Major ITV Schedule Shake-Up Sees Soaps Replaced by International Football
In a significant disruption to regular programming, ITV has axed both Emmerdale and Coronation Street from its evening schedule tonight. This decision forms part of a broader pattern of scheduling chaos affecting multiple flagship shows across British television channels. Viewers tuning in for their beloved soaps will find an international football match between England and Japan airing instead, with coverage running from 7pm until 10.05pm.
Soap Schedules to Resume with Compensatory Sunday Episodes
Both soaps will return to their regular timeslots for the remainder of the week, following tonight's interruption. To compensate fans for missing Tuesday's episodes, new installments will air on Sunday evening, mirroring a similar arrangement from last week. This will see Emmerdale broadcast at 7pm, followed by Coronation Street at 7.30pm, with the crime drama Grace scheduled afterwards.
This latest shake-up continues ITV's evolving approach to soap scheduling, which began in January with the introduction of a 'soap power hour'. This format features 30-minute episodes of each programme from Monday to Friday, replacing the previous structure where Coronation Street aired hour-long episodes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while Emmerdale broadcast Monday to Friday with a double episode on Thursdays.
BBC Dramas Also Face Repeated Scheduling Disruptions
The scheduling turmoil extends beyond ITV, with BBC programmes experiencing similar disruptions. Last week, soap viewers faced an identical situation when the soaps did not air on Friday, March 27, due to the England vs Uruguay football match being shown on ITV instead.
On the BBC, the crime drama Death in Paradise aired its series 15 finale on that same Friday, marking a two-week gap since the preceding episode. The penultimate episode concluded on a dramatic cliffhanger, featuring DI Mervin Wilson reuniting with his long-lost half-brother Solomon Clarke and his niece Eloise unexpectedly arriving at his doorstep. However, the annual Comic Relief fundraiser occupied the programme's regular timeslot for one week, delaying the finale.
Earlier in series 15, an episode was broadcast on Monday, February 16, instead of its usual Friday primetime slot, due to the FA Cup match between Chelsea and Hull airing on the Friday.
Casualty and Daytime Shows Also Affected by Scheduling Changes
Fans of the long-running BBC medical drama Casualty have also endured waiting periods for new episodes. The show is currently airing a miniseries titled Learning Curve, with two episodes remaining. It went off air to accommodate the Big Night of Musicals 2026, hosted by Jason Manford, which celebrated West End productions like Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and Matilda. Casualty is scheduled to return to screens on April 11 at 8.30pm.
Additionally, ITV daytime programming has faced substantial disruptions. Earlier this month, two major ITV daytime shows, including Lorraine, were pulled off air for weeks in a schedule shake-up. The revised lineup sees Good Morning Britain airing from 6am to 10am, followed directly by This Morning until 12:30pm. This change eliminates Lorraine, which typically airs between 9:30am and 10am, and Loose Women, which usually runs weekdays from 12:30pm for one hour.
Stand-in host Christine Lampard informed viewers during the most recent episode of Lorraine that the show would return in a few weeks. Similarly, Kaye Adams on Loose Women confirmed the programme's temporary hiatus, promising a return next month. These adjustments highlight the ongoing and widespread scheduling challenges affecting both primetime and daytime television across major British broadcasters.
