Home & Away: Australian soap dropped from daytime slot on Channel 5 in major shake-up for broadcaster

The Australian soap originally aired in a 1.45pm slot on Channel 5, but will not return to the slot went it restarts following the Christmas break.

Instead, 5 said that the show would be “moving exclusively to streaming for daytime viewing”, meaning that fans will be able to catch the latest action from Summer Bay from 6am each morning on the channel’s streaming service.

The show will remain in its evening spot on 5Star, where new episodes will air from 6.30pm and the previous episode will air in the 30-minute slot directly before at 6pm.

Greg Barnett, Commissioning Editor at 5, said: "Home and Away has been a phenomenal success for us on streaming. Viewers have fully embraced the flexibility of on-demand viewing, driving double-digit year-on-year growth and making streaming the preferred way to watch the show.

“Moving daytime episodes exclusively to streaming is a natural next step, reflecting how audiences want to engage with their favourite content.”

Home and Away has been on UK screens since 1989, launching in Australia the previous year. In 2001, the soap moved from ITV to Channel 5.

Current on hiatus for the Christmas period, the show is set to return to its normal schedule from January 2. The new daytime streaming exclusive means that viewers will be able to tune into the newest episodes from 6am on January 2, before they are broadcast in the evening slot.

It comes amid a shake-up for Channel 5’s daytime schedule. From next year, a newly-announced talk show hosted by Matt Allwright will launch, while Jeremy Vine continues in his regular slot. Storm Huntley will also welcome a new co-host in Alexis Conran in a re-fresh for the morning chat show, while Vanessa Feltz’s chat show ‘Vanessa’ has been moved to the 2-3pm slot with a revamped focus on viewers.