ITV’s soaps have been cancelled again in yet another schedule shake-up.
Schedule listings for later this month have revealed that Emmerdale and Coronation Street will be pulled off-air once more in March.
Sporting coverage has thrown the soaps out of their usual timeslots, despite ITV‘s heavily promoted ‘soap power hour’ launching just two months ago.
Both shows air every weeknight with Emmerdale at 8pm and Coronation Street at 8:30pm.
But on Friday 27 March, the soaps will be pulled from screens.
The England vs Uruguay football match at Wembley Stadium will instead be airing live from 7pm ahead of the World Cup later this year.
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The soaps failed to air last Friday too as a result of coverage of the Six Nations championships.
No extra episode has been scheduled to make up for the broadcasting pattern with the soaps instead returning as usual on Monday, March 30.
The programmes air five 30-minute episodes a week having both seen their sixth additional episode AXED in January, largely due to cost cutting measures at ITV.
These effects are still rumbling on with The Sun reporting how actors on both soaps will see their contracts changing from August.
The performers are expected to be guaranteed less episodes per year as a result of less episodes being produced.
This is understood to affect many stars on the show due to their new-style pay-as-you-go contracts which sees them paid a fee for every episode.
These fees are believed to range from hundreds to four figures per episode, but their annual salary is often determined by how many episodes they are guaranteed per year.
As part of the new plans, actors will see their guaranteed episodes reduced.
It has left many looking set to lose a sixth of their income.
It has sparked concern on the show with many actors understood to be fretting over the unexpected loss of income.
Annual salaries on the programme are understood to range wildly from as little as £30,000-a-year all the way up to £250,000 for veteran stars.
Most of the actors to have joined over the past decade are believed to take home between £40,000 and £80,000 per year.
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Union bosses have been called in over the fiasco with some actors understood to be considering strike action over the plans.
Lisa Nandy has also confirmed she is currently working with both soaps amid the contract disruptions.
