I was just reading that Shane and Angel's wedding caused an increase in viewing figures, Wikipedia states it drew in 592,000 viewers, but that doesn't seem like a lot for a 90s episode

Those kind of figures are what caused Neighbours to be moved from Ten in 2010. Was this the norm and if so was Home and Away close to being axed in those days?

In the UK H&A's ratings are horrible but I'm not sure about Australia.

Home and away is crap now. I think it's gone too gritty, but not in a good way. I miss the days when it was mostly to do with the trivial lives of foster kids.

I think Home and Away was actually at it's ratings peak in the 90's. It was Neighbours who was struggling at that time with there even been talks of axing it and giving E Street it's five days a week timeslot.

The ratings quoted on Wikipedia for Shane and Angel's wedding are correct but refer to ratings only in Sydney rather than incorporating the entire country, which is why they appear so miniscule. It's a practice you see being used in the US and Australia whereas UK ratings are always talked about in terms of national ratings.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Unlikely H&A or Neighbours will ever be axed, as the Australian channels have home grown drama quotas from the government, meaning if either was axed, they would simply have to be replaced with a similar soap, with no guarantee the new show wouldn't do worse than the established one.

Last time I watched Home And Away regularly was when Jack and Martha were the golden couple.

In 2007 Home and Away's ratings in Australia were roughly double the 700 000 that Neighbours was getting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neighb....E2.80.931990s

These days Home and Away rates much lower than that in Australia. According to http://www.tvtonight.com.au/category/ratings H&A rated 805,000 1 March 2016, 887,000 29 February, 757,000 25 February. Of course, TV viewing figures are down altogether. H&A is still rating well and is still in the top ten programs.

Was that the first or second time round?

I gave up at about the time Rachel and Tony left...dipped in briefly again in 2013/2014

Always seemed to be more popular in OZ than in England for whatever reason. Would love for the show to return to its roots moving away from consistent sensationalism. Although I enjoy it for what it is still one of my favourites

I am enjoying the Charlotte drama Lately.

1995-96 was Home and Away's most successful period in terms of its Australian ratings. Neighbours' most successful era was 1987-89.

I have a Mediaweek news article from June 1995, which includes TV ratings.

For the week ending 3rd of June 1995, Home and Away on Seven averaged 1,560,000 viewers. It came second in the 7pm slot behind Nine's Sale of the Century (1,685,000).

Neighbours in the same week averaged 1,050,000 on Ten. It came third in the 6.30pm slot behind Nine's A Current Affair (1,768,000 viewers) and Seven's Today Tonight (1,184,000 viewers).

Those types of figures are quite standard for the 1995 ratings season.

I don't know what the highest ever individual episode rating for Home and Away is. The figures during that time were measured and published in weekly averages. The show did get 1.77million for an episode during the stalker storyline in 2005, which is the highest figure I know of. Although, given the show was drawing weekly averages of 1.5-1.6 million in the mid-90s, it's possible that there are episodes which received higher ratings.

Sorry that's wrong. Not about the quotas, but about the unlikely possibility of either soap being axed. Firstly due to a loophole in the quota, New Zealand content can be considered Australian content, so what you see in non ratings period is a glut of New Zealand dramas in grave yard slots (but within the quota cutoff timeslots) airing and counting towards quota points. Neighbours and Home & Away could be axed and Shortland Street could replace it in quota points.

The quota system has been diminshing in the decades too and certain groups have been trying to abolish it for years.


H&A in 2008 in the first half of the year was also rating very highly too in the wake of Sally leaving and it being an anniversary.

Thanks for the info HM, very interesting

so am i

so am i

Home and away is huge in Ireland still

All the home and away hotties appear here regularly enough at promotional events.

According to this news item from January 2011, programs on the digital multichannels (like Neighbours) do not count towards the quotas: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/...109-19jqp.html

I think Neighbours survives because its many international sales add up to cover the production cost. Though less popular than it once was, it has tightened its production model to a cheaper one (fewer location shoots, two cameras not three, smaller crew, etc.)

Soaps like Home and Away and Neighbours (when it was Ten) do help channels with their quotas as they account for many hours of drama each year in one production, and are relatively cheap. Commercial channels do like cheap shows and expensive productions become less attractive. Ten axed the popular but expensive Offspring in 2014, partly because under local content funding rules, once it surpassed 65 episodes it no longer qualified for a Screen Australia rebate, making it 20% more expensive. http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2...-the-last-time

However it turns out channels do also love their high ratings, their awards, and the prestige that comes with a well-regarded program with a slick image - even it that comes with a price. Ten reinstated Offspring for another season in 2016.

I think 5 needs to take the blame for the show's drop in ratings in the UK. They take the show off for weeks on end a couple of times a year. They should simulcast with Channel 7, like they do with Neighbours.
H&A's ratings have dropped in Australia but ratings across the board have. It still wins its timeslot and is in the top ten nightly

The ratings in Ireland are excellent. Apparently a third of irish students skip their lectures to watch it at lunchtime

The cast always say the Irish fans are the best as well and always acknowledge them in interviews!

My friends met Steve earlier this year. Lucky cows

But ultimately there just aren't enough episodes produced each year to prevent the breaks. The only other option 5 could consider is what ITV did and take the showings down to 4 episodes per week.

I've always felt 5 lost interest in promoting H&A once they acquired the rights to Neighbours. Hopefully they will consider airimg An Eye For an Eye in peak time, similar to what they did for Neighbours' 30th anniversary episodes.

It's incredible to think at its peak Home and Away was pulling in up to 20 million viewers per episode here in the UK!

They do actually promote both when there's something to promote that is

In Ireland it's also helps its on the country's premier TV channel rte one which is like bbc one the nations favourite channel and not the 5th channel like in the uk