Editing Soap opera (section)

===The 1990s and beyond===
''[[Something in the Air (TV series)|Something in the Air]]'', a serial examining a range of characters in a small country town ran on the ABC from 2000 to 2002.

Attempts to replicate the success of daily teen-oriented serials ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' saw the creation of ''[[Echo Point]]'' (1995) and ''[[Breakers (TV series)|Breakers]]'' (1999) on Network Ten. These programs foregrounded youthful attractive casts and appealing locations but the programs were not long-running successes and ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' remained the most visible and consistently successful Australian soap operas in production. In their home country, they both attracted respectable although not spectacular ratings in the early 2000s. By 2004, ''Neighbours'' was regularly attracting just under a million viewers per episode<ref>Mercado, p. 231.</ref> – considered at that time a low figure for Australian prime time television. By March 2007, the Australian audience for ''Neighbours'' had fallen to fewer than 700,000 a night. This prompted a revamp of the show's cast, its visual presentation, and a move away from the recently added action-oriented emphasis to refocus the show on the domestic storylines it is traditionally known for.<ref>Kilkelly, Daniel. [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a44065/neighbours-ratings-a-cause-for-concern.html 'Neighbours' ratings a cause for concern"] ''Digital Spy.'' March 18, 2007. Accessed 2007-05-19.</ref> During this period ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' continued to achieve significant ratings in the UK. This and other lucrative overseas markets, along with Australian broadcasting laws that enforce a minimum amount of domestic drama production on commercial television networks, help ensure that both programs remain in production. Both shows get higher total ratings in the UK than in Australia (the UK has three times the total population of Australia) and the UK channels make a major contribution to the production costs.

It has been suggested that with their emphasis on the younger, attractive and charismatic characters, ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' have found success in the middle ground between glamorous, fantastic U.S. soaps with their wealthy but tragic heroes<ref name=Bowles-119/> and the more grim, naturalistic UK soap operas populated by older, unglamorous characters.<ref name=Bowles-120/> The casts of ''Neighbours'' and ''Home and Away'' are predominantly younger and more attractive than the casts of UK soaps, and without excessive wealth and glamour of the U.S. daytime serial,<ref name=Bowles-119/> a middle-ground in which they have found their lucrative niche.

''Neighbours'' was carried in the United States on the [[Oxygen (TV network)|Oxygen]] [[cable channel]] in March 2004; however it attracted few viewers, perhaps in part due to its scheduling opposite well-established and highly popular U.S. soap operas such as ''All My Children'' and ''The Young and the Restless'', and was dropped by the network shortly afterwards due to low ratings.

''[[headLand]]'' made its debut on Channel Seven in November 2005, the series arose out of a proposed spinoff of ''Home and Away'' that was to have been produced in conjunction with ''Home and Away''{{'s}} UK broadcaster, [[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]]. The idea for the spin-off was scuttled after Five pulled out of the deal, which meant that the show could potentially air on a rival channel in the UK; as such, Five requested that the new show be developed as a standalone series and not be spun off from a series that it owned a stake in. The series premiered in Australia on November 15, 2005, but was not a ratings success and was cancelled two months later on January 23, 2006. The series broadcast on [[E4 (TV channel)|E4]] and Channel 4 in the UK. Nickelodeon's ''[[H2O: Just Add Water|H<sub>2</sub>O: Just Add Water]]'' appeared in July 2006 on Network Ten. Since Connie considered this mention as a torrid soap opera, this was mentioned in the [[Steven Universe]] episode "Love Letters".

After losing the UK television rights to ''Neighbours'' to Five, the BBC commissioned a replacement serial ''[[Out of the Blue (2008 TV series)|Out of the Blue]]'', which was produced in Australia. It debuted as part of BBC One's weekday afternoon schedule on 28 April 2008<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/outoftheblue |title=BBC – Out of the Blue – Homepage |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2009-01-29 |access-date=2012-04-27}}</ref> but low ratings prompted its move to [[BBC Two]] on 19 May 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/not-out-of-the-blue/2008/05/12/1210444287750.html|title=Out of the Blue fails to impress UK viewers|publisher=AAP|access-date=2008-05-17 | location=Melbourne | date=May 12, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/news/3265 |title=What's on TV – Top TV listings guide, plus soaps, news, prizes and previews |publisher=Whatsontv.co.uk |access-date=2012-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707002638/http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/news/3265 |archive-date=2012-07-07 }}</ref> The series was cancelled after its first season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7483890.stm|title=BBC scrap Out of the Blue soap|website=BBC News|date=July 1, 2008|access-date=2008-09-09}}</ref>

''[[Neighbours]]''{{'}} continued low ratings in Australia resulted in it being moved to Ten's new digital channel, [[Eleven (TV channel)|Eleven]] on January 11, 2011.<ref name="EleventhHeaven">{{Cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/eleventh-heaven-as-ten-network-hails-debut/story-e6frg8zx-1225986587144|title=Eleventh heaven as Ten Network hails debut|last=Chessell|first=James|date=13 January 2011|work=The Australian |publisher=[[News Limited]]|access-date=12 January 2011}}</ref> However, it continues to achieve reasonable ratings on [[Channel 5 (UK)|Channel 5]] in the United Kingdom, and as of March 2013 still reportedly achieved significant international sales.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com.au/soaps/s14/neighbours/news/a464336/neighbours-producer-insists-soap-will-reach-30th-anniversary.html |author=Sophie Dainty |title='Neighbours' producer insists soap will reach 30th anniversary |publisher=[[digitalspy.co.uk]] |date=9 March 2013 |access-date=2013-03-30}}</ref>

''Neighbours'' was cancelled due to Channel 5, the UK broadcaster of the show, deciding to drop the programme – the money they were paying for the rights was providing the majority of its funding. It ended on 29 July 2022. Months after its series finale, [[Fremantle Australia]], the programme's production company, announced on 17 November 2022, that production on the programme would restart in 2023 after the company agreed on a deal with [[Amazon Freevee]]. Amazon Freevee aired the programme for free in the UK and the US while Network 10 retained the rights to the programme.<ref>{{cite web|last=Earp|first=Catherine|title=Neighbours announced for shock 2023 return following Channel 5 axe|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/neighbours/a41988592/neighbours-returning-2023-channel-5-axe/|publisher=[[Digital Spy]]|access-date=17 November 2022|date=17 September 2022}}</ref>

In February 2025, the series was cancelled again, with production concluding in July and episodes ceasing to air in December.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kilkelly |first1=Daniel |title=''Neighbours'' axe officially confirmed after 40 years of drama |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/neighbours/a63855528/neighbours-axed-again/ |website=[[Digital Spy]] |access-date=20 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250221001716/https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/neighbours/a63855528/neighbours-axed-again/ |archive-date=21 February 2025 |date=20 February 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Turnbull |first1=Tiffanie |title=''Neighbours'' cancelled – again -– two years after Amazon lifeline |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8710r5v0p7o |access-date=21 February 2025 |work=[[BBC]] |date=21 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250221153435/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8710r5v0p7o |archive-date=21 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Whittock |first1=Jesse |title=''Neighbours'' Cancelled Again, This Time by Amazon |url=https://deadline.com/2025/02/neighbours-cancelled-again-amazon-1236297102/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |access-date=21 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250221153800/https://deadline.com/2025/02/neighbours-cancelled-again-amazon-1236297102/ |archive-date=21 February 2025 |location=United States |date=21 February 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>