ITV Tipped As “Natural Home” For ‘Neighbours’ As Fremantle Seeks UK Buyer

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: ITV has been tipped as the “natural home” for Neighbours by industry sources as Fremantle seeks a UK buyer for the 37-year-old soap, which could be facing the axe in six months’ time.Several from within the UK distribution and production community alerted Deadline to the possibility of the nation’s second largest broadcaster being producer Fremantle’s best option when it commences talks with potential buyers over the coming weeks.ViacomCBS-owned Channel 5, the Australian soap’s current co-commissioner, announced over the weekend that it will stop funding Neighbours shortly, pivoting focus towards original UK drama off the back of the success of the likes of the All Creature Great and Small reboot.ITV’s general tone was raised by several as fitting nicely with Neighbours’ brand of relaxing teatime drama, and current ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale have been some of the network’s most successful shows for decades.

With this in mind, ITV was seen as a more viable option than competitors such as the BBC or Channel 4, or outside bets Sky and UKTV.“One can really see it being ITV because where else would it go,” said a senior distribution source, who backed broadcasting heavyweight Michael Grade’s prediction that the show is likely to be picked up by someone.Two sources described ITV as a “natural home” for the occupants of Ramsay Street, with one regular ITV supplier saying: “They [commissioners] will definitely be discussing it.”Speaking on BBC radio yesterday, Grade, a former ITV Executive Chair, described Neighbours as a “big brand that will get a lot of publicity and has a readymade audience.”The show airs daily after lunch on Channel 5 and is repeated at 6PM, drawing an average of around 1M