Emmerdale and Coronation Street boss hints episodes could be released online first in major schedule shake up

26 August 2021, 10:35 | Updated: 26 August 2021, 11:18

Corrie and Emmerdale could be streamed online first in the future. Picture: Shutterstock

By Polly Foreman

ITV boss Kevin Lygo has hinted at a potential huge scheduling shake-up for Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

Emmerdale and Coronation Street could be set for a major scheduling shake-up with episodes streamed online first, it has been suggested.

Kevin Lygo, Director of Television at ITV, has said that it's 'possible' the shows could be released on the ITV Hub before they air on TV.

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Kevin said: "On soaps - it’s possible [that the soaps could stream on the hub first], it’s a possible future.

Coronation Street has been airing since 1960. Picture: Alamy

"For us, part of the restructure and its effect on commissioning is that we wanted to bring together in one place all aspects of what used to be called broadcasting, so the commercial programming and delivery so that it is more in line with modern behaviour and tastes."

As reported by The Sun, he added: "ITV is incredibly successful at getting large numbers of people to come and watch the show at the same time."

Corrie and Emmerdale were released online during the Euros 2020, which at the time was billed as a temporary measure.

At the time, Corrie boss Iain MacLeod said: "Given how exciting the stories are, it’s great that fans will have the chance to binge watch all the episodes on ITV Hub at the start of each week.

"As with football, sometimes when it’s an exciting face-off, you really want extra time."

Emmerdale Fans Applaud ITV For Using Sign Language In This Touching Scene

Kevin added: "During the Euros we saw over 20 million people watching the England game, I think 98% of all the programmes over 5 million people watching are on ITV. We are doubling down on that. It’s more live, more big events, more shows we believe will unite large swathes of the British public.

"The other thing is to really come alive with our on demand offering, this means slightly adapting the sort of programming that we will be making.

"We are moving into drama for ITV2. Its first drama in a decade. We are doing more factual on ITV2 aimed at younger viewers."