Entertainment

Home and Away actor: ‘Cheap’ reality shows are killing broadcast TV

Jun 22, 2018

Shane Withington plays John Palmer on Home and Away. Source: Channel 7 Plus.

He shot to fame on Aussie favourite A Country Practice in the 1980s before going on to enjoy a long career on Home and Away, but despite being a huge figure in broadcast TV, Shane Withington has now predicted it will end completely in just a few short years.

The 59-year-old veteran actor has blamed reality TV shows and “cheap” productions for killing off broadcast and advertising commercial TV – replacing it with online “dial up” shows reminiscent of hugely popular streaming service Netflix.

In an exclusive chat with Starts at 60, Shane – who played Molly Jones’ husband Brendan on A Country Practice, and now stars as John Palmer in Summer Bay’s hit soap – shared his worries for his own career, as well as the wider TV industry in the very near future.

“[The TV industry] has changed dramatically. There is a lot more reality television which I think is a deep shame,” he said. “Our dramas are in crisis, children’s TV is in crisis because people want to make cheap TV, cheap reality shows that don’t cost a lot. I always feel a bit out of place at the Logie’s because I’m an actor, not a builder or a vet.

“It has changed hugely. Also, everything is going online to be streamed so broadcast TV will come to an end. I’ll see the end in my career I think. It will all be narrow cast. Our show will survive if it goes online, a bit like Netflix… But there’s just something romantic about the term ‘going to air’.”

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While Shane said he isn’t worried for bigger shows like Home and Away, he does expect them to change hugely and eventually reside solely online – instead of the world of broadcast he’s so used to.

“It will happen a lot quicker than any of us want,” he predicted. “I think it will all be a Netflix situation, like a dial up on your computer, your TV will be online. I don’t think there will be the old advertising commercial TV anymore.”

He added: “Young people are fantastic, but they don’t own the world!”

Shane is staying busy on Home and Away, and while his character John moves on from his horrific brain tumour previously, he’s now welcoming foster kids and helping them through a series of troubling situations.

While he worries for changes set to come, he doesn’t plan on hanging up his acting shoes any time soon – no doubt much to the relief of his legion of fans.

“My plan is to stay I don’t know what their [Home and Away’s] plan is! I’d like to be here until its nursing home in a way!” He joked.

He’s not the only actor to have remained on the long-standing and hugely popular soap for some years now, as he’s joined by classic character and fan favourite Ray Meagher, who plays Alf Stewart, as well as Lynne McGranger who plays Irene Roberts.

Shane insists it’s hugely important for soaps to include actors and actresses of all ages, in order for every demographic to be represented – something that’s not always possible on new reality shows.

“It’s really important to encompass that [older] demographic,” he added. “Yes, it’s largely a show about younger people, but A Country Practice was so successful because it had a storyline for 10 year olds, 20 years olds, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, one for every demographic, so the entire family from kids to grandparents could sit down and watch a show together – knowing there’s a character they can identify with.

“I think it would be foolish to write out your senior actors because you’d lose that market.”