Post by Cornwallgirl on May 18, 2007 16:54:21 GMT 1
BBC pulls out of Neighbours fight
Neighbours has been shown on the BBC since 1986
The BBC has pulled out of a bidding war for the long-running Australian daytime soap Neighbours.
The show has aired twice a day since 1986, but the BBC has now withdrawn from talks to renew its contract.
BBC One controller Peter Fincham said he had been asked to pay £300m over eight years - "roughly three times" what the BBC had already been paying.
"We'd love to have kept it but not at any price," he said. The show will end on BBC One next spring.
Mr Fincham said he was sure the show would remain on UK television but he did not know which channel would buy the distribution rights, which are owned by Fremantle Media.
Fremantle declined to comment.
"It's sad to lose Neighbours but these things happen," he said.
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan have had great success
He added that it was too early to discuss what would replace the programme.
The BBC said the corporation could not justify paying the sum required to its licence fee payers and that the sum "would have compromised our ability to invest in new original programmes".
It described the £300m price tag as "an unrealistic price demand".
Both instalments of the show, which airs at 1340 and 1735 each weekday, have a combined audience of around five million.
But in 1990, the evening show alone was drawing in audiences of up to 12 million.
The soap, which launched the careers of Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce and Jason Donovan, is watched by millions of people in dozens of countries.
Source: BBC News
