Neighbours is an Australian soap opera which premiered on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985, later moving to Network Ten in 1986 and Eleven (now 10 Peach) in 2011. In the Euro Republics, Neighbours has been broadcast in the Euro Republics - on various channels - since September 1985.
ERTV[]
The Euro Republics was the first international country to purchase broadcast rights for Neighbours back in 1985, and it was first broadcast on Euroish television on Monday 2nd September 1985, where it was originally broadcast on ERTV 1 (now ETV1) where it initially ran on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons at 1.30pm. The episodes were then repeated in a late evening slot on ERTV 2 (now Network Two) in the late night, following ER Tonight.
This was seen at the time to capitalise on the successes of follow Grundy-produced soap operas Sons and Daughters and Prisoner, which went out in afternoon and late evening slots respectively to high ratings on ERTV 1.
Despite it's later success, Neighbours only had minor success during it's time on ERTV, thanks to it's off peak time slots, and it was pulled after December 1986.
TV3[]
TV3 acquired the Euroish broadcast rights to Neighbours in 1988 where it would form part of the schedule for the new channel upon it's March 1989 launch. TV3 planned to give Neighbours a push in publicity not seen in the ERTV years and it would be screened in a teatime slot to attract younger audiences.
Initally, despite having the rights to broadcast the entire series, TV3 chose to begin the series from the episode 171, the first episode to air on Network Ten. It was broadcast at 6.30pm, five nights a week with an omnibus edition on Saturday afternoons.
Effective from November 1995, a Saturday afternoon omnibus edition of Neighbours was launched on the new TV3 sibling channel, Channel 4.
The “final” episode of Neighbours was broadcast on TV3 on 7 October 2022, in primetime. TV3 picked up the Euroish rights to the 2023 revival of Neighbours upon it's original announcement, with the show restarting in the Euro Republics on 18 September 2023, the same day as it's debut on Amazon Freevee in the US and UK and Network 10 in Australia.
Sponsorship[]
In the Euro Republics, Neighbours has been sponsored by many companies through the years. The logos of the sponsors usually appear at the end of the credits, over the theme music.