SBS appoints Kathryn Fink Chief Content Officer in executive restructure – SBS has promoted Kathryn Fink to Chief Content Officer and named Matthew Hancock Director of Digital as part of a new executive structure. Both appointments take effect immediately.
The change brings SBS’s major content and audience functions under one executive portfolio. For viewers, it connects decisions about television, sport and NITV with audio, digital products and SBS On Demand, rather than treating the broadcaster’s linear and on-demand services as separate destinations.
Fink, previously Director of Television, will oversee Television and Online Content, Sport, National Indigenous Television (NITV), Audio and Language Content, Digital, and Marketing and Audiences. SBS says the arrangement is designed to support more integrated planning and delivery across television, audio, digital and third-party platforms.
What changes under the new structure
Hancock will lead digital audience growth, product development and platform strategy, with particular attention to SBS On Demand. He joins the SBS Executive team and reports to Fink, while working with the broadcaster’s technology, commercial, marketing and audience teams.
The Director of Audio and Language Content and Director of Marketing and Audiences will also report to Fink. Both remain on the executive team and retain a dual reporting line to SBS Managing Director Jane Palfreyman. Recruitment is under way for a new Director of Audio and Language Content.
Separately, Stig Bell has been elevated to Chief People Officer. His expanded remit includes people and culture, inclusion, organisational capability and enterprise strategy. Bell joined SBS in 2013 and has been Director of People and Culture since August 2017.
Palfreyman said the changes reflected how audiences now find SBS content across different platforms.
SBS tells stories that reflect our nation and connect Australians with one another and the wider world. As digital platforms continue to reshape how audiences discover and engage with content, this new executive structure supports more integrated planning and closer collaboration. By bringing our people and expertise together across content and platforms, we can take SBS’s distinctive stories and services to more Australians — and help everyone feel part of the story of modern Australia.
Jane Palfreyman, SBS Managing Director
Fink’s content portfolio
Fink joined SBS as Director of Television in July 2022. Her tenure has included the launch of Alone Australia, which SBS describes as its most successful original commission and which is heading into a fifth season. She also oversaw the broadcaster’s 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage, which SBS says reached more than 18.1 million Australians.
Before SBS, Fink held senior roles with the Walt Disney Company, Sky Italia and News Corp. In Italy, she was Disney’s General Manager, Media, responsible for Disney+, pay-TV channels, original content production and content sales. She has also been Managing Director of Fox Networks Group in Italy and was involved in Sky Italia’s launch in 2003.
Fink said the combined portfolio would help SBS connect its work across genres and platforms.
SBS’s distinctive role in the Australian media landscape has never been more important, connecting with audiences across multi-genres and platforms in more than 60 languages. Bringing our incredibly talented content, marketing and digital teams together will help audiences discover and engage with the stories and services that matter to them, wherever they choose to watch, listen or read. It’s a privilege to lead this work and continue delivering meaningful impact for communities across the country.
Kathryn Fink, SBS Chief Content Officer
Hancock to lead SBS’s digital strategy
Hancock joined SBS in 2016 and has been General Manager of Streaming and Digital Products since July 2024. His portfolio has covered SBS On Demand, the SBS website, SBS News app and SBS Audio app. Earlier roles took him to Screen Producers Australia, Screen Australia and the Australian Film Commission.
SBS says On Demand now offers more than 15,000 hours of local and international programming and has 16.9 million registered users. Its multilingual discovery and navigation functions are a particular focus of the broadcaster’s digital work.
Hancock said the next stage would build on the broadcaster’s existing digital services.
SBS has long been a leader in digital transformation, building intuitive, tailored, accessible and scalable experiences that respond to changing audience needs. I’m looking forward to working with teams across SBS to shape the next stage of our digital strategy, bringing our distinctive, trusted and multilingual content to all Australians in new ways.
Matthew Hancock, SBS Director of Digital
The restructure also places SBS Audio within Fink’s content portfolio. The service produces original Australian content and serves audiences in more than 60 languages. Palfreyman said the placement recognises its place in planning for audiences across SBS’s services.
SBS Audio is a core part of SBS’s offering, producing original Australian content and providing services to audiences and communities in more than 60 languages. Its place in the new Content portfolio recognises its importance to whole-of-content planning, audience growth and cross-platform opportunities.
Jane Palfreyman, SBS Managing Director
For more TV Central SBS news, head here. The SBS leadership page has the broadcaster’s executive biographies.