Kostakidis was moved from subtitling to help create and to host SBS's flagship evening news service, where her more diverse background and multilingual capabilities changed the face of the organisation. She began reading SBS's weekend news bulletins in 1986 and in 1988 became SBS Television's weeknight news presenter. She was described as an important figure at SBS for 20 years "because she was an intelligent professional with a warm personality who capably took viewers through the world events of the day".