Emmerdale and Coronation Street fans face disappointment as ITV's new 'power hour' soap schedule is disrupted by live football coverage. The Friday (June 5) episodes of both soaps have been pulled from their usual 8pm and 8.30pm slots, with the programmes moved to Sunday (June 7) from 8pm to 9pm.
The scheduling change is due to ITV broadcasting the FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier between Spain and England. Further disruption occurs on Tuesday (June 9) when both soaps are absent again because of England and Ukraine's World Cup qualifying match.
To compensate for the lost episodes, both soaps will air for an extended hour on Friday (June 12) from 8pm to 10pm. Additionally, on Wednesday (June 10), Coronation Street will air an hour earlier at 7.30pm, with Emmerdale following at 7pm.
Viewers have expressed frustration on social media. One fan on a Coronation Street Facebook page fumed: 'Fridays ruined now.' Another added: 'Same old c*** football take the programmes off. Why don't they put it on another channel instead of ITV not fair for people that don't like football, only got 5 channels.' A third commented: 'Because of stupid football put the football on the sport channels.'
Earlier this year, ITV launched its 'power hour' schedule, with 30-minute episodes of Emmerdale at 8pm followed by Coronation Street at 8.30pm from Monday to Friday. Both soaps are also available to stream from 7am on ITVX. Kevin Lygo, ITV's director of television, previously said the new pattern is 'viewer-led' and provides a consistent, easy-to-find slot for the UK's biggest soaps.
