Corrie's timeslot to be moved

The veteran soap's schedule changes after 49 yearsÂ…

09:56 09 July 2009

Coronation Street is to be moved from its Wednesday night primetime slot due to ITV's plans to screen the Champions League football instead.

For the first time in 49 years, the iconic soap will be moved in a major reshuffling of the channel's schedule.

From July 23, viewers can now catch Corrie on Thursdays instead. However, this makes the weeknight particularly drama heavy.

Thursday night will see two episodes of Emmerdale at 7pm and 8pm followed by Coronation Street at 8:30pm. Following the soaps, the drama will continue with the revamped, hour-long transmission of The Bill in its new post-watershed, weekly slot.

Also, Emmerdale's present hour-long Tuesday night show will be cut to just half an hour.

This could work in soap lovers' favour however; the revamp means both of their programmes will avoid clashing with the BBC's dedicated slot for EastEnders on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

A station spokesman said: "Thursday evenings on ITV1 will be a great showcase for soap from Weatherfield and The Woolpack".

The shake-up is due to ITV winning a new contract for the UEFA Champions League starting in August and running until 2012.

Coronation Street has been broadcast on Wednesday nights ever since its 1960 launch.