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Good Neighbours move into Five

Posted in Advertising, Media, Mel Varley May 21st, 2007 by Melinda Varley

The BBC has finally ditched Aussie soap Neighbours after 21 years and £25,000 an episode only for channel Five to scrape it up for a whopping £70,000 per episode leaving us and advertisers asking – what now?

It’s the show that launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Hollie Vallance and Natalie Imbruglia. It did wonders for Australia as a successful export which caused great hype in our home grown celebrities and simple lives in the sunshine. But after 21 years, the BBC has questioned its worth.

It’ll be interesting to see what Five will do the soap in terms of time slot and advertising. A conversation around our office decided that it should definitely be broadcast later in the evening so we have time to get home and watch it – I was thinking around 6:30, a time when my only other options are re-runs of Friends or the dreadful Hollyoaks.

While the BBC was unable to have advertisers for the programme, Five is a different story and will definitely be seeking to increase its revenues with its latest import. But what’s the demographic for Neighbours these days? Only students and housewives have been able to watch it on the BBC in its bizarre slot of 530pm. If Five moved it to a later slot to rival Hollyoaks the opportunities could be endless. I’m thinking pizza, gum, mobile phones, hair care and washing powder ads, just to start. I hope Five makes the most of it.