What if... ITV kept the show?

[James Martin]

Simple, really.  What would have happened with the show had ITV won the bid and kept it?

I think it would have still rated pretty well through the 2000's, but I wonder if the Seven Network would have been as happy to take the show as dark as they did in the middle of the decade?

After Channel 5 stopped editing the show (with the odd exception here and there) did the network feel they could go for their life in that respect, started by Bevan Lee as showrunner in 2004 before Dan Bennett went full-on Cop Drama in 2005?  Would things have stayed more sedate if they had to placate a more nervous ITV with regards to what they were happy to air in daytime?

Alternatively, would the removal of the CITV block from ITV itself onto its own channel mean racy content at 5pm would be less of a concern?

More recently we've seen Channel 5 move the show away from the main channel apart from one lunchtime showing (Seriously My5, HD when?) and we all know what happened to Neighbours.  However, all the UK soaps are massively in decline with EastEnders, albeit moved to BBC Two for Wimbledon, getting under 1m last week.  Normally, EastEnders goes up against Emmerdale, and C5 push 6:30pm on 5 Star as the "main" showing now, which is up against Hollyoaks (although I assume their First Look at 7pm on E4 now does well with Emmerdale out the way?) so are the linear showings even that important now?

(Incidentally, a number of Hollyoaks episodes due to TX around the Queen's death didn't go out on C4 at all - including the one pulled off-air to break the news; the 7pm E4 showings were prioritised, in the same way the 6:30pm 5 Star one was for H&A. So it's not just us where the First Look is King for their network, if you'll pardon the pun.)

I think two things would have happened.

Firstly, it would have plodded on but all other things being equal, would have benefited from the BBC losing Neighbours.  Even by 2008 Home and Away would have had stock within the ITV schedule, because they attempted to buy Neighbours when the BBC bowed out.

Secondly, more recently I still think there is a chance both shows could have been moved to ITV2, especially so if they acquired Neighbours instead of C5.  That would give them the opportunity to run the soaps as counterprogramming to the News Hour.

Where you think we would be?  Would it still do decent business for ITV?  Would it be an ITV2 affair?  ITVX?  Would they have gone after Neighbours?

[j.laur5]

Personally i don't think show its self would be much different  in terms storylines and show directions its gone though over years. 

[CaptainHulk]

ITV would still be choppy choppy with things and be down to 3x a week.

[cymbaline]

How much sway did ITV have when it came to the direction the show was taking?

[nenehcherry2]

I'm not sure on the censorship bit. Since ITC evolved into Ofcom, UK commercial networks like ITV1 have become far more liberal in what they televise in the 5 - 7pm time range. And UK society itself has become far more tolerant of the various areas which they highly censored on H&A. 

[cymbaline]

I've just taken a look at ITV's schedule and it's still fairly tame stuff from 5-7. ITV1 is now packed out with gameshows such as Tipping Point and The Chase, while the other channels are showing the likes of Poirot, Heartbeat and old episodes of Corrie and Emmerdale. The only possible grittiness I spotted were re-runs of Dempsey and Makepeace and The Sweeney. Both were considered to be violent TV shows back in the day but things have changed a lot since they were made. Unless Home and Away was moved to 7pm on ITV2 I don't think it'd have escaped the censor's scissors. I think ITV would've ultimately moved the show there, rather than try to keep it in its unsuitable timeslot. As far as I'm aware, H&A always aired at a later time in Australia. 

When Home and Away moved to Channel 5, I thought it was a downgrade at the time. C5 wasn't on the air all that long and didn't have a great reputation. It had poor coverage around the UK and was described as filling its schedule with "films, football and f***ing" (the latter was in reference to the soft porn films it showed at night). But, in hindsight 5 was a better home for what Home and Away was becoming. 

I think Neighbours would've been a better fit for ITV teatime TV and would've lasted quite a while there I think. But I think it'd have eventually ended up on ITV2 with the same small but dedicated audience it had on Channel 5. The funding of it would've become an issue eventually, just like with Channel 5. It's telling that when Neighbours was canned, there were no takers for it. Amazon has deep pockets but time will tell if their reboot of Neighbours works out. 

[CaptainHulk]

ITV3 are still a bit scissor-happy with the old Emmerdale eps. And some of the Old Corries.

As for Neighbours,  If Amazon reboot doesn't work out. At least they're still of *some* use to me in other forms (shopping), unlike their predecessor whose programming has been going downhill for the last decade.

I feel that Channel 4 did want it but didn't want to disrupt Hollyoaks or shuffle whichever Simpsons repeats they have the rights to or upset their CDWM repeats.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Corrie, Emmerdale and H&A were the 3 titans of ITV soaps in the 1990s, and very late 1980s. Eldorado nipped at their heels but the soap was short lived. I think H&A would still be a rival to CS and ED into the 2000s if ITV kept it.

[CaptainHulk]

The controller, by all accounts, seemed to be going off it off it at the time (Afternoon slot changes in 1998)

Eldorado got the axe as soon as people started liking it. Also being scheduled against Emmerdale in what was a transitional year didn't help.

[James Martin]

We don't see a huge amount of imports on British television period now.  Certainly not on the PSBs.  The Newsreader from ABC (complete with Steve Peacocke in a supporting role) made it to BBC Two but even then it seemed more aimed at iPlayer.  Same with The Bridge from DR & SVT in Scandinavia.

Gone are the days of Stranger Things or The Witcher being major water cooler points of a PSBs schedule.

I was on holiday in Spain last week and the property had one of those hooky IPTV boxes so I was able to watch RTÉ in Ireland, where the 6:30pm showing of H&A still gets a decent audience - a day behind Channel 5 and two behind 5 Star.  Amazingly, they still take Shortland Street there - which did decent business for the Carlton side of ITV.

Interesting idea about 7pm on ITV2.  This would actually have been a cool thing to try out and could bring in a consistent audience every night, as perfect counter programming against the extended news.  With Emmerdale moved there's only the First Look of Hollyoaks to compete with.  It's also the biggest of the youth channels (ITV2, E4, BBC Three & 5 Star) and, unlike the current situation, available in HD to all, albeit via ITV X outside Sky/Virgin.