Emmerdale and Coronation Street rescheduled in ITV shake-up
ITV has announced a shake-up of its evening schedule which will see its news program extended and top soaps have given new slots.
Under the plans, ITV News will be broadcast from 18:30 to 19:30, with more focus on stories outside London.
Emmerdale, which currently airs in the 19:00 slot, will move half an hour later, to 19:30, to make room.
And Coronation Street will broadcast three hour-long episodes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the network said.
This means the soap will no longer be divided into two separate half-hour chunks with a different program in between, as it is currently.
Other changes mean there will be a total of 90 minutes of news programming broadcast on the channel from 18:00.
ITV’s most popular soaps will move into new back-to-back schedule slots “destined to build a strong block of continuing drama”, the network said.
Emmerdale will continue to broadcast one half-hour episode every weeknight, but its slot will move further into prime time and air at 19:30 instead of the current 19:00.
There are also changes for Coronation Street, which currently broadcasts six episodes per week across three nights. These are normally split between one half-hour episode at 19:30, and another at 20:30.
Under the current schedule, a different programme is usually scheduled between the two Coronation Street episodes. Paul O’Grady: For The Love of Dogs and Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad are among the programmes scheduled in the 20:00 slot this week, for example.
However, under the new schedule, Coronation Street will be broadcast in a single hour-long chunk, from 20:00 until 21:00, interrupted only by regular advert breaks.
ITV said this new “super soap” scheduling means live TV viewers of Coronation Street and Emmerdale “can get their soap fix back-to-back”.
Announcing the changes, ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment, Kevin Lygo said Coronation Street and Emmerdale are “fundamental to the success of ITV”.
“We know that, as with all dramas, viewers increasingly watch them whenever, and however they choose. The new scheduling means that viewers can watch them live on TV in one go in a continuous soap fix, as well as on ITV Hub where they are regularly in the most-watched shows every month,” he said.
Expanded news
The broadcaster also announced on Monday its plan to increase news output, marking the biggest expansion of jobs in ITV News in 20 years.
The newly-extended evening news programme, which will be presented by Mary Nightingale, will bring “more focus on reporting from outside of London… to reflect the whole of the UK,” ITV said.
The new evening schedule will mean a total of 90 minutes of news, with the regional half-hour programme broadcast at 18:00, followed by the newly-expanded hour-long ITV News at 18:30.
The changes mean ITV News will air until 19:30, placing it in competition with Channel 4 News and the BBC’s magazine programme The One Show.
ITV said 27 new journalists, producers and multi-skilled camera operators/video editors would be recruited to join the programme alongside ITV’s existing specialist editors and correspondents.
Correspondents will be hired in Wales, Scotland and the north of England, while a new Social Affairs reporter based in the north of England will also be among the new appointments.