Home and Away reportedly ‘facing the axe’ after 31 years

Nooooo. 

Home and Away is reportedly facing being axed after 31 years on the air. The long-running Aussie soap, which airs on RTÉ 2 in Ireland, has had the 7pm timeslot on the TV Network Seven for more than 30 years. According to TV Blackbox, Home and Away suffered a massive drop in viewership on Monday - with around 454,000 people switching channels when it started, compared to the 1.115 million who tuned in for 7News before. The network executives are said to be under pressure to make "significant changes" to its programming schedule, which could include a massive change to the soap. The publication report that ratings for the show have been declining over the last few years, with viewers said to be reluctant to embrace the new characters and storylines. The network are said to be considering a number of options when it comes to the future of the soap, including moving it to a later time slot to "better embrace more adult oriented storylines." Another possibility said to be being considered would see five new episodes of Home and Away debut on Seven's streaming service, 7Plus, on Fridays. They would then be screened over the following week on multi-channel, 7Two. Home and Away has been responsible for a number of iconic characters in soap land, like Alf Stewart and Sally Fletcher. It has also given a number of Australian actors their big break, like Thor's Chris Hemsworth, Isla Fisher, Ryan Kwanten and Heath Ledger.