From the beginning of next week, soap fans will be able to watch Emmerdale and Coronation Street via a whole new service – leaving many fans rejoicing at the news
Soap fans were both excited and confused when ITV announced a major change to their weekly output. For decades, fans have tuned in to watch new episodes of Emmerdale and Coronation Street on the channel when they air on week day evenings.
But as of Monday 30 June, fans will be able to watch new episodes from the beginning of the day as they will be available to view online hours before they transmit via traditional transmission avenues. Taking to social media on Sunday, social media channels connected to the soaps shared exciting news with fan.
The update revealed that new episodes will be available to watch via YouTube for the first time. The official Coronation Street Instagram page announced: “Soap fans, rejoice!
“Starting tomorrow, full episodes will be available on YouTube from 7am — the same day they air on TV!” The update included an image showing Emmerdale and Corrie characters posing beneath logos of their respective soaps.
The update thus caused some confusion – as some fans thought that the cast of the soaps were being merged. One follower remarked: “I literally thought Debbie was joining Emmerdale for a moment there!”
And others were excited to learn that they would be able to watch their favourite soaps via a new format – as many complained the ITV app is nigh on unusable.
One hopeful soap fan commented: “Nice I hate itvx with their [user interface] and 27 ads a ep.” And another commented: “This is awesome news! Yayyy!”
In recent months, ITV has announced a number of changes regarding the way Corrie and Emmerdale will be broadcast. In February it was revealed the schedule would be changed from the beginning of next year.
A statement from the broadcaster explained: “From January 2026, Coronation Street and Emmerdale will move to a new scheduling pattern on ITV1, introducing a soaps power hour from Monday-Friday, with 30 minute Emmerdale episodes at 8pm, and 30 minute Coronation Street episodes at 8.30pm. Episodes will continue to drop at 7am on ITVX, before transmission that evening.”
ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo said at the time:“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.
“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.
“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, 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. This new pattern is in the DNA of the soap genre – nobody else does 30 minute drama this successfully. It creates a soap power hour that’s consistent, and easy to find in the linear schedule, for the UK’s biggest soaps.
“This new commissioning pattern will mean five hours of soaps a week, rather than the current six. 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.”
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