The launch of "Home and Away" in 1988 was hoped to help boost the Seven Network's early evening ratings which had been underperforming in previous years. However, the show struggled to attract high ratings, particularly when compared to rival soap opera "Neighbours", which was a huge ratings success at the time. By the end of 1988, "Home and Away"s ratings had improved. In January 1992, when "Neighbours"' high-rating era was over, Seven moved "Home and Away" to the 7:00 pm timeslot, putting both shows up against each other. This caused Network Ten to move "Neighbours" to the 6.30 pm timeslot two months later. During the early 2000s, "Home and Away" was averaging 1.3 million viewers and in 2007, viewing figures rose to 1.4 million. However, by the end of the decade, the ratings had dropped to an average of 1.1 million viewers. During the early 2010s, viewing figures had further decreased to between 800,000 and 1 million an episode. In 2012, "Home and Away" was averaging 981,000 viewers, down from 1.039 million in 2011 and 1.021 million in 2010.