Emmerdale and Coronation Streets are braced for a major schedule change

EMMERDALE and Coronation Street are set for a major schedule change.

ITV has announced that the soap will air late in the evening following a major change to the channel’s news output.

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It will now broadcast a full hour of news from 18:30, pushing the soap later in the day.

Emmerdale, which has an important year approaching its 50th birthday in 2022, will move to 7:30pm.

Coronation Street, the nation’s biggest TV series, will switch to a three-hour episode, at 8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The news means bad news for the BBC’s struggling rival EastEnders – placing the ITV soaps in direct competition with it every night.

EastEnders has struggled in ratings – with Emmerdale and Corrie drawing millions more viewers each night.

“With Coronation Street bursting with great plot and characters, the new format gives the show a great new canvas to shine,” said John Whiston, ITV’s head of drama continuation.

“And Emmerdale will do what it does best in this new period, where viewers can continue to enjoy the dramatic happenings in Dales.”

Due to the schedule change, viewers will now be able to watch them live on TV one at a time in one continuous soap fix.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale continue to be the nation’s most popular TV series, garnering an average aggregate audience of over 5 million by 2021.

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