Omnibus repeats of Coronation Street For almost the first three decades of " Coronation Street " ’ s existence , it held its place at or near the top of the viewing charts with only one transmission for each episode . Restricted viewing hours and a reluctance on the part of network schedulers meant that either individual repeats , or a weekend edition of the past week ’ s episodes collated into the form of an Omnibus were ruled out by ITV . " Coronation Street " wasn ’ t alone in this - other serials such as " Crossroads " , " Emmerdale Farm " , and on the BBC programmes like " The Newcomers " were also only transmitted once . On radio , " The Archers " had begun an omnibus edition on Saturday 5th January 1952 , almost exactly one year after that programme began , although this was not a new concept with that medium : programmes such as the thriller series " The Daring Dexters " had similar repeats as far back as 1946 . On television , the BBC ’ s " Compact " was the first soap to have a regular , though short - lived , omnibus beginning on the newly - launched BBC2 channel on 25th April 1964 and ending on 5th September in the same year , but it would be 1982 before the concept was tried again with " Brookside " when it began in November 1982 . This extra Saturday showing was an essential component in the programme ’ s success and when in 1985 the BBC began " EastEnders " , its scheduling - savvy controller Michael Grade insisted that a Sunday afternoon omnibus edition be introduced in the scheduling pattern . Throughout the year , the programme shot up the charts helped considerably by this extra edition . BARB allowed the numbers who watched the omnibus to be added to the overall viewing figures , making no allowance for people watching the episodes twice and publishing one overall figure to the press . This allowed " EastEnders " to replace " Coronation Street " at the top of the charts , aided and abetted by a London - based press who delighted to publish incorrect stories about the decline of the Northern soap . Many individuals at Granada Television were annoyed about this state of affairs , being ignored by the press when they tried to point out that first showings of the " Street " almost always beat " EastEnders " . The ITV network controllers looked upon " Coronation Street " as a major weapon in grabbing viewers to the channel in the early evenings on Monday and Wednesday and didn ’ t want to dilute that effect by giving them the chance to see the episodes again at the weekend . The situation became even more embarrassing for ITV though in 1986 when the BBC began broadcasting the Australian import " Neighbours " at dinnertime and Michael Grade , noticing its popularity with his daughter and her friends , arranged for a late afternoon repeat . This meant that " Neighbours " was also near the top of the charts and ITV controller Steve Morrison at last decided that their major serial should also have a second showing . The first omnibus edition , comprising of Episode 2901 ( 16th January 1989 ) and Episode 2902 ( 18th January 1989 ) , was shown on the afternoon of Sunday 22nd January 1989 . Right from the start though there was a split in the ranks with nine of the ITV stations , including Granada , opting for a 5 . 35pm timeslot , four stations led by London Weekend Television opting for 2 . 00pm and Scottish Television going - it alone with a 4 . 00pm transmission . The introduction of the repeat showing was publicised by a special trailer which showed an apparently empty street caused by people supposedly being indoors to watch the omnibus , while Alf Roberts hung a sign on the Corner Shop door stating “ Now open on Sundays ” and , in the Rovers , Alec and Bet Gilroy spoke to camera to welcome their new weekend customers . The effect of the omnibus was instant with the programme immediately regaining first and second place in the charts and leapfrogging its BBC rival . When the third weekly episode began in October 1989 no station chose to extend the omnibus to an hour and a half and instead arranged for a mid - day repeat during the week while retaining the omnibus at the weekends for the other two episodes . Although there was more harmony between the stations regarding when this extra transmission should be , Television South West chose to step outside the convention agreed by the other stations and had its timeslot on a different day of the week . As early as September 1990 a large number of the ITV stations dropped the repeats altogether and by 1992 only Granada and Ulster Television were showing a weekend omnibus but no re - showing of the Monday episode and no other station repeating the programme at all . The situation was reversed again in September 1993 when all stations at last agreed to a country - wide showing of the three episodes , as individual repeats , at 12 . 55pm on Monday , Wednesday and Friday . This situation lasted for less than three months before Granada and Ulster reverted to a weekend transmission of two of the episodes in omnibus format . As the mid and late 1990s wore on , stations dropped the repeats , either for periods of several months or altogether , while some others pushed them into the graveyard slot of a 5 . 00am transmission . When ITV2 started in 1998 , viewers were given an alternative station to watch repeats of episodes and with far more opportunities than previously allowed with several showings a day . An increase in the production of national daytime programmes such as " Today with Des and Mel " and " Loose Women " constrained the number of slots available to show " Coronation Street " in the afternoons and this , coupled with an increase in the number of episodes made , meant that not every edition was given a repeat slot . The station who did most to maintain a regular schedule of limited repeats was , unsurprisingly , Granada Television , and as they bought out other stations in the network in the late 1990s and early 2000s ( in the main Yorkshire Television , Tyne Tees Television - the latter two having already merged in June 1992 - Border Television , Anglia Television and Meridian Broadcasting ) , a more centralised scheduling pattern was created and repeats continued in those areas to the Granada timings . Ulster Television also joined these transmissions for the most part with Scottish Television and Grampian Television establishing their own schedule with almost all of the episodes repeated . In the end , it was the latter station who was the last to carry regular repeat screenings of the programme , continuing for sixteen months after the Granada group had dropped their transmissions , after which ITV2 were the regular home of second showings of episodes . Note : For periods of time in the 2000s and 2010s , one of the ITV2 omnibus ’ s has been shown on the main ITV channel at the weekend . Details of these can be found on the ITV2 repeat pages and are not included with the details below . Also , with the fractured transmissions of repeats from 1989 onwards , it is not possible to post the data onto one table . The details have therefore been split into the different ITV regions . Granada Television . 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Thames / London Weekend / Carlton Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 Central Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 Yorkshire Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Scottish Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 HTV . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Television South / Meridian . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 2001 2002 Tyne Tees Television . 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Anglia Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Ulster Television . 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Television South West / Westcountry Television . 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Border Television . 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Grampian Television . 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Channel Television . 1989 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 2001 2002