Home and Away

I’m not sure that’s strictly true. As with the UK, there are now more commercials and promos in a clock hour than there were in the 80s/90s, so the programmes themselves are a little shorter to fit the timeslot.

When 30-minute soaps are repeated in the UK they tend to be given a 35-minute slot or have some scenes cut out. Channel Seven does the same when repeating classics like Sons and Daughters and early episodes of H&A.

Sorry for the double post, but are RTE on a par with Channel Five with H&A and Neighbours? I know they fell a couple of episodes behind the UK/Aus with Neighbours last year but may have since caught up again. As for H&A, RTE used to well ahead of Five in the 00s but I’m not sure about now. I think Five have the rights to show H&A eps before any other European station, but are a few weeks behind Australia.

My own late granny, aunt & I used to watch Home & Away religiously when I was a kid in primary school. She had been a great fan of watching it until she had succumbed to bowel cancer in 2008. After she died; I had tried to keep up with the show with only watching the odd episode here & there over the last couple of years up until about a year ago or so. But I couldn't stick to it anymore. It is a vastly different show compared to what it was in the past. Now I just don't bother watching it now.

If it was getting cancelled for audiences in Australia in future; the show has had a great run as one of it's best soap dramas in it's era. The options for it if believed to be true by Australian media reports do not look good for the show if these movements in Channel Seven schedules was deemed as a big failure. It's vulnerability in it's recent ratings is a big factor when we look at today's media landscape when there are lots of competing shows out there vying for people's attention on various streaming services around the world. Neighbours could suffer the same fate if the show was to close down in future.

I think putting five consecutive episodes of H&A altogether on it's catch up service 7Plus in Australia could be deemed commercial suicide for this once great Australian soap. I hope it does not succumb to die for good on a streaming service because it has had an amazing run on Australian television over the years. But if that happens; it goodbye to a great soap opera.

My understanding is it is the same ep now on rte but it starts 15 mins after channel 5 lunchtime - still premieres previous night on 5 star I believe - so fulfills the bit where channel 5 is first in Ireland . On Neighbours is the same episode on rte 15 mins after channel 5

My recollection of H&A on ITV were the closing credits being shortened over time and the show being all over the place on the regions. Some as early as pre-CITV slot, others later.

Even the writer of the original story has now admitted the show isn't being axed and their piece (opinion perhaps presented as fact) has been turned into clickbait by UK news sites.

It hasn't. I'm afraid my original story has been turned into clickbait by UK press.

— Kevin Perry (@kevinperry) July 6, 2019

I never used to watch it but sometimes used to catch the end and the credits always seemed to be just the Home & Away logo and 7 endcap.

Yes - from about 1994 most ITV regions cut the closing credits down to the last couple of frames. Eventually everyone did. They weren’t seen in full again until the move to Channel 5 (or the occasional repeat of an old episode shown by ITV during the World Cup etc).

The early 00s episodes were pretty good, but it started to go downhill around the mid-00s. I no longer watch it, but I heard that last year they had a retcon storyline where Alf’s first wife turned up alive and well, and Alf had seemingly known this since 1988. Said ex-wife made a half a dozen guest appearances then disappeared again restoring the status quo. A ridiculous storyline that undermined so much of what had gone before! Another retcon saw Colleen Smart (Lance’s mother) turn out to be Alf’s sister. Alf had previously had an affair with her illegitimate daughter, who was now his niece. Messy.

Have Seven or Channel 5 commented on this news story yet? Considering how its blown up it would be interesting if they haven't.

Shane Withington, one of the current cast, has tweeted that the speculation is “tripe” and they don’t expect to be axed any time soon. I haven’t seen an official statement, but I expect it would be similar.

It's still bizarre because they would have been reached for a statement immediately, and any hesitation seems a bit odd.

Doesn't Seven have a drama quota which H&A fills comfortably so realistically if H&A were to be axed, Seven would have to replace it which would cost too much,