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ITV Coronation Street and Emmerdale fans worry as huge change made to schedule

News that ITV's soaps will now only be 30 minutes long has concerned their fans who say things must be in a mess for TV chiefs to reduce the shows airtime by half

Coronation Street and Emmerdale fans are worried for both soaps futures after their viewing time is slashed in half on Christmas Day.

Usual Christmas Day viewing tradition is to broadcast hour-long specials of each show, but ITV is trying a different tack this year. Their newly-released schedules for the festive season reveal that both ITV soaps will only air for 30 minutes each on Monday, December 25.

Coronation Street will be screened for 30 minutes from 7pm on ITV1 on Christmas Day while Yorkshire based soap Emmerdale will air in an earlier slot at 6.30pm, also for only 30 minutes. For Coronation Street, this year's episode will be its shortest Christmas edition since 1997, which was the last time the show had a 30-minute slot on the day.

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Emmerdale last had a 30-minute Christmas slot in 2004. The news went down worse than a badly poured pint in the Rovers Return with concerned fans who called the decision to drop to 30 minutes from an hour "huge".

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Carla Connor, as played by Alison King, will play a central role in Corrie's festive season storyline as she sits down with partner Peter Barlow to work out their future.

One wrote: "Emmerdale and Corrie must be in a mess if they arent on for a hour like normal." Another worried soap watcher posted: "Hold on?!! EastEnders is going to be the only soap having an hour long episode on Christmas Day Emmerdale and Coronation Street are going to be half an hour hmm theyve never done that before."

Meanwhile, another ITV viewer tweeted: "Huge changes. ITV cuts both Corrie and Emmerdale to half hour Christmas Day slots for the first time in 26 years. I dont think Emmerdale has ever had a half hour episode on the day!!"

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In Emmerdale, Caleb and Tracy have embarked in a shock affair despite the latter being newly married to Nate Robinson

They continued: "This is a very un-ITV move and shows theyre really trying to compete again." But fans needn't stress too much about shortened episodes, as Corrie will still have three-and-a-half hours' worth of screen time from Monday, December 25 to Sunday, December 31.

Coronation Street, is a British ITV long running television soap opera set in the fictional North of England town of Weatherfield, near Manchester. Created by Tony Warren, the series was first broadcast on December 9th, 1960, and was produced by ITV Granada.

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The news that ITV had cut the running time of its Christmas Day soaps from an hour down to 30 minutes left some fans concerned (Image: @SistahSkinglo/X)

This year Corrie will be screening episodes on days that it doesn't usually air in a regular week Tuesday, December 26 (Boxing Day) and Sunday, December 31 (New Year's Eve). Emmerdale also has three-and-a-half hours' worth of content screening between Monday, December 25 and Sunday, December 31 including hour-long specials on December 27 and 28.

Coronation Street's producer Iain MacLeod said the show's Boxing Day episode is the one to watch out for, as it features Chris Gascoyne's departure from the role of Peter Barlow. MacLeod said: "It all builds up to this incredibly surprising Boxing Day episode.

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Emmerdale will air on Christmas Day at 6.30pm for just 30 minutes.

"There's a huge two-hander between [Peter and Carla] more or less they are the only two cast in the episode. It's a greatest hits compilation for those of you that have been big fans of Peter and Carla since the start.

"It picks over every single detail of who they are, what they've been as a couple, what they want for their future and what happiness looks like for them. It's building towards an exit for Peter, which is really brilliant and bittersweet and feels like Corrie at its very best."

Meanwhile, Emmerdale's producer Laura Shaw commented: "Heading up to Christmas, we've got some exciting plans but I have absolutely, definitely been sworn to secrecy on this one! What I can tell you is that, in the last couple of years, we've done a light, fluffier Christmas for Emmerdale, but this one is quite different in tone."

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