SBS Audio announces new destination channel for Australia’s South Asian community

SBS Audio will continue its rapid digital evolution in 2024, with the network outlining a number of major announcements aimed at positioning it as a clear leader in the digital audio space.

One of those announcements was confirmation that SBS PopDesi will rebrand to transform the channel into a more holistic offering, catering to the more than 1.5 million Australians who speak a South Asian language.

SBS Director of Audio and Language Content David Hua says “This new destination channel will be home to all of our South Asian language programs and will have a whole new digital presence and podcast aimed at speaking to new generations of audiences.”

“In one place you will be able to get SBS language programs, news, current affairs and also our wonderful entertainment and music offerings.”

SBS publishes in more than 60 languages – this year adding Bislama, Malay, Oromo, Telugu and Tetum.

SBS also confirmed that audience favourite SBS Chill – an audio music station known for its laid-back listening experience – will become a video channel on SBS On Demand.

In early 2023 SBS Radio went live with a rebrand to SBS Audio that also saw it introduce one unified digital experience for the first time.

Building on these digital changes, SBS confirmed that it had gone live with dynamic ad insertion on digital (livestreams) across all of the SBS Audio product suite.

“This move has major audience benefits with listeners now able to hear the ads most suited to them,” says Adam Sadler, SBS Director of Media Sales. “SBS Audio is a unique gateway to the more than 5.6 million Australians who speak a language other than English.”