Channel Seven's plan to 'pull Home and Away from prime time'

It’s one of Australia’s longest-running soaps, but after 30 years it seems Home and Away might be pulled from Channel Seven’s prime time programming.

According to TV Blackbox, network executives have observed a decline in the show’s ratings since 2017, and replacing Home and Away with another show in that time slot is one of the options they’re considering.

The Australian television commentary website claims it’s ‘learned’ that Channel Seven has thought about moving the Summer Bay fan favourite to a later time slot, so the network can compete effectively at 7pm with the other channels.

One option is to bring Today Tonight back to Eastern states, which would pose as direct competition to Channel Nine’s A Current Affair that airs at 6:30pm and Ten’s The Project that airs 6:30pm to 7:30pm.

The other pathway that is reportedly “being considered by Seven” involves five episodes of Home and Away airing on Friday nights on the network’s streaming platform 7PLUS, before being broadcast the following week on 7TWO.

Earlier this year Home and Away was briefly bumped from its usual time slot to make way for the launch of My Kitchen Rules, but that was just a temporary change.

The show, which first aired in 1988 has launched the successful international careers for the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Isla Fisher, Melissa George and Isabel Lucas.

Meanwhile rival soap Neighbours was booted from Channel Ten in 2011 and moved to its other channel called Channel Eleven, which is now known as 10 Peach.

Yahoo Lifestyle has contacted Channel Seven for comment.

Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Or sign up to our daily newsletter here.