Neighbours: Discussion Thread

[Chris B]

I hope Kylie returns as well. If Julianne Moore can go back to ATWT then there are no excuses IMO. This show put Kylie on the map, it’s the least she could do. 

[Bright Eyes]

Thanks for the clarification guys. I also read the latest DS article about it and Jason Herbison himself was quoted as basically saying the same thing. Does anyone know how far in advance the show tapes?

[Ben]

Just so there’s no confusion, Jason Herbison has confirmed in his email to the cast and crew that production will shutdown on June 10th.

By all concerned, Neighbours was a co-production between Australia and the UK, so without Channel 5’s funding, there is no show. 

I’ve loved this show for 30 years, since o was a child, so it’s devastating to see it’s been axed. The writing was on the wall last year with all the scheduling changes in both countries, but it’s still shocking.

Normally it’s roughly 3 months in advance, but since last year, 10Peach dropped to airing 4 episodes a week, which Channel 5 was supposed to also do this year, but they opted to air the show as usual at 5 episodes a week (likely in response to contract talks ending). This means the produced number of episodes this year is less, but due to the different airing patterns in both countries, it means the UK will end the show in August, and Australia will end in November-ish.

[Bright Eyes]

Thanks for the update Ben! This is all so sad. It'll be weird to have the show running in Australia months after it ends in the UK. I wonder if the Australian broadcasts might get any special additions to them.

[Ben]

I doubt it. 

Extremely sad. As you know from cancelled US soaps, this whole situation has been a bit of a mess. I think it’s worse because it basically comes down to money; ratings are still healthy, the show is in the best shape it has been for a while, but money matters more. *sigh*

[DRW50]

It's good to see you here @Ben if in such sad circumstances. I hope there's some chance to save the show.

What kind of situation is Home and Away  in? I know it was better rated in Australia but I'm not as sure these days.

[AMCOLTLLover]

Home and Away is on a completely different network in Australia. I bet Seven made better arrangements than Neighbours. In Australia people prefer Home and Away over Neighbours anyway

[DRW50]

I know. I just wanted to ask Ben as he has much more of a history with these shows than we do. 

[Paul Raven]

Channel 5 has a run of the show contract for Home and Away. 

H&A is in a much stronger ratings position in Australia. It runs on a primary network, unlike Neighbours which was demoted several years back.

It leads off the 7 networks primetime schedule and although numbers are down it is still a solid performer.

[Ben]

Thanks @DRW50. It’s been along time posting here. We used to have some great discussions.

Re: Home and Away: I think it’s life of series deal protects it on Channel 5, who really can’t do much with it no matter how low the ratings slide. They seem to have stabilised around the 400k mark. 

In Australia, the TV landscape has changed so much. Aussie’s prefer watching scripted TV on streaming services, leaving only reality shows and the news as rating high on FTA TV. Home and Away is the #1 drama, but that’s not saying much when there is hardly any competition. It’s ratings have also fallen into the 400k-500k, with the occasional spike depending on the storyline of the moment. 

Like Ten, Seven also needs Home and Away to fill their local drama quota, and after the changes to the system last year, series with more than 65 episodes a year now qualify for a producer offshoot - they get money back. 

Ten was only contributing $20k to the Neighbours budget, with some help from Film Victoria, while the rest comes from the UK broadcaster. But the UK doesn’t have such funding available to broadcasters, solely relying on sponsorship and advertising revenue. Practically, I totally get the expense, but equally, it’s so sad when everything has to come down to money. 

One of the things to come to of this is the outpouring of love for Neighbours. It means so much to so many people, even those who have stopped watching. There’s been so many articles written and news reports generated, the petition has nearly 45,000 signatures! 

Where’s one of those billionaires looking to invest when you need it.

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Also, this is so freaking cool! Fans Push Neighbours Theme to The Top Of The Charts!

Edited February 10, 2022 by Ben

[Skylover]

Almost 50,000 signatures now. Good to see you around @Ben

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[LondonScribe]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/17820472/neighbours-axed-production-company-channel-5/

[AMCOLTLLover]

I knew no one would pick Neighbours up. It’s a shame but now they can continue to wrap it up properly 

[LondonScribe]

It’s almost absurd to think that the future of a soap opera has hinged on the funding of an international broadcast partner for over a decade. I wish that wasn’t the case, but history won’t mention that too much.

The narrative will be “37 years and Channel 5 killed Neighbours”

[AMCOLTLLover]

U must be joking, right? People should  be thankful that Channel 5 invested in that show and kept it alive until this year. I mean even their home network pushed it away and gave up on it and shoved it over to their peach network . They don’t even get ratings over there

if it wasn’t for Channel 5 Neighbours would’ve ended like 5-10 years ago

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Edited March 4, 2022 by AMCOLTLLover