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Home And Away’s axe fears – future ‘confirmed’, high costs and ratings rumours

Sun, sea, sand, and a rumour about an axe? Home And Away will continue, according to Channel 5 executives and Fremantle Media, following the cancellation of Neighbours, another popular serial opera.

Since the final episode of Neighbours on July 29, 2022, many fans of daytime television have feared that Home And Away would be the next.

The Australian drama, which has been airing in the UK for more than 37 years, follows the lives of characters who reside in Summer Bay and has captivated audiences for decades.

However, in recent years, well before the news about Neighbours was confirmed, there have been rumours that Home And Away will be cancelled.

Fans are currently asking the soap’s stars on social media if the programme might be the next.

The Daily Star has looked at the Home And Away axe worries following recent confirmations of the soap’s future from both Channel 5 and Australian broadcasters.

Star of Home And Away speaks out

Many fans have been concerned that Home And Away could be the next show to be cancelled after Neighbours.

On social media, viewers reportedly asked the soap’s stars to clarify the show’s future, with Summer Bay legend Lynne McGranger responding to the rumour that the show was being cancelled.

Since she has been portraying Irene Roberts for more than 25 years, Lynne took to Twitter when a fan tweeted that Home And Away would be cancelled.

“First I’ve heard of that,” she tweeted, adding an emoji of a shrug.

“I’m seeing all this stuff, but I honestly have heard nothing,” Lynne added in another tweet. It might be true, but I evidently left the Bay around 18 months ago without a doubt.

Additionally, it was noted at the time that neither Channel 5, which airs the soap in the UK, nor Channel 7, which airs the show in Australia, had responded to queries from fans on the axe rumours.

I’m devastated that Neighbours is gone,” said Sophie Dillman, who portrays Ziggy Astoni on the television show Home and Away, in a statement to the Daily Star. Such a classic Australian television programme,

I don’t know what it means for Home and Away, but when we learned, we were all very, very sorry, she continued.

Previous allegations of layoffs and “poor ratings” rumours

Home And Away has been linked to the chopping block numerous times throughout the years.

Media sites claimed that the soap opera’s low ratings were the reason it would be cancelled, but Home And Away executives promptly shot down the claims after issuing a statement.

“The hard-working cast and crew of Home And Away make the most adored and most-watched Australian drama on television,” said Angus Ross, director of networking programming, to Metro.

“I can assure fans that the narrative is complete nonsense. There are absolutely no intentions to change it from its 7 p.m. main channel time slot.

Term-of-Series Agreement

It has been revealed that Home And Away, unlike Neighbours, is on a life-of-series contract with Channel 5.

As long as Australian producer Fremantle Media continues to put out new episodes, the broadcaster will keep airing the soap opera.

Ben Frow, the head of Channel 5, also confirmed the story in a recent interview with Radio Times, saying that the network is eager to see how the soap will fit into their future programming.

I believe it’ll be interesting to see how we use it as we advance, he remarked.

“It might fit in the [Channel 5] spectrum somewhere else.

It is a life-of-series contract, therefore it won’t end until the creators decide to discontinue it.

Sadly, Neighbours was not covered by such a contract, and when Channel 5 decided not to air the soap anymore, no other broadcaster was willing to pay and air it, which led to its cancellation.

However, if Fremantle and Channel 7 did choose to halt the serial opera’s production, UK viewers would also have to wave goodbye to Summer Bay.

“Pricey” soap

Fremantle Media has admitted that Home And Away is a highly “expensive” soap to produce, despite having a life-of-series contract.

According to Channel 7’s Director of Programming Scheduling Brook Hall, “Home And Away is our primary drama that we show pretty much all year. It is also our most expensive expenditure of content. And that is forgotten.

There isn’t another network that would charge as much for a show. Our largest production of the year is this one.

Regarding the soap’s popularity and “high-quality,” Brook noted that Channel 7 “believes” in the soap and that it is successful despite its expensive price.

“I’m quite proud of Home and Away, and it’s probably both our most significant show and our biggest financial investment,” Brook continued. We’re not required to do that. We have faith in it.

We refrain from doing it because of the drama quota. We do it because the show is incredibly popular.

So fans of Home And Away need not fear; it does not appear that the soap opera will end very soon.

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