SBS to shift 58 jobs as broadcaster outsources playout operations to Deluxe Australia
Almost 60 jobs at SBS will be shunted to content cloud-based delivery firm Deluxe Australia over the next few weeks as the public broadcaster outsources its playout operations.
Deluxe will take over management of the broadcaster’s playout from January 27 after SBS admitted its internal infrastructure was “nearing the end of its life”, with all 58 staff employed in the broadcast division to be offered roles at Deluxe Australia “on terms substantially similar” to their current contracts. They will relocate from SBS’s Artarmon head office to new custom-built offices in Lane Cove, north of Sydney.
SBS managing director Michael Ebeid said the move to outsource its playout has been in progress for 18 months and will ensure SBS keeps “ahead of the curve of global developments, in a competitive landscape”, stressing it was unrelated to the Federal Government budget cuts.
The cost of playout arrangements for SBS and ABC drew headlines this morning with a heavily redacted version of the Lewis Report looking at efficiency in the broadcasters criticising the ABC for spending too much on the procedure compared to SBS.
“These new arrangements will position SBS to take full advantage of digital convergence and better focus on curating content and design of our programming for delivery not just on TV, but also on the web, mobile devices and smart TVs,” Ebeid said.
SBS technology and distribution director Noel Leslie said: “Our current playout infrastructure was nearing the end of its life which gave us the opportunity to explore a future playout arrangement for SBS that can best service our organisation going forward.
“This move is about keeping pace with global trends and a major shift we are seeing in the industry internationally to managed serviced arrangements. The use of a cloud-based platform will give us greater flexibility, resilience and agility around our playout service while still continuing our core functions in the broadcasting chain.”
Ebeid said one of the “biggest priorities” of the project was “looking after our SBS employees involved in the transfer of business”
“I’m pleased we’ve secured an outcome in which SBS teams will be offered transfers to Deluxe under an agreement which will see them employed by a progressive company specialising and innovating in their fields of expertise,” he said.
Deluxe MediaCloud Managing Director Maurizio Cimelli said: “The MediaCloud platform is designed to transform broadcasting from content acquisition through to playout and delivery. Its agility, cost effectiveness and resilience is designed to offer broadcasters far more flexibility without compromising quality.:
SBS said it will become the first Australian media company to shift to digital cloud-based playout of its TV channels.
