World News Channel

Australia's digital broadcast of international news programming

The World News Channel is broadcast by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and is only available to digital television viewers in Australia. It was the original digital-only channel for SBS and was developed as a trial, low-cost service to provide 24 hour news. Currently the service broadcasts 20 hours a day, displaying weather information, news headlines and some commercial advertising between broadcasts. The channel caters to an audience of over three million Australians who speak a language other than English.

The World News Channel delivers more than 200 news programmes from around the world each week, providing an up to date and varied perspective on the headlines of the day. Each bulletin is in the language and format of the country of origin. News programmes from 18 broadcasters in 18 countries provide content for the channel. Monday to Saturday programming is comprised of continuous telecasts from international broadcasters via satellite from some of the most respected news bureaus of the world. News reviews and magazine style information programmes are broadcast on Sundays.

The World News Channel was launched in June 2002, soon after the introduction of digital television to Australia in 2001. It was officially inaugurated by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, with the launch broadcast simultaneously live onto the channel. The channel became available on Foxtel in 2004.

Last updated by Matthew Ziegenfusz (2009-10-23)