Fans of Coronation Street and Emmerdale are preparing for a challenging summer ahead, as ITV’s programming schedule is set to be heavily disrupted by the 2026 World Cup. The upcoming tournament, hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the US, will kick off in June, and ITV is expected to prioritize live match coverage over the soaps, leaving viewers bracing for significant changes.
As part of ITV’s attempt to manage the coverage of the World Cup, the channel is introducing a “soap power hour” from 8 pm to 9 pm each evening. However, this means that several Coronation Street and Emmerdale episodes will be pushed out of their usual time slots, with some likely to air on Sundays instead. A source told The Sun, “It’s proving quite the headache behind the scenes. Soap fans are already struggling with the new schedule introduced at the start of the year, and now with the World Cup, there’s a real fear that we’ll lose even more viewers.”
Earlier this year, the soaps had already faced disruptions, with some episodes being moved to less popular Sunday evening slots. ITV had previously attempted to ease the inconvenience by releasing episodes early on ITVX, but this left many viewers confused and frustrated. Still, the broadcaster claims that the digital strategy has boosted the soaps’ digital viewership significantly. Streaming figures for Coronation Street and Emmerdale have risen by 48% year-on-year, with the soaps achieving their highest-ever monthly figures, reaching a combined 65 million streams in January 2026. Coronation Street alone pulled in 5.9 million viewers across TV and streaming.
Despite these digital successes, the traditional TV audience has expressed dissatisfaction with the frequent schedule changes, with many fans voicing their anger on social media. On April 14, Coronation Street and Emmerdale were both pre-empted once again to make way for the Women’s European Qualifier match between England’s Lionesses and Spain. This interruption marked another setback for fans who have become accustomed to watching their favorite soaps at their usual times, 8 pm and 8:30 pm for Emmerdale and Coronation Street, respectively.
While Coronation Street and Emmerdale fans have been frustrated by these changes, EastEnders viewers were in for a treat. The BBC1 soap aired at its regular time of 7:30 pm, unaffected by the sporting events.
With the World Cup looming, ITV faces a difficult balancing act as it navigates between broadcasting the games and maintaining its loyal soap audience. Fans are left wondering how much more disruption they’ll have to endure as the tournament progresses.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
