Announced at the Upfront on Wednesday afternoon, SBS has delivered its largest line-up for 2023 – the largest content slate in its history.
New in 2023
Safe Home
For the first time ever, in 2023, SBS will deliver three original prime-time drama series. From Imogen Banks, the award-winning producer behind Offspring. Safe Home is a thriller full of twists that tells the story of Phoebe (Aisha Dee), a woman whose life gets turned upside down when she’s embroiled in a violent murder.
Safe Home
While the Men Are Away
This original drama is a queer, revisionist historical dramedy about a group of women finding their power while the men are away fighting WWII.
Erotic Stories
Erotic stories is an anthology of contemporary tales about lust, desire, and longing… but with an SBS twist
Rogue Heroes
From the creator of Peaky Blinders, the highly anticipated Australian premiere of Rogue Heroes is coming to SBS in 2023. Starring Dominic West, Alfie Allen and Connor Swindells, Rogue Heroes tells the story of how the world’s most famous Special Forces Unit, the SAS, was born.
Rogue Heroes
Night Bloomers
Joining SBS’s prime-time original and acquired dramas are three new short-form dramas from Digital Originals, the joint initiative between Screen Australia, SBS, and NITV supporting screen creatives currently under-represented in the sector providing a platform for the new guard of contemporary Australian storytellers. Night Bloomers is an anthology of horror stories from the Korean diaspora.
Appetite
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.
Latecomers
Premiering this December, 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.
Asking For It
See What You Made Me Do was one of SBS’s most successful factual programs in 2021, and investigative journalist Jess Hill returns to SBS with Asking For It, a bold new documentary series exploring consent in Australia: unpacking misconceptions and myths on the subject and how this impacts peoples’ lives.
Asking For It
The Matchmakers
New three-part observational documentary series The Matchmakers dives into the unique and private world of old traditions, religion, family values and culture through matchmaking. It’s a universal quest of love and marriage in contemporary Australia. Is there such a thing as love at first sight? What does “happily ever after” mean? And what’s love got to do with it?
The Big School Swap
And in a bold, trail blazing, world-first social experiment, students from Australia’s biggest Islamic school embark on a school swap with students from mainstream high schools to bridge cross-cultural divides in Australia and help students to thrive beyond the school gates in The Big School Swap.
Returning
The Handmaid’s Tale
Coming exclusively to SBS in 2023, the sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Doll Factory
The historical thriller The Doll Factory an adaptation of the Sunday Times’ bestselling novel of the same name.
Alone Australia
SBS delivers one of its most ambitious projects ever undertaken. Alone Australia will see 10 Australians dropped in the Tasmanian wilderness, where they’ll be challenged by the merciless forces of nature, hunger, and the perhaps the toughest challenge of all: loneliness, as they compete for $250,000.
Alone Australia
Who the Bloody Hell Are We?
Presented by John Safran, Cal Wilson and Adam Liaw, Who the Bloody Hell Are We? is a satirical, iconoclastic, and playful series that explores Australians hidden multicultural history. It’s time to set the record straight by writing the vanished, the banished and the demonised back into our national story.
Great Australian Walks
Julia Zemiro returns to SBS, transporting viewers across our Great Southern Land by foot in an entertaining waltz through history, geography, science, travel and culture in Great Australian Walks.
Who Do You Think You Are?
The network also welcomes the return of some of its most successful commissioned documentary series with the fourteenth season of Who Do You Think You Are?
Every Family Has a Secret
Noni Hazlehurst returns for the fourth season of fan favourite Every Family Has a Secret.
Australia Uncovered
Single documentaries will be celebrated with another season of the acclaimed Australia Uncovered.
Eurovision Song Contest
Next year, SBS celebrates 40 years of broadcasting the world’s biggest live music event, the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2023, Ukraine’s win will be hosted by Liverpool, England.
Celebrity Letters & Numbers
Returning with more laughter and celebrities is iconic game show Celebrity Letters & Numbers. Join host Michael Hing, wordsmith David Astle and expert mathematician Lily Serna as they put their celebrity guests’ linguistic and numerical skills to the test.
Mastermind
Beloved quiz show Mastermind is also back with Marc Fennell.
SBS VICELAND continues to bring comedy and entertainment alongside factual and news programming with new seasons of audience favourite Richard Ayoade’s Question Team alongside new seasons of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Hypothetical and Patriot Brains.
NITV
From the Heart of our Nation, A Celebration
On 12 December 2022, NITV celebrates 10 years since it launched free-to-air and began beaming into every Australian household as part of the SBS network. To mark the occasion, NITV presents a special live broadcast event From the Heart of our Nation, A Celebration, inside Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park as the sun sets on Uluru.
The First Inventors
On NITV in 2023, actor Rob Collins uncovers ancient Indigenous innovations on Country in The First Inventors.
The First Inventors
Living Black
Australia’s premier Indigenous current affairs program, Living Black, presented by Karla Grant celebrates its 20th year on air.
Going Places with Ernie Dingo
Going Places with Ernie Dingo returns, introducing a new suite of iconic destinations. From the Kakadu National Park to the Great Barrier Reef, Ernie is no stranger to exploring the beauty that our country has to offer. After four seasons, Ernie will be hitting the road with some friends – actor Aaron Fa’aoso, journalist Rae Johnston, Network 10 television presenter Narelda Jacobs, and entrepreneur and presenter Bianca Hunt.
Going Places With Ernie Dingo
In Our Law
In In Our Law, documentary cameras are granted intimate and candid 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.
SBS Food
SBS has announced another two seasons of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, and Adam will be reunited with Poh Ling Yeow for the tastiest road trip around Australia in Adam and Poh’s Great Australian Bites.
Adam and Poh’s Great Bites
Enjoy the flavours of beautiful Bali with co-founder of Bali’s globally renowned KYND Community Lauren Camilleri, in Paradise Kitchen Bali.
From the rugged West Coast of Tasmania to the remote billabongs of Arnhem Land Khanh Ong’s Wild Food combines wild food, adventure, and a hint of glamour.
Khahn Ong’s Wild Food
And Luke Nguyen is back in 2023, immersing himself in one of the most vibrant places on earth, India, where food, religion and rich culture go hand in hand with Luke Nguyen’s Indian Insights.
Sport
FIFA World Cup
As the official broadcaster of the tournament, SBS will give all Australians a front row seat to all the action from Qatar with all 64 matches live and free on television and live streamed on SBS on Demand. The ‘FIFA World Cup Hub’ on SBS On Demand is the digital home of this year’s event where Australians can catch up on all the latest World Cup news, results, match replays, highlights, analysis, short-form video extras, mini matches, and more.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Cycling
SBS will continue to broadcast the 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.
Football
NITV have footy fans covered, with the return of their ground-breaking programs 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.
News and Current Affairs
SBS is celebrating six months since the launch of its dedicated multilingual news channel, SBS WorldWatch.
SBS has expanded its international news offering with new programs added to its line-up of global news bulletins in 37 languages across the network, while SBS’s own SBS News in Arabic and SBS News in Mandarin continue to deliver multilingual news for Australians on prime-time TV on SBS WorldWatch and on SBS On Demand.
In 2023, NITV current affairs show, The Point, will provide weekly updates, interviews and explainers to inform all Australians on the range of First Nations voices and perspectives as Australia counts down to a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
On SBS WorldWatch (in languages other than English)
Gujarati news – from India Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati / Doordarshan (DD)
Malayalam news – from India Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati / Doordarshan (DD)
On SBS VICELAND (English)
TRT World NewsHour – from TRT TurkeyIndian Country Today (ICT) news – from USA Indigenous network, IndiJ Public Media, Phoenix Arizona
APTN national news – from Canadian Indigenous network, Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN), Winnipeg, Canada
Te Ao with Moana – from New Zealand’s Māori Television
Fiji One news – from Fiji television ltd Suva, Fiji
ABC Nightline – from ABC America, New York USA
CBC The National – from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Toronto, Canada
On SBS (English)
ANC The World Tonight – from Philippines broadcaster ABS-CBN Manila, Philippines
APAC Weekly – from APAC Network, Brisbane, Qld Australia
DD India news – from India Public Broadcaster Prasar Bharati / Doordarshan (DD)
BBC News at 10 – from British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) London, UK
See also: SBS Upfront 2023: Every Announcement