Home and Away - a billion dollar industry

[ter06]

A really interesting report here on the success of Home and Away, the impact it has had on employment, the economy, tourism and its social relevance.

It has made over a billion dollars in revenue from international sales alone.

Ireland, the UK and NZ have been identified as key markets but I didn’t realise it was also shown across Asia.

I am amazed by some of the figures

https://acilallen.com.au/uploads/projects/483/ACILAllen_HomeAndAway_EconImpact_2022.pdf

[Sunny Girl]

16 hours ago, ter06 said:

A really interesting report here on the success of Home and Away, the impact it has had on employment, the economy, tourism and its social relevance.

It has made over a billion dollars in revenue from international sales alone.

Ireland, the UK and NZ have been identified as key markets but I didn’t realise it was also shown across Asia.

I am amazed by some of the figures

https://acilallen.com.au/uploads/projects/483/ACILAllen_HomeAndAway_EconImpact_2022.pdf

Ter_06, I saw that article and thought it's fantastic.

It doesn't surprise me - 'Home and Away' has been running for nearly thirty-five years now and the monetary impact and influence upon the world at large is massive,indeed.

[James Martin]

Interesting report, although the timing of its commission suggests to me it's been done as a reassurance that Australian drama is still a viable business given events in Melbourne.

However, some great takeaways there.  I had no idea Sam Atwell was working for RTÉ now.

Of course, there's a saying in Hollywood that "Australia has two great drama schools - NIDA and Home & Away."  And I suppose it's true - without the show Thor could have looked very different!  Then of course Kate Ritchie has now made a name for herself in radio (her co-host Joel Creasey, incidentally, is the Australian commentator for Eurovision.)

No doubt though it's been an incredible vehicle for Aussie talent.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

6 hours ago, James Martin said:

Interesting report, although the timing of its commission suggests to me it's been done as a reassurance that Australian drama is still a viable business given events in Melbourne.

To me, it feels like a big slap in the face.

[James Martin]

12 hours ago, homeandawayroxsomuch. said:

To me, it feels like a big slap in the face.

If you mean it's a big exercise in saying "we're viable, don't cancel us too" then yeah it is.

The big difference however is that Home & Away isn't as reliant on one single broadcast deal.  If Channel 5 were able to walk away, it would be a minor kick in the goolies at worst, as opposed to being egregiously expensive for another British network to pick it up (I actually think ITV would immediately move to get it back, possibly for 7pm on ITV2 as counter-programming to the news on ITV1).

Crucially it still does big business for RTÉ.

When you think about it, Seven have been exceptionally shrewd.  They haven't bet the farm on any one single broadcaster.  Yes, the UK deal is important - but not so much that the entire production hinges on it.

Fremantle on the other hand were so careless, really.  First they priced the BBC out of the market and then they put all their eggs in the basket of one commercial British network.  I genuinely believe had Fremantle not demanded so much money that a public network couldn't justify purchasing the programme, Neighbours would have survived.  There was no thought to spread that income stream across not just the UK or even major English speaking markets like Ireland and New Zealand but also markets like Scandinavia where English is virtually a second language - they buy in a LOT of British, Irish, Antipodean and American shows but subtitle rather than dub.  (I was in Sweden in March to watch their Eurovision selection programme, not dissimilar to the one SBS run down under.  But every Swede I met spoke better English than I do.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

16 hours ago, James Martin said:

If you mean it's a big exercise in saying "we're viable, don't cancel us too" then yeah it is.

It's the timing of it.

Also, I've noticed that there hasn't been ANY messages of support for Neighbours on Home and Away's official social media or the social media of its cast members (unless on those whose accounts I don't follow) as Neighbours has been finishing filming (there was a tweet on Emmerdale's Twitter account).  It's all been Logies prep, interviews with the Logie nominees, show-related memes.

[James Martin]

Shane Withington did post something when the cancellation first broke.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Out of the big 2 Aussie soaps, it is hard to say which one has been a bigger billion dollar industry than the other.