EastEnders and Emmerdale to clash as BBC reveals new scheduling for popular soap starting in March

EastEnders and Emmerdale will air directly opposite one another from March, it has been revealed, as the BBC announces scheduling changes for the popular soap.

EastEnders will no longer air on Fridays. Instead, the BBC soap will air daily at 7:30pm from Mondays to Thursdays - meaning that this “simplified schedule” will create a clash between it and the ITV soap.

ITV have recently moved Emmerdale to a 7:30pm slot as well. At the end of January, it was announced that Emmerdale would air every weekday at 7:30pm from March. The reason for this move was to bring Emmerdale and Coronation Street together - the two programmes will air as an unbroken 90-minute block, rather than being interrupted by the news as they were previously.

EastEnders will move to its new timeslot from March 7 (which is a Monday).

Though it used to be unusual for soaps to clash directly with one another, with the expectation that ratings for both would suffer, this is understood to be less of an issue these days due to the rise in time shifted viewing habits.

More viewers watch soaps on catch-up services like iPlayer and ITV Hub, and fewer are watching live; as a result, then, the new time slot and resulting clash should pose less of an issue than it would have in previous years.

Kate Oates, head of Continuing Drama at the BBC, said “We’re delighted that, from March 7, there will be new regular time slots for EastEnders”.

“This new simplified schedule means it’s even easier for viewers to get their fix, as well as being able to watch whenever and wherever they choose on BBC iPlayer.”

ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo made similar comments in January when revealing Emmerdale’s new time slot.

According to Lygo, “Coronation Street and Emmerdale are fundamental to the success of ITV, and we know that, as with all dramas, viewers increasingly watch them whenever, and however they choose.”

“The new scheduling means that viewers can watch them live on TV in one go in a continuous soap fix, as well as on ITV Hub where they are regularly in the most watched shows every month.”

The first week of EastEnders’ new time slot will be a particularly exciting one for devoted fans of the long-running soap, with killer Grant Atkins finally exposed.

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