The Australian network behind Home and Away has broken its silence on the future of the “expensive” show following the announcement that fellow Aussie soap Neighbours will be axed.
This comes after Fremantle Media has reportedly been unable to find another channel to pick up the long-running show, which launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie and Jason Donovan among others.
Show bosses are expected to announce that after an “extensive search for alternative funding”, they have failed to secure another channel to broadcast the Australian soap.
Meanwhile, fellow Down Under drama Home and Away has been publicly backed by its Australian network.
Channel 7's director of content scheduling Brook Hall has voiced the network's ongoing commitment to the Summer Bay soap, although he did acknowledge that the Summer Bay soap foots a high bill.
He told TV Tonight: “I know it's not a sexy thing to say, but Home and Away is our main drama that we run pretty much all year.
“It's an expensive drama, a high-quality one. It runs on our main channel in primetime. It's not something that we use on the multi to get drama points. It is our most expensive outlay of content. And that gets lost.
“There's no other network that would have as big a price tag on a show. It's our biggest production of the year.”
He continued: “I'm very proud of Home and Away, and it's arguably our most important show and our biggest cash outlay. We don't have to do it. We believe in it.
“We don't do it because it's a drama quota. We do it because it's an amazingly successful show.”
Home and Away is aired on Channel 5 in the UK and, unlike with Neighbours, the channel has a life-of-series contract, which means it will continue to broadcast the show for as long as Australia produces episodes.
Soap fans launched a petition in a desperate bid to see Neighbours picked up by another broadcaster after Channel 5 decided to pull the plug on the show after nearly four decades on our screens.
A spokesperson for Channel 5 said in a statement: “Neighbours will no longer air on Channel 5 beyond this summer. It’s been a much-loved part of our schedule for more than a decade, and we’d like to thank the cast, Fremantle and all of the production team for their fantastic work on this iconic series.
“We’d also of course like to thank the fans for their loyal support of Neighbours across the years.”
They added: “We recognise that there will be disappointment about this decision, however our current focus is on increasing our investment in original UK drama, which has strong appeal for our viewers.”
