The latest episode of Coronation Street has been removed from the ITV schedule on Friday, March 6, 2026, and will not air in its usual 8:30 PM time slot. Emmerdale has also been removed from its 8 PM slot, disrupting the typical Friday evening soap lineup. According to major media reports, Coronation Street is missing from Friday's TV lineup because it has been replaced by the Six Nations rugby match.
The Six Nations match between Ireland and Wales begins at 7:20 PM on ITV1. Jill Douglas will be presenting the Ireland vs. Wales game, with kick-off at 8:10 PM.
This is the opening match in the fourth round of fixtures, held at Dublin's Aviva Stadium. The match coverage includes analysis from Brian O'Driscoll, Rory Best, Dan Biggar, and Jamie Roberts, reports by Gabriel Clarke, and commentary from Miles Harrison, Shane Williams, and Gordon D'Arcy. The official reason from ITV for prioritizing sports over soaps has not been disclosed.
How many viewers are affected by the schedule change is also unknown. With Emmerdale also removed from its 8 PM slot on Friday, there will be no soaps 'power hour' to finish the working week. It has become a frequent occurrence lately for ITV soap episodes to be removed from their usual time slots, according to major media reports.
Viewers have said the schedule change is 'unfair' and have called for sport to be moved to ITVX or another channel instead. One online poster stated, 'It is unfair that soap times and schedules are affected because of sports fixtures. The talk build-ups to these fixtures are on before the games sometimes for up to an hour before the fixtures start.
Leave the routine programmes as per the schedule and show sport on ITVx. ' An annoyed fan added, 'Disgusting once again take the soaps of for sport. ' Someone else commented, 'ITV (and the BBC) need to have a 'Sports' channel.
This Friday they're BOTH broadcasting sport during the peak evening window. ' Coronation Street will air next week on Monday, March 9 at 8:30 PM; Tuesday, March 10 at 8:30 PM; Wednesday, March 11 at 8:30 PM; Thursday, March 12 at 8:30 PM; and Friday, March 13 at 8:30 PM. Whether there are any plans to compensate viewers for missed episodes remains unclear.
The viewership comparison between the soaps and the Six Nations match has not been provided. A Radio Times summary noted that in a previous match, 'Garry Ringrose was shown a 20-minute red card last year at the Principality Stadium with Ireland 10-3 ahead, and Wales made the most of the visitors being down to 14 men by scoring 15 unanswered points to lead 18-10 thanks to tries from Jac Morgan and Tom Rogers.