Montaigne, competed via a video entry. Heald says that the decision was worth it, even though it had an impact on the audience numbers.
“Montaigne did an amazing job, she was an incredible ambassador for SBS and Australia. Our first priority was the health and safety of the cast and crew, so naturally we made the tough decision for her not to compete in person. We anticipated that there would be some impact on broadcast audiences, but our first priority was always the health and safety of our people.”
See More: How SBS put together Australia’s Eurovision entry from across the globe
2021 Documentaries
SBS has released two documentaries this year that tackled very serious topics – See What You Made Me Do confronts domestic abuse, and Are You Addicted To Technology? uses an interactive format to explore tech addiction. Heald says that the response to both has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The response to See What You Made Me Do has been absolutely extraordinary. The television ratings were very strong, but also its viewing on SBS On Demand has been absolutely extraordinary. I think it may have been our strongest ever performing local doc on SBS On Demand. It’s a very, very complex show to make so I think the critical response and the audience response has been absolutely fabulous.
“What really pleases me is that not only has it got a really strong result from our total people level, but when you look at those younger demos like 18-49 and 25-54, they’re really strongly represented as well. When you commission a show like that, you know it’s a very difficult topic, and so you don’t commission it thinking that it’s going to deliver a large audience outcome, but it’s a real credit to the people at Northern and Jess Hill in particular who managed to make a really difficult topic incredibly relatable, approachable, and accessible. We’re really thrilled with it.”
Heald says that Are You Addicted To Technology continues SBS’s tradition of using technology in their work.
“For a long time SBS has been committed to the idea of trying to explore how technology can contribute to the art of storytelling. With SBS On Demand being a really major platform for us now, it’s really great to take that innovation and technology idea and bring that into programs and On Demand.”
See More: Are You Addicted To Technology? SBS’s Kylie Boltin on the interactive doco
The Impact of Covid
After a tough year for television production in Australia and around the world, Heald says that SBS is making the best of a bad situation.
“All of our local productions have resumed. In the calendar year last year we had less local content, but all of those shows that were effectively delayed are now coming through, which means we’ve got a really strong lineup over the following 12 months. We have shows coming through like The Unusual Suspects, New Gold Mountain, First Wars. So it should be a really strong year for us.
“It was obviously a difficult period for the production industry. We took the opportunity to try and invest more in development on the slate, and so if there was any benefit to come out of the delay, I think it’s that we’ve got a lot of really, really strong content coming up.
“It feels like we’re through the worst of Covid, and there’s a really strong slate of shows coming up, which we’re really excited to bring to audiences.”