Neighbours
Penayangan > Internasional > Britania Raya

Neighbours has been very successful in the United Kingdom, and has proved to be more popular there than in Australia.[115][116] It was broadcast on BBC One for over 21 years from October 1986 until February 2008. The series started airing on 27 October 1986, as part of BBC One's revamped daytime schedules.[117] Neighbours went out with a lunchtime broadcast and then a morning broadcast repeat the following day.[118] Michael Grade, the channel's then controller, was advised by his daughter to move the morning broadcast repeat to a late afternoon slot, as she and her friends kept missing it due to their being at school,[118] which took place from 4 January 1988. The show then started attracting larger audiences, peaking at over 21 million viewers on 26 January 1990, an aggregated figure that combined the lunchtime debut and the teatime repeat.[119] Towards the late 2000s, Neighbours was normally attracting an average of 3 million viewers for its lunchtime showing and 2.6 million viewers for its early-evening repeat.[120] It was frequently the highest-rating daytime programme in the UK, outside of news bulletins.[20]
In 2008, the UK broadcast moved to rival channel Channel 5 following the BBC's decision not to keep the show after being asked to pay £300m over eight years by FremantleMedia (three times the show's usual fee). Both Channel 5 and FremantleMedia were owned at that time by the German RTL Group.[121] The last Neighbours episode to be shown on BBC One aired on 8 February 2008.[122] The first episode to be shown on Channel 5 was watched by 2.4 million viewers on 11 February 2008 (an audience share of 14.2%), a drop of 300,000 from the BBC's average.[123] However, the move boosted Channel 5's usual share for the 5.30 pm slot by three and a half times. UK viewers are able to catch up with episodes with Channel 5's video catch up service, My5, similar to the catch up service in Australia.[124] Channel 5 also had a deal with YouTube, allowing viewers to watch episodes for free on the video sharing site after they have been transmitted.[125] From 4 January 2016, Channel 5 began broadcasting episodes on the same day as Australia.[126] Channel 5's commissioning editor Greg Barnett explained that closing the transmission gap would reduce spoilers and the number of viewers watching the show illegally online.[126] From mid-2016, the show also began airing every week-night on Nickelodeon as part of their Nick at Nite programming block, broadcasting the same episode that was seen earlier on Channel 5.[127] In March 2017, it was reported that negotiations to continue Neighbours on Channel 5 had become "very fraught", and it was possible that the show could stop airing in Britain.[128] In late 2021, Channel 5 moved Neighbours to a 6pm timeslot, as it extended its news coverage to a one-hour-long broadcast from 5pm. The 1.45pm showing was unchanged.[129]
On 5 February 2022, a report from The Sun, later confirmed by Digital Spy, stated that Neighbours had been cancelled in the UK after Channel 5 pulled its funding for budget reasons.[49][130][131][132] In an official statement, a channel spokesperson said "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."[49] Neighbours concluded on Channel 5 in July 2022. The channel's spokesperson confirmed that 5 wants to increase its investment in original UK dramas.[49]