<P> In Australia, Home and Away currently airs on the Seven Network at 7: 00 pm from Mondays to Thursdays, going up against rival current affairs shows A Current Affair on the Nine Network, and The Project on Network Ten . The show is on air for approximately 45 weeks each year . Each season is usually broadcast from January / February and conclude with the season finale in November / December, as it goes off air for two months during the Christmas and New Year period . All aired episodes shown during the week are available to watch on the Seven Network's 7plus app, as part of their catch up TV service . They are also broadcast in an omnibus edition each Sunday on Seven's digital multichannel 7Two . </P> <P> When the show first began in 1988, it aired at 5: 30 pm in Adelaide, at 6: 00 pm in Melbourne and Sydney, at 6: 30 pm in Brisbane, and at 7: 00 pm in Perth . In January 1992, Seven moved Home and Away to the 7: 00 pm timeslot across the network . On 3 November 2009, 7Two began airing repeat episodes of the show from the very beginning at 9: 30 am, before moving to 9: 00 am . Since its premiere, the show had been screened as a 22 - minute episode each weeknight . However, beginning in March 2013, Better Homes and Gardens began replacing Home and Away on Fridays to make way for Seven's AFL coverage . Friday's episodes of Home and Away now air on Thursdays at 7: 30 pm . As of 2018, Home and Away currently airs sporadically, with episodes consisting from four to six episodes per week . </P> <P> Since 2000, Home and Away has ceased broadcast mid-season for two weeks during the Olympic Games and the episode to screen prior to this is referred to as an' Olympic cliffhanger' . An Olympic cliffhanger episode would usually involve increased drama, with the peak of a storyline, similar to a season finale episode, and the outcome of the cliffhanger to conclude after the Olympics . Olympic cliffhangers have been broadcast in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2016, with the exclusion of 2012, as the Seven Network did not have the rights to televise the 2012 London Olympics . In addition to this, Home and Away took a transmission break on 3 April 2018 in order to broadcast the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and returned on 16 April 2018 . </P> <P> Home and Away has been sold to over 80 countries around the world, making it one of Australia's successful media exports . </P>

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