Coronation Street and Emmerdale cuts: Everything we know

ITV has revealed huge changes coming to both Coronation Street and Emmerdale, with a reduction of episodes and a new schedule.

The news was announced on Tuesday morning – but what exactly does it all mean for your favourite soaps?

What is being cut?

At present, six hours of soaps air across ITV1 and ITVX each week – Coronation Street broadcasts an hour-long episode each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with Emmerdale airing 30-minute episodes each weeknight, except for Thursdays when there is an hour-long edition.

However, these new changes will see Coronation Street reverting back to half-hour episodes to air each weeknight, effectively cutting 30 minutes of action per week.

Meanwhile, Emmerdale will also cut the 60 minute Thursday episode down to 30 minutes.

Both soaps will air one 30 minute episode from Monday to Friday, bringing the total amount of soap action each week from six hours down to five.

The new schedule will see Emmerdale air weeknights from 8pm, with Coronation Street following at 8:30pm, creating a new ‘soap hour’.

Why is it happening?

ITV said that audience research has proved that 30-minute episodes attract higher ratings and are also more friendly to viewers who stream the soaps on ITVX.

With a reduction in output, teams on both soaps will likely face layoffs, with a source telling Metro: ‘The move is leading to a wide range of redundancies across all departments.

‘Staff were only told of the temporary studio shutdown yesterday afternoon, and attended a consultation meeting at 10am this morning.’

The announcement follows multiple reports of a ‘budget crisis’ and a number of cast departures from both soaps in recent months.

When does it happen?

There is still a long time to go before the changes come into effect.

ITV has said the new schedule will not be introduced until January 2026.

A game-changing stunt

Both Coronation Street and Emmerdale will embark on ambitious stunts – never before been done – with a very special week of episodes lined up to herald in the new era.

If history has taught us anything it’s that both ITV serials are experts at delivering when it comes to dramatic weeks and ambitious stunts so it’s safe to say that the week in question will be one to watch.

What has ITV said?

When announcing the changes, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo brand the new scheduling pattern as ‘viewer-led’.

‘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,’ he said.

Lygo stated that ‘streaming-friendly’ 30 minute offerings are what soap fans are looking for, according to research, and thus the new broadcast pattern will provide the opportunity to ‘meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution’.

‘Whilst viewing is growing on ITVX, we know a significant proportion of our soaps’ audience still watch us via the schedule,’ he continued. ‘This new pattern is in the DNA of the soap genre – nobody else does 30 minute drama this successfully.’

Lygo also commented on how the changes will impact the cast and crew of the ITV soaps.

‘This new commissioning pattern will mean five hours of soaps a week, rather than the current six,’ he said. ‘We are conscious this will have an impact for the people who work on the soaps team. We will support our colleagues in ITV Studios as they work through these changes, and will do what we can to mitigate the impact on our people.

‘These changes are motivated by doing what we believe is best for the continuing success of these important programmes in the long term.

‘They also create headroom in the overall programme budget for investment in programming that can help ITV grow reach in a very very competitive market.’