SBS Essential
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationally |
| Network | SBS Television |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Special Broadcasting Service |
| Sister channels | SBS SBS HD SBS World News Channel |
| History | |
| Launched | 14 October 2002 |
| Closed | 25 January 2007 |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| SD Digital | 31 |
SBS Essential was a Special Broadcasting Service television channel available to digital television viewers in Australia. It began broadcasting on 14 October 2002, and was discontinued on 25 January 2007.
SBS Essential broadcast news headlines, sports headlines, weather and program information. The channel also made use of SBS' SMS Code schedule service, where viewers could SMS a program number to SBS, and when the program was soon to air, SBS would SMS the viewer back. The channel was automated, fed via RSS news from SBS' website.
SBS Sports + was a highlights loop service provided on SBS Essential during major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup. The service allowed for digital television viewers to review specific moments, or to catch up on the progress of another game.
Criticisms
The Special Broadcasting Service was often criticised for broadcasting SBS Essential by HD Digital enthusiasts. This was mainly due to the channel consuming bitrate from SBS's other Digital Television services such as SBS TV, the SBS World News Channel, and SBS HD. Due to similar reasons the channel was removed from SBS' line-up in early 2007.