The first episode of the soap opera Neighbours was broadcast on the Seven Network, later becoming the longest-running drama in Australian television history.

A soap opera is a genre of a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term soap opera originated from radio dramas' original sponsorship by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by horse opera, a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns. Some authorities exclude short-running serial dramas from their definition.

Neighbours  is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap Sons and Daughters. Although successful in Melbourne, Neighbours underperformed in the Sydney market and was cancelled by Seven four months after it began airing. It was immediately commissioned by rival Network Ten for a second production season, which began screening on 20 January 1986. Neighbours became the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. In 2005, it was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.

Seven Network is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of the five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. The network's headquarters are located in Sydney.

Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.