Coronation Street and Emmerdale are preparing to move into new time slots on ITV next month.
It comes as ITV extends its Evening News operation to an hour from the start of March.
For Coronation Street viewers, that will mean they will get 3 hour-long episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Meanwhile Emmerdale, in its 50th anniversary year, is to air at 7.30pm across 5 weeknights, with an hour-long edition on Thursdays.
Coronation Street’s Producer Iain MacLeod said it meant “dramatic new storylines.”
“It’s an exciting time for the show and these stories will propel us into the hour-long era with a bang and all the characteristic drama, humour, twists and intrigue that Corrie viewers have come to expect.
“We’ve got high-octane action with tragic heroine Abi, leading to life and death dilemmas. We’ve got riotous romantic intrigue for Daniel, with deliciously dastardly Daisy pulling out all the stops to keep her man. We’ve got the uber-complex Gary, who has finally turned his life around and is atoning for his sins with Kelly, only to find himself facing a final reckoning with the ghosts from his past. And we’ve got heart-stopping, high-stakes drama for Sarah, featuring a knife-edge showdown between Adam and his tormentor Lydia, which will leave you wondering which one’s the bad guy. All of this in one big serving per night. What’s not to love?”
The schedule changes on 7th March with the extended ITV Evening News following the 6pm regional opt-outs at 6.30pm.
ITV has also confirmed that Canadian public broadcaster, CBC, has signed a multi-year Coronation Street deal.
“This is an exciting deal for CBC audiences in Canada. Coronation Street has been a sustained favourite since it first debuted on CBC in the 1960s,” said Jenna Bourdeau, Senior Director, Acquisitions at CBC.
