Why are Coronation Street and Emmerdale not on ITV tonight?

This is the second time this week the soaps have been axed from the nightly ITV lineup after the 2025/26 Carabao Cup semi-final fixture between Arsenal and Chelsea aired in their place on Tuesday (February 3).

Once again, it is a major sporting event that will keep Coronation Street and Emmerdale off air tonight.

Why are Coronation Street and Emmerdale not on ITV tonight?

Coronation Street and Emmerdale will be replaced tonight by the Guinness Six Nations match between France and Ireland at the Stade de France in Paris.

The France v Ireland match, which marks the beginning of the 2026 Six Nations tournament, will air on ITV1 and ITVX from 7.20pm until 10.35pm.

This latest change follows a major schedule shake-up in January, with the introduction of the “soaps power hour”.

Emmerdale now airs on ITV1 at 8pm, followed by Coronation Street at 8.30pm, Monday to Friday, with episodes still dropping each morning at 7pm on ITVX.

The longest-running UK soaps

This is a move away from the previous weekly schedule, which consisted of:

• Three one-hour-long Coronation Street episodes
• Four 30-minute and one hour-long episodes of Emmerdale

RECOMMENDED READING:

Announcing the new schedule last year, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, Kevin Lygo, said: “The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. 

“We already give more choice than ever to viewers on how they watch us through ITVX and we want to present their favourite soap to them, in the most digestible way.

“In a world where there is so much competition for viewers’ time and attention, and viewing habits continue to change, we believe this is the right amount of episodes that fans can fit into their viewing schedule, to keep up to date with the shows.”

Emmerdale and Coronation Street will return to their usual 8am and 8.30pm time slots on ITV1 on Friday (February 6).