According to recent statistics, nearly 4 million people watched Channel 5’s final episode of Neighbours.
The long-running programme ended on a high note last month when Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, who played Scott and Charlene Robinson, made their highly anticipated comebacks in the hour-long finale.
The following morning, overnight ratings were announced, showing an astonishing 17 percent audience share with 2.5 million viewers tuning in.
New statistics from BARB, a company that tracks UK TV ratings, has revealed that after accounting for catch-up and recordings, this number rose to 4.02 million people.
The Neighbours finale was Channel 5’s most-watched programme of the week.
It even outperformed Thursday night’s visit to Emmerdale and each episode of EastEnders that aired that week as the 17th most watched programme across all channels.
The number of Neighbours viewers does not include those who saw the Saturday afternoon replay the following day. When the final 28-day figure is made public later, the ratings can rise even further.
The final episode of Neighbours drew 1.38 million viewers in Australia. The fact that the final episode was shifted back to mainstream broadcaster Channel 10 helped the show reach its highest ratings in Australia in 13 years.
When Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison spoke with Digital Spy last week, we inquired as to whether the excitement around the conclusion had given him hope for a potential revival.
“We’ve always said we are resting the show, so anything is conceivable,” Herbison retorted. I don’t want anyone to lose their passion for the programme. I hope the fandoms endure and that people keep talking about old characters and plots.
“I genuinely meant what I said in Susan’s monologue about Ramsay Street being endless. Everyone should continue to rejoice in it, including those who have observed us from a distance.
