When is Emmerdale on TV now? Time ITV soap will now air, 2022 schedule changes and key dates explained

These adjustments come after ITV decided to extend the evening news show to a full hour from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, to allow more time for international news.

This means that Yorkshire-based soap, Emmerdale, will be pushed from its regular slot.

When can I watch Emmerdale?

Emmerdale will move by half an hour, to the slightly later 7.30pm slot.

The Yorkshire-based drama will continue to air five times a week, Monday to Friday.

Placed just after the hour-long news programme, 7:30pm now becomes the new primetime slot in the ITV weekday schedule.

However, the new timings of Emmerdale means that there is a clash with BBC’s Eastenders.

What if I watch both Eastenders and Emmerdale?

BBC has also announced a scheduling change, meaning that Eastenders will now air from 7:30pm from Monday to Thursday.

The long-running drama will no longer air on Fridays.

This is a change for the hit BBC soap, which usually does not air on Wednesdays.

Fans of both soaps will have to choose one to watch live but can catch up with either, using BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub.

What other changes will be made to the ITV schedule?

Coronation Street fans will see the soap move from 30-minute instalments six times a week to three hour-long episodes.

The Weatherfield-based drama will now air on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm.

The soap used to air two half-hour episodes at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and one single episode on Fridays at 7.30pm.

This schedule change gives Coronation Street fans an extra half an hour of soap content per week.

When will the adjustments take place?

The new schedule for both ITV and BBC will be in full action from today (Monday 7 March).

For the past week, the schedules have been interrupted by the FA Cup.

On Monday 28 February there was an hour-long special of Emmerdale at 7pm and an hour-long episode of Coronation Street afterwards, to make up for a night with no soaps on Tuesday 1 March.

On Wednesday 2 March and Thursday 3 March, Emmerdale took its regular slot at 7pm.

Another hour-long episode of Emmerdale will be followed by an hour of Coronation Street  on Friday 4 March.

Why are the changes happening?

ITV is keen to invest time and money into its news services, as broadcast journalism is extremely important in the current climate.

In the wake of the pandemic, ITV believes that audiences are more keen to stay updated with the latest breaking stories and are becoming more thirsty for news.

ITV’s evening news programme had 35.6 million viewers in 2021.

Mary Nightingale will continue to present the news programme.

Regional news will still be aired at 6pm before the hour-long national show.

This means that news will be aired daily on ITV for 90 minutes from 6pm to 7.30pm.

ITV is also in the process of hiring 27 new journalists, camera operators, editors and producers into its teams.

These jobs are will spread across Scotland, Wales and Northern England.

ITV said that it’s Emmerdale actors are hoping the new time slot will give it’s loyal viewers more time to get settled down to watch the soap, which is in its 50th year.

Will there be a special show for the 50th anniversary of Emmerdale?

October 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of Emmerdale and plans are already underway to celebrate the occasion.

In 2012, Emmerdale fans saw a special hour-long live episode of the soap to mark forty years since the first episode in 1972.

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