Coronation Street and Emmerdale will have a new permanent schedule from March as ITV announces that the evening news programme will be extended to an hour, with even more focus on reporting from outside of London feeding into the programme, to reflect the whole of the UK.
The action from the cobbles will be moving to hour-long episodes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm, and Emmerdale will have a consistent 7.30pm slot.
Coronation Street and Emmerdale continue to be the nation’s most popular continuing dramas, averaging consolidated audiences of more than five million viewers in 2021, including catch up viewing on ITV Hub.
Corrie has aired as both hour-long episodes, and two 30-minute episodes in recent years on Fridays, and audience data shows a clear preference for the hour-long episodes, which attract higher TV audiences.
The changes come as the network is extending its commitment to national and international news and audiences across the UK with the announcement that the evening news programme will be extended to an hour, with even more focus on reporting from outside of London feeding into the programme. The news programme will continue to be presented by Mary Nightingale.
ITV Wales News will remain at 6pm and the new hour-long news, from 6.30pm-7.30pm, will take on new correspondents from Wales, as well as Scotland and north of England.
The new pre-9pm schedule will start on ITV this March.
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