Senate Treasurer Questions SBS About Cost of Their 2026 Upfront Events.
SBS has defended the spend it spent on its Upfront events last year, particularly the main event in Sydney, as an integral part of its 2026 revenue plans.
Acting director Jane Palfreyman was questioned by Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson about SBS’s “exorbitant” costs for the latest Upfront events.
“I think the crème de la crème are the Upfront events. There were five, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The total cost for the five was $538,677. That’s a lot of money. The Sydney event alone cost $361,110. Can you please explain why such astronomical costs were incurred for these events?” Senator Henderson asked during the Senate Estimates this week.
“Senator’s Upfront event is an event that all broadcasters, and in fact wider publishers, are undertaking to inform the market about the plan for the coming year,” Ms Palfreyman responded.
“That event, in this example, supports our revenue negotiations for calendar year 2026 and helps outline our slate, outline our target audience proposition, our brand proposition, and then conduct those negotiations as a percentage of our total revenue. It’s relative to that revenue performance and as previously mentioned, our revenue contribution to SBS’s total funding is one-third, and we can invest in more content and services.”
“I would tell you that this is an exorbitant cost,” Senator Henderson said. “…you’re a broadcaster, you have access to major studios, you have access to extensive AV equipment, broadcast equipment, video screens, and yet…AV and production at the Sydney Upfront was $207,000, why can’t you do your own AV and production? You’re a national broadcaster.”
“Senator, I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but that event can hold about 500 to 600 people. We don’t have that capacity at Artarmon. As I said, that event predates the commercial negotiations for the calendar year and is an incredibly important anchor for commercial organizations planning revenue for the following year,” Ms. Palfreyman said.
She noted that while the reels were rarely produced in-house by SBS, costs were associated with the staging of the Sydney Upfront, including location hosting.
“That was very significant. $46,000… I’m not even sure a commercial broadcaster would have to incur those costs,” said Senator Henderson.
“Senator, I can’t speak for commercial broadcasters, but I can say that these are important events and actually extend beyond television. More and more publishers are organizing these events,” Ms. Palfreyman responded.
Senator Henderson again raised concerns about the use of public funds, adding: “If private organizations want to spend money commercially and as they see fit then that is a matter for them….”
SBS agreed to provide further details of its expenditure with notice.
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