Coronation Street

Coronation Street is Britain's longest-running television soap opera, and the UK's consistently highest-rated show. It was created by Tony Warren and first broadcast on the ITV network on Friday December 9, 1960. The working title of the show was Florizel Street, but Agnes, a tea lady at Granada Television, Manchester, (where Coronation Street is produced) remarked that "Florizel" sounded too much like a disinfectant. Jubilee Street was another option considered.

Scheduling

The programme is currently shown in five episodes on four evenings a week on British television: on Mondays at 19.30 and 20.30 (with the current affairs programme Tonight with Trevor MacDonald in between the two episodes), and at 19.30 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the BBC1 soap EastEnders goes out at 19.30, the "Corrie slot" on ITV is filled by regional programmes. EastEnders is broadcast four times a week on the BBC (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). When the two programmes were scheduled opposite each other in 1994, Corrie had millions more tuning in as the writers revealed that Emily Bishop's wedding was to be called off. Since then, the BBC has made sure EastEnders does not clash with Corrie anywhere on the schedule.

Related Topics:
Tonight with Trevor MacDonald - BBC1 - EastEnders - Regional programme

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1981, over 24 million people in the United Kingdom watched Ken Barlow' marry Deirdre Langton — more than watched The Prince of Wales marry Lady Diana Spencer. Though viewing figures have declined (Ken and Deirdre's remarriage in 2005 attracted 12.9 million viewers http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=15387803&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=ken-and-deirdre-are-ratings-winners-name_page.html, which still beat the 8.7 million who watched Prince Charles marry Camilla Parker-Bowles), partly due to the addition of new terrestrial and satellite channels and thus new rival programming, it still remains ITV's most-watched programme with audiences in excess of 10 million. The show's omnibus is shown on ITV2. Classic Corrie episodes aired on Granada Plus until that channel was closed in November 2004.

Related Topics:
1981 - United Kingdom - The Prince of Wales - Lady Diana Spencer - 2005 - Camilla Parker-Bowles - Omnibus - ITV2 - Granada Plus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The special Christmas Day episode remains as central to many viewers' Christmas day celebration as the Queen's Speech. The Christmas Day episode that aired in 1987 was one of the most-watched episodes of all time; in the episode, Hilda Ogden left the Street to be a char to her doctor in the country. Nearly 27 million viewers tuned in.

Related Topics:
Christmas - 1987

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other countries

Coronation Street is also shown in many countries worldwide, being the centre of the TV schedule of Ireland's independent television station, TV3 Ireland (part-owned by Granada), which simulcasts it with ITV.

Related Topics:
Ireland - TV3 Ireland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Canada, it moved from a daytime slot on CBC Television to primetime in 2004. Currently, the show is about nine months behind the episodes seen in Britain, but this gap varies. In summer 2005, CBC briefly broadcast eight episodes a week in order to reduce the gap, and during a labour dispute later in the summer, CBC broadcast nine episodes and one "Coronation Street Special" each week. Country Canada, a digital television service operated by CBC, broadcasts older episodes as Corrie Classics. The 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of Records recognizes the 1,144 episodes sold to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan TV station CBKST by Granada TV on 31 May 1971 to be the largest number of TV shows ever purchased in one transaction.

Related Topics:
Canada - CBC Television - 2004 - Summer - Country Canada - Guinness Book of Records - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - CBKST - 31 May - 1971

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The programme is shown in Australia by the cable and satellite station UK.TV; the episodes are currently two years behind Britain.

Related Topics:
Australia - UK.TV

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This gap is comparable to that for the episodes currently showing in New Zealand on Television New Zealand's TV One.

Related Topics:
New Zealand - Television New Zealand's

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Coronation Street is, or has been, broadcast in almost every English-speaking country and territory around the world. The lone holdout is the United States. The Trio channel aired a few episodes of the serial as a part of special-interest programming project, but a concerted effort to air it in the American market has never materialized. A two-disc DVD compilation was released in America, however, provoking some optimism that a cable channel might be interested in showing the soap, and in the early 1970s some episodes were shown on WGBH Channel 2, the public television station in Boston, Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
United States - Trio channel - 1970s - WGBH - Boston, Massachusetts

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

American viewers in the northern U.S. can view CBC's Coronation Street telecasts. Comcast cable TV subscribers near Seattle, Washington can view the show on CBC British Columbia affiliate CBUT. Other Americans near the Canadian border can view the program via over-the-air reception from nearby CBC transmitters. Coronation Street has a growing following among the few Americans who can view it on CBC. Viewers in southeast Michigan can view the program on CBC-owned CBET from Windsor, Ontario.

Related Topics:
CBUT - CBET - Windsor - Ontario

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dutch broadcaster VARA showed 428 sub-titled episodes on Netherlands TV between 1967 and 1975.

Related Topics:
VARA - Netherlands - 1967 - 1975

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

VHS and DVD releases

In 1990, as a celebration for the serial's 30th anniversary, ten video tapes were released, each featuring four episodes from a specific year, introduced by someone who was close to the stories that year. (For example, Betty Turpin's husband Cyril died in 1974, therefore Betty Driver hosted the 1974 tape). These tapes were distributed by Granada Video for viewing in the UK. Also, many VHS tapes were made in the 1990s for the British market, from mail-order company Time-Life Distribution, with each tape consisting of edits for a particular character (for example, edits for Gail, or Rita, or the Duckworths). As they were made in PAL format, they were not distributed in the United States or Canada.

Related Topics:
1990 - Time-Life - PAL

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2003, a special DVD set called This is Coronation Street was released on Region 1 DVD. On the two-disc set is the 40 Years on Coronation Street one-off special as well as the first five episodes of the programme. In 2004, a Coronation Street: Secrets DVD box set of televised specials was released in both the United Kingdom and Canada, but not in the United States, despite a Region 1 release in Canada.

Related Topics:
2003 - 2004 - United Kingdom - Canada - United States

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Granada has also produced a number of straight-to-video spin-off productions, which were screened on television only after having been available in shops for some time, as an incentive to buyers. The first "exclusive" tape, released in 1995 featuring a storyline aboard the QE2, caused a legal controversy when it was later broadcast. Subsequent releases have included carefully worded statements concerning future television broadcasting.

Related Topics:
Straight-to-video - 1995 - QE2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Further releases have included a crossover with Emmerdale, and a United States-set special, Viva Las Vegas!, released on VHS in 1999 and screened on ITV the following year. Written by Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Doctor Who), the special featured a guest cameo from actor Neville Buswell, who was then living in America, briefly reprising his role as Ray Langton.

Related Topics:
Emmerdale - United States - VHS - 1999 - Russell T. Davies - Queer as Folk - The Second Coming - Doctor Who - Neville Buswell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 2005, Newtork released a box set of 10 DVDs, each featuring eight episodes each year of the from the 1970s. A similar set dedicated to the 1980s will be released in October.

Related Topics:
2005 - 1970s - 1980s - October

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~