It looks like the future of Home and Away could be in doubt after 31 years, as Channel Seven considers options for its future as a result of falling ratings.
Some sources are saying it could be axed altogether and others are saying it may be moved out of primetime to a later slot.
Even if it is kept and it moves to a different slot, this could lead to further drops in ratings, which could lead to budget cuts, and could eventually result in the show being axed altogether.
BM
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Could be moved to one of seven's sister channels as Neighbors was in 2011.
Really wouldn't give much credit to that considering the blog it originates from. Kind of the opposite of what the far more credible and established TV Tonight has been saying about Today Tonight being dropped in its remaining states.
Home and Away hasn't been the same since the turn of the millennium. It was like a blockbuster in the 90s, now it's just about love stories between teenagers and young adults.
In recent years, Seven has moved H&A around quite a bit. It no longer airs at 7pm five nights a week - the Friday episode has been replaced by footie or Better Homes and Gardens (depending on the state) for some years with double episodes showing on Thursdays instead. Often the Thursday episodes are pre-empted in some states by sport too so it’s not uncommon for triple episodes to air on some weeknights. Occasionally it has been moved to 7TWO with a late night encore on the main channel. I think ratings have suffered because viewers either don’t know when it’s on, or can’t commit to 90 minutes in front of the telly. The episodes are written as half-hours, so cliffhangers etc are undermined by Seven’s scheduling.
I personally haven’t watched it for many years - the programme has changed so much since the 90s/early 00s it’s barely recognisable.
I can’t see the axe falling in the immediate future though - most likely Seven will experiment with different scheduling (a regular 7pm timeslot on 7TWO, perhaps - as suggested in the article?). However, The Project which runs 6.30-7.30 on Ten is most likely to be pulling in the demographic H&A is aimed at, so maybe a completely different timeslot is the answer.
Doesn't it still perform quite well for Channel 5? I can't see its future being in doubt as long as it has a home in the UK.
Yep, you can’t really talk about cancellation of Neighbours or Home and Away without considering that the decision would have to involve the UK broadcaster too, given how big the audience for both shows is in the UK compared to Australia. I think a move to a sister channel, like what Ten did with Neighbours, is most likely.
Doesn't it still perform quite well for Channel 5? I can't see its future being in doubt as long as it has a home in the UK.
Yep, you can’t really talk about cancellation of Neighbours or Home and Away without considering that the decision would have to involve the UK broadcaster too, given how big the audience for both shows is in the UK compared to Australia. I think a move to a sister channel, like what Ten did with Neighbours, is most likely.
Are they so big in the UK? In the 90s they were both huge but the moves away from BBC 1 and ITV didn’t help. I was an avid viewer of Neighbours in the past but today if I’m actually watching TV at that time I’d much rather watch Pointless.
C5 haven't shown much love for Home and Away since they nabbed Neighbours.
This story though an example of the internet clickbait at it's worst based on the assumptions of one assumption piece on a fledgling blog which has then been picked up by the gutter press and reproduced on their numerous "local" websites without anyone checking if it is actually true.
The credible Aussie media sites are so far giving this story a wide berth.
Doesn't it still perform quite well for Channel 5? I can't see its future being in doubt as long as it has a home in the UK.
Yep, you can’t really talk about cancellation of Neighbours or Home and Away without considering that the decision would have to involve the UK broadcaster too, given how big the audience for both shows is in the UK compared to Australia. I think a move to a sister channel, like what Ten did with Neighbours, is most likely.
Are they so big in the UK? In the 90s they were both huge but the moves away from BBC 1 and ITV didn’t help. I was an avid viewer of Neighbours in the past but today if I’m actually watching TV at that time I’d much rather watch Pointless.
They’re certainly not as big as they used to be, but I thought they still received a much higher audience in the UK (and would be under bigger threat of cancellation if they weren’t shown here)?