Coronation Street and Emmerdale fans have been left fuming after ITV axed both soaps from the schedule.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale devotees are seething after both cherished soaps were pulled from ITV’s schedule for two evenings next week.

Just weeks following the broadcaster’s introduction of a fresh ‘soap power hour’, which saw revamped time slots placing Emmerdale and Corrie consecutively for thirty minutes each from 8pm to 9pm, both programmes have been dropped from Tuesday and Thursday’s listings.

Both dramas have been stripped from ITV1’s timetable to accommodate two sporting fixtures next week, with Tuesday evening featuring the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg clash between Arsenal and Chelsea.

Broadcasting commences at 7.30pm and is anticipated to conclude around 10.25pm, with Mark Pougatch presenting the live coverage from the Emirates Stadium

Meanwhile, Thursday will see ITV1 showcase the inaugural fixture of the 2026 Six Nations championship, as title holders France welcome Ireland to Paris for the tournament opener.

This marks the first occasion a Six Nations encounter has taken place on a Thursday, with matches customarily scheduled for weekends, whilst Friday evening kick-offs were introduced in 2009.

Nevertheless, the fixture has been relocated to midweek owing to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony occurring on Friday, with television networks eager to prevent a scheduling conflict.

The tournament’s inaugural match is set to kick off at the Stade de France at 8.10pm on Thursday, with ITV1 starting its coverage from 7.20pm.

This scheduling means that soap fans will be left high and dry without their regular servings of Emmerdale or Corrie on these two evenings, leading to a flurry of disgruntled posts on social media about the programming reshuffle.

One vexed viewer vented: “This is stupid,” adding, “So they already cut all the extra episodes going from six to five per week.

“Now every other week it seems they lose another episode. So in 2026, how many fewer episodes will there really be compared to 2025?”

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Another chimed in: “‘I remember the times we used to get episodes moved to other times because of the football (even last year). But now it seems like the new standard is simply no episode at all on the football/sports days.”

A third lamented: “This whole new schedule is a ploy to tear our beloved soap episodes away from us,” while a fourth bemoaned: “This is so painful. There are very few shows that I like to watch but they keep being shunted.”

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX