Coronation Street and Emmerdale will be airing in new slots from January 2026.
ITV has revealed plans for a soap ‘power hour,’ where Emmerdale and Coronation Street will be broadcast back-to-back between 8-9pm, Monday to Friday.
Starting in January 2026, the new schedule will result in both soaps losing an episode. Currently, Coronation Street is broadcast in hour-long slots on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 8pm, while Emmerdale is shown at 7:30pm Monday to Friday, with its Thursday episode running for one hour.
Episodes will continue to drop at 7am on ITVX, before transmission that evening.
These changes come as a result of research indicating that 30-minute episodes attracted bigger audiences in 2024, offering more digestible drama that suits evolving viewer preferences.
Describing itself as the “premier home for soaps”, ITV launched a dedicated soap section on ITVX in 2024 and plans to ramp up marketing efforts in 2025 to keep Coronation Street and Emmerdale at the forefront.
The launch of the 2026 schedule will be marked in spectacular style, as both soaps embark on an ambitious, never before seen stunt as part of a week of special episodes.
ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo said:
“The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. 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.
“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.
“This new commissioning pattern will mean five hours of soaps a week, rather than the current six. We are conscious this will have an impact for the people who work on the soaps team. We will support our colleagues in ITV Studios as they work through these changes, and will do what we can to mitigate the impact on our people.
“These changes are motivated by doing what we believe is best for the continuing success of these important programmes in the long term. They also create headroom in the overall programme budget for investment in programming that can help ITV grow reach in a very very competitive market.”
Coronation Street and Emmerdale are the UK’s most watched soaps with a combined weekly reach of over 8 million viewers.
Praising the quality of both, ITV said that: “Both soaps are in blistering form and have big stunt storylines in February, with an action packed month on the cobbles ahead, which kicked off with the mysterious fire last night at the Platt’s house which threatens to destroy much more than bricks and mortar. Emmerdale will also unleash a heart-stopping storyline, filmed over a series of night shoots, centred on a fateful night that brings two limousines into danger, with one left teetering on a treacherous frozen lake.”
Coronation Street, ITV1 and STV at 8pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on ITVX from 7am, Emmerdale, weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1 and STV or stream at 7am on ITV
