This contains colour coded graphs and is best printed in colour. Survey 2017 about SBS SaveOurSBS.org A0051182D supporters & friends of SBS Save Our SBS Inc Save Our SBS Inc PO Box 2122 Mt Waverley VIC 3149 ph: 03 9008 0644 www.SaveOurSBS.org [email protected] 26 April 2017 Survey 2017 about SBS Executive summary The Survey 2017 about SBS is the third in the series of periodic surveys undertaken about SBS. This was a Google Forms survey. The earlier (non Google Forms) surveys were conducted in 2013: A study of 2044 viewers of SBS television on advertising, Charter, relevance and other matters (n = 2044); and 2008: One Minute Survey (n = 1733). Across all three surveys, three different cohorts totalling 4953 SBS viewers nationally have been surveyed from every State and Territory. Some 47 questions covering a range of topics were asked of participants in the Survey 2017 about SBS. 1176 people took part in the online Google Forms Survey 2017 about SBS over a one week period in April 2017. The survey was open to anyone with internet access. The data collated is conveyed in easy to read colour coded charts and graphs (pages 6 to 36). Subsequent pages contain some 1500 individual comments from four categories within the survey: relevance; internet; increases in advertising; and comments of a general nature. The survey covered 21 topics from the importance of SBS - to Charter - programming, funding and more. SaveOurSBS.org supporters & friends of SBS page 2 of 94 Key points Of the 1176 people who participated in the survey– Close to 95% do not want increased advertising and they say that if there is an increase in advertisements, then the law ought to restrict advertisements to before or after programs only - except in sport - like SBS used to be. 94% say that SBS is very important to them. 87 % would be very concerned if SBS were merged with another broadcaster. 91% say that most in-program advertising breaks look forced or artificially contrived and it would be misleading to describe these as natural program breaks. A similar finding (92%) was found in the 2013 survey from a different cohort. Upon reading the Charter, 72.74% said SBS is less faithful to the Charter since it introduced in-program advertising. This is the third cohort surveyed on this and replicates the 2008 (71.60%), and 2013 (72.10%) survey findings. The two most wanted television programs types in peak viewing periods are:- o Foreign language movies (subtitled) 77%; o Foreign language series (subtitled) 58%. 71% want SBS to establish a new free-to-air channel in which a very high proportion of primetime and other programs are exclusively or predominantly in languages other than English (subtitled) - 'LOTE TV' - and 78% say it is important or moderately important that advertisements are scheduled between programs only on LOTE TV, should SBS create a LOTE TV channel. 85% say SBS asks for too much personal information to sign into the SBS On Demand service while 91% want the service to operate as it did previously without requirement for a user account. 97% are opposed to increased advertising in any part of the schedule and 94% regard it as very important or important for the law to restrict advertisements to before or after programs only - except in sport - (like SBS used to be) if there is to be an advertising increase in some or all parts of the schedule. 94% want the Australian government to invest a significantly greater portion of funding in SBS as security in a socially cohesive multicultural society. Breakdowns of the above and other topics are covered in detail in the pages that follow. Save Our SBS Inc SaveOurSBS.org supporters & friends of SBS page 3 of 94 CONTENTS SURVEY 2017 ABOUT SBS................................................................................................................................. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 2 SURVEY 2017 ABOUT SBS (FINDINGS) .............................................................................................................. 5 IMPORTANCE .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 ADVERTISING .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 BETTING AND GAMBLING ADVERTISEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 12 PRODUCT PLACEMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 13 BRAND ................................................................................................................................................................ 14 CHARTER ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 RELEVANCE .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 REGULATION ........................................................................................................................................................ 17 AUSTRALIAN CONTENT ........................................................................................................................................... 18 SBS TELEVISION .................................................................................................................................................... 19 SBS-ONE ........................................................................................................................................................... 20 VICELAND ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 NITV .................................................................................................................................................................. 22 FOOD NETWORK ................................................................................................................................................... 23 NEW CHANNEL ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 COMMUNITY ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 PROGRAMS .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 RADIO & TV ........................................................................................................................................................ 27 INTERNET ............................................................................................................................................................. 28 COMMERCIALISATION POLICY ................................................................................................................................... 30 FUNDING ............................................................................................................................................................. 32 DEMOGRAPHICS OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................. 36 APPENDIX A – RELEVANCE COMMENTS...................................................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX B – SBS ON DEMAND COMMENTS ............................................................................................................. 52 APPENDIX C – INCREASES IN ADVERTISING COMMENTS ................................................................................................. 61 APPENDIX D – GENERAL COMMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 68 QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................................................... 91 PUBLICATION ................................................................................................................................................. 93 SaveOurSBS.org supporters & friends of SBS page 4 of 94 Survey 2017 about SBS (findings) 1176 survey participants. Google Forms survey conducted online during the first week of April 2017. All findings in the charts and graphs are expressed as a percentage (%) of the total number of participants. SaveOurSBS.org supporters & friends of SBS page 5 of 94 Importance 1) How important is it to you that SBS remain part of Australia’s media landscape? SBS importance 4.33% 1.91% 93.76% Very important. Important. Not important. 2) How concerned would you be if SBS were merged into another broadcaster? Level of concern if SBS were to be merged with another broadcaster 100 80 60 40 20 0 Not concerned Very concerned SaveOurSBS.org supporters & friends of SBS page 6 of 94 Advertising 3) Select one of the following statements that fits most comfortably with