Fresh off of ordering a spin-off of Neighbours, My5 is going down a similar route for fellow Australian series Home And Away. Channel 5’s VOD service has commissioned Home And Away: Christmas In Summer Bay, a series of six behind-the scenes Christmas specials.
Home And Away: Christmas In Summer Bay goes behind the scenes of the show, as the cast spend time with their on-screen families during the festive season. Each episode will provide a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Home And Away, including behind the scenes footage and plenty of nostalgia, as the cast reminisce about their favorite clips from the past.
The series, which has been produced by Seven Network, is designed to fill the Home And Away sized gap in Channel 5’s schedules during the show’s festive hiatus. The first episode is now available on My5, while the following five episodes will be released on a weekly basis throughout the month of December. Home And Away remains a key property for My5, having grown its viewers by 7% YOY, whilst on 5Star the show’s share of 16-34s has grown by 23% throughout 2019.
This marks My5’s second original commission, following Neighbours: Erinsborough High. The Neighbours spin-off premiered last month and ranked as one of My5’s top three shows during launch week. It also drove a 20% increase in viewing for the main series. “Home and Away is a favourite with our viewers, so we’re delighted to have commissioned these ‘behind the scenes’ specials for My5 to keep fans engaged with the show whilst it takes its annual on-air break”, said Oli Thomas, Vice-Prsident and Digital Lead for Channel 5.
