Soap fans will be left disappointed tonight with both Emmerdale and Coronation Street off air. With the Six Nations coverage continuing on ITV1 and ITVX, neither soap will be airing this evening.
Instead, sports fans can tune into live coverage of the Six Nations from 7.20pm until 10.40pm today, with Ireland v Wales kicking off at 8.10pm.
All the action will be presented by Jill Douglas for the opening match in the fourth round of fixtures, held at the Aviva Stadium.
ITV
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Regular scheduling will be back from Monday, 9 March, with both Coronation Street and Emmerdale airing one episode each as normal.
The soaps won’t be doubling up on other nights to make up for the loss after launching the new ‘power hour’ format in January.
Both of the ITV shows air for half an hour each between 8pm and 9pm, five nights per week, losing 30 minutes per week as they shift from their past six-episode transmission format.
Speaking about the change, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo explained that the shift was “viewer-led” due to changing habits, and that they “want to present their favourite soap to them in the most digestible way”.
ITV
He continued: “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.”
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
