Bad news, soap fans – Coronation Street and Emmerdale are set to face another schedule change. The ITV shows have been taken off air occasionally in recent times due to sports fixtures.
It looks like that will be the case once again next month, with the week starting 2 February seeing both soaps off air for 2 nights. Firstly, the episodes on Tuesday (3 February) will not be shown then due to the Carabao Cup match between Arsenal and Chelsea from 7.30pm on ITV1.
Thursday’s (5 February) episodes will also be off air due to a Six Nations match between France and Ireland from 7.20pm on ITV1.
Unfortunately, Corrie and Emmerdale won’t be doubling up on other nights to make up for the loss, disrupting the new ‘power hour’ format.
The new schedule kicked off this month, with both ITV shows airing for half an hour each between 8pm and 9pm, five nights per week. This has meant that each soap has lost 30 minutes per week as they shift from their past six-episode transmission format.
ITV
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Opening up about the reasons for the change, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo explained that the decision is due to changing habits.
Calling it “viewer-led”, he said they “want to present their favourite soap to them in the most digestible way”.
ITV
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“In a world where there is so much competition for viewers’ time and attention, and viewing habits continue to change, we believe this is the right amount of episodes that fans can fit into their viewing schedule, to keep up to date with the shows,” he added.
“Research insights also show us that soap viewers are increasingly looking to the soaps for their pacey storytelling. Streaming-friendly, 30-minute episodes better provide the opportunity to meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution.”
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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