Yes but you quoted me and then continued as though you were the one who posed Drifter's argument initially, so it seemed illogical.


I swear if they split Emmerdale I'd kill ITV, I hate Corrie having to have 2 episodes on a Monday, I wish it was just an hour long episode on Sunday or something.

And also splitting Emmerdale would also move The Bill around. 30 mins or not 30 mins, it would damage the Bill's audience who expect it to be there waiting for them on Weds/Thurs at 8

But this would mean either abandoning The Bill or that running into the 9pm slot by having to start at 8.30pm, thus creating havoc for the primetime schedule. Plus, Corrie never moves from the 7.30pm slot unless it really has to, i.e. football.

Yes but what about Corrie viewers who don't watch Emmerdal? Who want to watch their soap at 7.30 like they do every Wednesday? What will they think when they tune in and its not on?

Or viewers of the Bill who watch it, and not Corrie/Emmer, and want to watch it at 8.00? What will they thikn when they tune in and it's not on?

They will think "this is outrageous" and not watch. ITV want to keep viewers, not throw them away, even if they don't do a very good job of it sometimes

Corrie moved from the 7:30pm slot in August 2001 just because Emmerdale was on for an hour.

Yes and I'm guessing the results were disastrous, hence this never happening again

Sadly, that was a different ITV to the one we have today. I don't think compromise is in their vocabulary, and anyway, if I remember correctly, the schedules were less rigid than they are now. Meaning that the Bill didn't have it's regular 8pm slot and not every drama or primetime entertainment show had to start at 9pm.

Anyways this debate has been done to the death and we could go on like this until we're blue in the face but it's not going to change anything really.

These 1 hour episodes of Emmerdale will continue and they will clash with EastEnders as I've already said this is no reflection on which is the more popular soap between the two of them so it doesn't really matter.

I was ready to argue against it but when you put it all into perspective it's not really that big of a deal. I just wish it didn't happen so often, the last one was on the 1st of December though so it has been quite a while now.

I quite agree though I must say I've never had this debate before so it's kind of fun!

I love heated debates, although this one wasn't quite as heated. It's nice to have a debate and then come out of it smiling. No pettiness here tonight...for once.

Congratulations to EDale for beating EE (again)

My prediction was right - Emmerdale won! Is it a big deal? No!

Yeah they won. Thanks to an hour episode, but BBc1 don't scoop down to ITV1's level, (they still keep it for 30 mins). It dosen't prove emmerdale is more popular. It might show which is more popular, if they were both on for half an hour. It only get's big ratings like this when there's something big going on i.e wedding and i am an emmerdale fan so welldone.

Uh huh... And if EE had the 30 minute headstart would Emmerdale have conquered the audience as it did yesterday?

Didn't think so :yawn:

It was inevitable, and predicted. :sleep:

Exactly, so maybe congratulations to ITV for scheduling the hour special 30 minutes before EastEnders so that it was almsot guaranteed a win?

Plus it's no reflection on quality anymore because EastEnders is on top form at the moment so it's kind of been technically proved that it is the half an hour headstart that is to blame.

I wouldn't go that far Pansiks.

It's all a matter of opinion Bob although popular opinion is that the show has improved a great deal. Even you've been enjoying more episodes recently.

Well no because its a matter of opinion. I agree with you, EE is on top form at the mo, but not everyone thinks so.

Of course the half an hour headstart is the primary reason for Emmerdale winning every time, thats just stating the obvious. I've said it before and i'll say it again - if EE was the one starting 30 mins earlier it would kick Emmerdale's arse.

Also if EE and Emmer started at the same time i reckon the gap would be much tighter, with EE coming out on top.

I think they should start at the same time, but Itv probably won't do that. It also would be very fair. I'm not sure who would win, it depends which one has the best thing happening i.e wedding or death.

My God i've agreed with something you've said

I don't see why BBC couldn't have shown EE half an hour earlier, or with The Brits being pre-recorded, I don't see how ITV couldn't have put a "family album" type of show on at 7, and then started Emmerdale at half 7, moving The Brits back half an hour.

As much as I love Emmerdale, and don't really watch EE anymore, I do believe that the major factor (going by the better press EE seems to be getting lately) for the win is the half an hour head start.

Would be interesting to see who would win if they did start at the same time.

You only have to look at the ratings on a normal night when they don't clash to see that EastEnders is still the far more popular soap.

A lot of the audience watch both and the audience is just split up.

ITV have their soaps on overkill which is a bad thing really but they have to because they don't have anything even half as popular that they could fill all those primetime slots with.

The BBC have said that eventually they will more than likely drop an episode or two of EastEnders and it's great because they can.

It's ITV I feel sorry for because it used to be so good but now it's so rubbish and things are going to get tougher for them as this digital age progresses. I feel sorry for the writers/produers on their flagship soaps more though who have to keep coming up with all this extra material just to boost ITV's total audience share. ITV really haven't got a clue they keep ordering 8 episodes of Corrie annually usually to get mega ratings when "I'm a celeb..." is on but they will be the losers in the end!

That to me is the most important thing because they deserve to be shook up for becoming so terrible and relying so heavily on their flagship soaps.

I watched Emmerdale last night for the first time in ages (due to all the hype around the weddings), and found it very entertaining, which surprised me a little. I think I'll dip in again tonight

I can see your argument, but without the licence fee, the BBC would be exactly the same... the major problem ITV has is the way it's funded. If the new law allowing product placement comes along, then I can see ITV dropping episodes of soaps, and hopefully quality will get better again.

It's not so much the quality of their soaps though which is fine but more the quality of ITV which just has wall to wall Coronation Street and Emmerdale in primetime. It's making ITV look cheap, tacky and desperate (which is nothing new) but it's plain annoying.

I do wish that the golden days of ITV would return so I hope that this new law you're talking about does come along and help them.

Speaking of product placement, Emmerdale have apparently done some deal where they can show a certain Scottish brand of confectionary (I forget the name)...for a constant supply of free biscuits from the company

I don't know if that's the norm, but if not, then it's one step towards product placement I suppose.