Coronation Street and Emmerdale are set to clash with a huge BBC show as the soap schedules change in 2026. Earlier this year, ITV announced that it would be launching a new “power hour” schedule for the respective soaps.

Starting on Tuesday 6 January, the change sees Emmerdale move to an 8pm slot on a permanent basis, followed by Corrie at 8.30pm. Both soaps will now air five 30-minute episodes per week in their new timeslots.

The “power hour” is set to face a major challenge in its first week in January, however, after the BBC released the scheduling details for season four of The Traitors.

With the fourth season of the hugely popular reality series premiering on Thursday 1 January at 8pm on BBC One, it looks as though the soaps will be facing some tough competition.

Usually airing at 9pm, the next series of The Traitors is moving forward to 8pm, meaning it will clash with both soaps on Wednesday 7 January, Thursday 8 January and Friday 9 January.

Despite the clash, ITV drops episodes of each soap early on both ITVX and YouTube, meaning there’ll be plenty of time for fans to watch everything either before or on catch-up.

Speaking after the scheduling shake-up was announced, Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, 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.

“Research insights also show us that soap viewers are increasingly looking to the soaps for their pacey storytelling. Streaming-friendly, 30-minute episodes better provide the opportunity to meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution.”