SBS’ WorldWatch records a ZERO percent viewer share… despite $29 million federal funding injection

SBS’ 24-hour news channel WorldWatch has proved to be a flop with viewers.

Launched last May with millions in federal Government funding, the platform, which features bulletins from news outlets in 30 different countries, has consistently managed only a ‘zero’ in the OzTAM ratings.

This means that the number of people watching is so low on average it is not significant enough to create a score.

SBS’ 24-hour news channel WorldWatch has proved to be a flop with viewers reported the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday Pictured: SBS managing director James Taylor (left) with SBS newsreaders Ali Bahnasawy and Rena Li 

Meanwhile, the Arabic and Mandarin language news service produced by SBS, which is hosted on WorldWatch, continues to struggle to attract an audience reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to the publication’s report, published on Friday, SBS’ Arabic news has managed an average OzTAM rating of 151 viewers a night since May.

Their Mandarin-language evening bulletin, meanwhile, has managed an average of 858 fans in the same period according to OzTAM’s data. 

Among the news services regularly featured on WorldWatch are bulletins produced by 20 Heures in France, YTN in South Korea and Portugal’s RTP.

Launched last May, the platform, which features bulletins from news outlets in 30 different countries, has consistently managed only a 0 in the OzTAM ratings. This means that the number of people watching is so low on average it is not significant enough to create a score

There are also bulletins from Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Poland. 

The service also features news produced in languages such as Punjabi and Hindi, Arabic and Indonesian.

A total of 35 languages are represented on WorldWatch. 

Among the news services regularly featured on WorldWatch are bulletins produced by 20 Heures in France, YTN in South Korea and Portugal’s RTP Pictured: SBS’ WorldWatch 

Management at SBS has responded to the ratings report by the Sydney Morning Herald with a statement suggesting that ‘thousands’ are tuning into WorldWatch every month.

The metric used by the station calls into account the amount of people who tune into the platform to watch for more than five minutes at time. 

Mandi Wicks, director of news and current affairs at SBS told the publication that the platform’s audience was’ stable and growing’.

 Meanwhile, the Arabic and Mandarin language news service produced by SBS, which is hosted on WorldWatch, continues to struggle to attract an audience

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