Emmerdale and Coronation Street have been pulled from ITV's schedule on Tuesday (August 25) to make way for live coverage of the EFL Carabao Cup fixture between Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
The change disrupts the broadcaster's new "power hour" soap line-up, introduced earlier this year, which sees 30-minute episodes of Emmerdale air at 8pm from Monday to Friday, followed by 30-minute episodes of Coronation Street at 8.30pm. Both shows are also available to stream from 7am on ITVX.
Fans react to the schedule change
Viewers have voiced their frustration over the disruption on social media. One person wrote on Facebook: "Why don't football just stick to sports channels!" Another remarked: "What, again?" A third commented: "So much for the 'Golden Hour', Monday to Friday. How many times has it been changed?"
Another fan questioned: "Why can't football move over to one of the 4 itv or 4 BBC channels? The soaps always have to go." However, a fifth observer noted: "But there's an extra episode on Sunday, so it's not the end of the world is it."
Return date and previous comments on the power hour
The soaps are scheduled to return on Wednesday (August 26), with Emmerdale airing as normal at 8pm followed by Coronation Street at 8.30pm. Both shows are also set to broadcast on Sunday (August 30), according to the Daily Star.
ITV's director of television, Kevin Lygo, previously defended the new commissioning pattern, saying: "The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. We already give more choice than ever to viewers on how they watch us through ITVX and we want to present their favourite soap to them in the most digestible way."
He added: "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."
Lygo also said: "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, payoff and resolution."
He continued: "Whilst viewing is growing on ITVX, we know a significant proportion of our soaps' audience still watch us via the schedule. This new pattern is in the DNA of the soap genre - nobody else does 30 minute drama this successfully."
Lygo went on to say: "It creates a soap power hour that's consistent, and easy to find in the linear schedule, for the UK's biggest soaps." He noted the change would reduce weekly soap output from six hours to five, acknowledging the impact on staff: "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."
He concluded: "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."
Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 8:00pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
