Coronation Street has been pulled from screens tonight amid a shake-up to ITV schedules.

Instead of our usual Friday night trip to the cobbles, viewers tuning into ITV1 this evening will be met with an FA Cup football match between Manchester United and Leicester City.

Kick-off for the match is 8pm, with coverage beginning on the channel at 7.30pm.

Rival soap Emmerdale will still air this evening, but at the slightly earlier time of 7pm.

Fans of the Manchester-based soap needn’t worry about missing out, as three instalments of the show aired earlier this week, and are available to watch on ITVX.

The dramatic episodes saw the Platt house set alight and rocked by an explosion, with Max Turner (Paddy Bever) and Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) narrowly escaping with their lives.

Meanwhile, Abi Webster (Sally Carman) struggled with symptoms of PTSD, while Carla Connor (Alison King) got huge news about her kidney transplant.

This change to schedules comes after a ‘worrying’ announcement earlier this week that the ITV soaps are set to cut back on episodes from 2026, with up to 75 jobs at risk.

In a huge schedule change, both soaps will air 30-minute episodes from Monday to Friday, in what bosses have dubbed a ‘soap power hour’.

This move will see one less episode of each soap air a week, with Emmerdale moving to the 8pm slot and Coronation Street following at 8.30pm.

The changes come as a result of audience research and are thought to better represent viewing patterns.

ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo said that the decision had been made to provide a more ‘streaming-friendly’ output, though did address that ‘whilst viewing is growing on ITVX, we know a significant proportion of our soaps’ audience still watch us via the schedule.’

It is believed that the cast of the shows will not be affected by job losses, though they are still ‘worried’ about the future of the genre.

‘Losing the primetime 7pm and 7.30pm slots in the schedule, losing those hallmark hour-long episodes, it all adds up to a feeling that we’re are being sidelined and it’s devastating.,’ an unnamed Corrie star told The Sun.

‘We’re all tremendously worried. We understand 30-minute episodes will whip along and feel exciting and cut some of the waffle but some fans love that waffle.

‘They feel like the characters are their friends and so those seemingly duller moments in the cafe are important. It can’t all be trauma and stunts and affairs and deaths. And we hate the idea that people can just binge five episodes at the weekend.

‘What’s the point in cliffhangers and tense endings that people can discuss with their friends the next day and look forward to the next episode? It’s stopping us being event TV and turning us into background noise.’