Channel 5 Transmission Discussion/Updates

[Dan F]

http://www.backtothebay.net/news/2016/11/22/ha-season-finale-date/

Scroll down for what that means for UK viewers

[Red Ranger 1]

Thanks for the info, Dan! I was in the middle of doing my own calculations, worked out that we'd have 9 weeks of the 2016 season to come next year (again?) and wondered if my 6 weeks behind estimate was optimistic, so nice you've done the sums so I don't have to...

[cadyctslover]

With the way a lot of recent plots have dragged, I wonder why they pushed for a full 230 episodes this year?

[Gerard]

Just read an interesting post on the "TV Forum" site:

"From what I was told by an old source, the contract to Home and Away was renegotiated to cut costs during the start of the Richard Desmond years [probably 6 or 7 years ago] which included a clause where the programme needed to be aired a minimum of 6 weeks behind the Australian airings."

If this is indeed true, I guess that explains why Channel 5 are forced to maintain such a large transmission gap. So effectively they are paying less for the show and as a consequence they are forced to show it weeks behind Australia. It sounds plausible as you would think they would narrow the gap as much as they could to maximise ratings. I guess they think the series isn't worth paying the extra cash for in order to show it more up to date, and I would speculate that they probably could acquire same day transmission rights, but they don't think it's worth the extra expense.

[Red Ranger 1]

On ‎16‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 2:09 PM, Gerard said:

Just read an interesting post on the "TV Forum" site:

"From what I was told by an old source, the contract to Home and Away was renegotiated to cut costs during the start of the Richard Desmond years [probably 6 or 7 years ago] which included a clause where the programme needed to be aired a minimum of 6 weeks behind the Australian airings."

If this is indeed true, I guess that explains why Channel 5 are forced to maintain such a large transmission gap. So effectively they are paying less for the show and as a consequence they are forced to show it weeks behind Australia. It sounds plausible as you would think they would narrow the gap as much as they could to maximise ratings. I guess they think the series isn't worth paying the extra cash for in order to show it more up to date, and I would speculate that they probably could acquire same day transmission rights, but they don't think it's worth the extra expense.

Well, they've only been 5 weeks behind for a fair chunk of this year (between the Olympic cliffhanger and the UK Christmas break) and it was a lot less than 6 weeks behind at several other points during the last 6 or 7 years (we were only a week behind in early 2010 and I think it was only about two weeks in 2011, it was only four weeks as recently as the first part of 2015), so I suspect that's nonsense.It is possible that they're paying less in return for having a bigger gap but the fact that that poster is being so precise and therefore so obviously wrong suggests to me that they don't know as much about it as they claim.

[Gerard]

News is doing the rounds today that the future of Neighbours on Channel 5 is in question as Viacom (the owner) have failed to reach agreement over the transmission deal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4328060/Neighbours-disappear-screens.html

Not wanting to turn this into a discussion about Neighbours, but if the series did disappear from Channel 5 would this have any long term impact on the future of H&A too? We know H&A is supposed to be on a "lifetime of the series" deal with means Channel 5 can (or must?) air H&A until it ends in Australia. But given that Neighbours and H&A are paired together in the Channel 5 schedule, and Neighbours is the more popular series in the UK, if it did go from Ch5 would this have any negative effect on H&A, or possibly even a positive effect in sending some former Neighbours viewers over to H&A? I know H&A aired on the channel for years before it acquired Neighbours.

Another possibility is that Neighbours could be aired by another channel. I think it's unlikely now that it would be picked up by a mainstream channel, but imagine if ITV picked it up and aired in direct competiton to H&A. All wild speculation, and hopefully it won't happen, but it does seem there is at least some possibiliy that Neighbours might not be on Channel 5 for much longer.

Also, if the owners of Channel 5 are reluctant to spend the cash on Neighbours, what chance has H&A got, as its ratings are lower? Is it possible Viacom could try to negotiate an even lower price for H&A, and is it possible that deal could stall somehow?

Edited March 19, 2017 by Gerard

[Homeandawayfan.]

If 5 do axe Neighbours and no other channel picks it up then they will axe it altogether as the viewing figures in Oz are peanuts compared to H&A. Even Stevens though as Neighbours is more popular in the UK. The UK audience is propping the longevity of Neighbours up, otherwise H&A could have been the longest serving Oz drama series years ago.

I hope ITV picks Neighbours up, so it could possibly rival Corrie, Emmerdale and EastEnders again.

[cadyctslover]

Interesting. We have always heard from C5 that Neighbours is of prime importance to them, and so I would be surprised if they give up on the show. But it sounds like there is an internal battle between C5 and Viacom over the cultural significance of Neighbours on UK Screens, and how much that is worth to them.

If C5 did lose the show perhaps it could be picked up by Netflix?

[Gerard]

There is a new article on Digital Spy indicating that C5's owner company Viacom "allegedly aren't keen on renegotiating for the soap". Whether that means they just don't want the series, or they don't want to pay any more money for the series isn't clear to me. Pure speculation that they might want to free up the budget and the schedule for their own home-grown content. I wonder how keen they are to keep H&A on, and whether or not that's negotiable? If Neighbours left Channel 5, surely it would be the beginning of the end for H&A on Channel 5 too?

As for whether another TV company in the UK would pick the series up, it's possible, but I can't see BBC or ITV being interested, but it could go on Netflix or Amazon, or maybe Sky1. I'd be surprised if no one at all was interested.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Gerard

[atrus]

I think Digital Spy is just paraphrasing the original source article from the People/Mirror, like every other article has done today - it's just that the way they've worded it makes it come across a little stronger. The allegation is clear, i think - that Viacom don't want to pay any more money, rather than that they have anything against Neighbours per se - although whether that's a fair representation of the facts is another matter entirely. My take on this is that Viacom won't care about home-grown content on C5 any more than they'll care about Neighbours as a cultural institution; they'll simply want what works best in terms of revenue minus expediture. If Fremantle is trying to put up the price, that might not be Neighbours.

Let's remember though that negotiations of this nature happen all the time, and only infrequently do the details leak into the press. It makes commercial sense for both parties to retain a degree of intransigence in the early part of negotiations, and that may be all that we're seeing here. For equally commercial reasons, I wouldn't expect either firm to comment on the situation until all options are exhausted, so the silence from C5 and Fremantle doesn't particularly surprise or concern me.

All this doesn't necessarily have any bearing on Home & Away, except to say it indicates that decision-making at C5 is now subject to higher powers who, being once removed, may not be nearly as concerned about the overall calibre of their output as the domestic network is, provided it's making money. Even so, the channel is getting H&A for a hell of a lot cheaper than it gets Neighbours, so for the time being it's not likely to be much of an issue, especially given the whole-life deal.

Edited March 19, 2017 by atrus