Schedule

This page documents the airing Schedule of Emmerdale and how it has changed throughout the years. Emmerdale has since been shown in all regions of ITV almost throughout its existence.
It was originally conceived and broadcast as a daytime programme in an afternoon slot, becoming an early evening programme in 1978 in most ITV regions, but excluding London and Anglia, both of which followed in the mid-1980s. Until Christmas 1988, Emmerdale took seasonal breaks; since then it has been broadcast year-round.
==Scheduling==
When Emmerdale was first broadcast in 1972, it was twice a week at Tuesdays and Thursdays in an afternoon slot. From 1977 it moved to a 19:00 slot and by January 1997 they programme increased its weekly output to three episodes a week with the additional episode being screened on Wednesdays. From October 2000, a further two episodes were added on a Monday and Friday evening and in 2004 a sixth episode began airing on Sundays, making Emmerdale the first British soap to broadcast six episodes a week.
In January 2008, ITV announced they would cease airing Emmerdale on Sunday nights but, to compensate, the Tuesday episode would run until 20:00. Producers of the soap revealed that "each hour-long episode on Tuesday will be specially written and won't be two half-hour ones put together." Each Tuesday episode was given an episode title but this practice was stopped in August 2008. The second half-hour of each Tuesday episode was broadcast at the same time as the BBC's soap EastEnders which was unusual, as the main terrestrial channels in the UK usually schedule their soap operas to avoid clashes like this.
On 8th July 2009, ITV announced that they were to revamp their schedule yet again. This time, the Tuesday hour-long episode was reduced back down to 30 minutes, and replaced with a second Thursday episode airing half an hour after the first. Between April and August 2019, ITV began airing an additional episode on Tuesdays at 8pm, bringing the total number of episodes a week to seven.
Between April and September 2020 Emmerdale temporarily decreased its output to three episodes a week, airing at 19:00 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, in order to stay on air after production ceased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March before returning to filming with strict social distancing restrictions in place in late June. Throughout June Emmerdale decreased their number of episodes even further down to only 2 week with the airing of 8 special lock-down episodes, featuring only 2-3 characters each which were filmed with limited crew in order to adhere to social distancing regulations. They returned to their regular schedule in September of that year.
On 24th January 2022 ITV announced that as of March of that year Emmerdale would move permanently to a 19.30 timeslot, after airing at 19.00 since 1977. Additionally, the double episodes on Thursdays would be replaced with one hour-long episode.
Emmerdale is filmed roughly between 4–6 weeks before it is first broadcast on ITV1.
===Broadcast schedule history===
Below is a list of the major changes to Emmerdale's broadcast patterns and technical standards since 1972. Minor or short-term changes to the schedules are not listed.
 	Sun	Sun	Mon	Mon	Tue	Tue	Wed	Wed	Thu	Thu	Fri	Fri	Sat	Sat	Weekly episodes
1972–1988 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	2
1988–1990 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	2
1990–1997 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	2
1997–2000 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	3
2000–2004 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	5
2004–2008 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	6
2008–2009 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	4 + 1 hour long on Tuesdays
2009–2020, 2020–2022 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	6
April – September 2020	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	3
June 2020 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	2
2022–Present 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	4 + 1 hour long on Thursdays
==Overseas==
===Canada===
Canada's VisionTV started showing Emmerdale on 20th September 2010, immediately after Eastenders at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time. Emmerdale had formerly been shown on CBC Television, but that ended many years ago. When shown on CBC Television, Canadian episodes were four years behind the UK story.
===Ireland===
Emmerdale reaches viewers in the Republic of Ireland via both the widely available UTV from Northern Ireland and the TV3 Television Network in the Republic of Ireland. UTV and TV3 screen Emmerdale simultaneously in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Emmerdale was broadcast as a Daytime soap on RTÉ One from 1972 to 2001 before moving to TV3, RTÉ were a number of months behind – since for many years they choose to broadcast five days a week rather than ITV's three days a week and RTÉ took a break during the summer months, however as the series began a five night week RTÉ got further and further behind ITVs broadcasts.
===Sweden===
Emmerdale has been shown in Sweden since the 1970s – originally on TV2 and since 1994 on commercial channel TV4. Under the title Hem till gården ("Home to the Farm"), the programme is broadcast twice a day (previously only once a day) on Monday to Friday 11:55–12:55. Episodes originally aired in the UK in January 2019 were broadcast on TV4 in May 2019, making broadcast four months behind the original airing.
===Finland===
The programme is shown in Finland on commercial channel MTV3, where it goes out at 18:00 to 18:30, and 18:30 to 19:00 Mondays to Fridays with a repeat of each episode at 11:00 and 11:25 on the following weekday. Episodes originally aired in the UK in June 2018 were broadcast in Finland in May 2019, making broadcast eleven months behind the original airing. Emmerdale attracts an average of 300,000 to 400,000 viewers per episode, being the most watched non-Finnish every-weekday program in Finland.
===New Zealand===
Emmerdale is shown in New Zealand on TV One from Monday to Friday at 12:00 to 12:30, +1 from 13:00 to 13:30, and are accessible on TVNZ On Demand for 2 weeks after airing.
===Australia===
Emmerdale was shown in Australia for the first time in July 2006 when subscription television channel UKTV began airing the 2006 series from Episode 4288. In 2006 UKTV were showing episodes 4 months behind UK transmission, but as UKTV only airs 5 episodes a week instead of 6 (as broadcast in UK). Emmerdale is also broadcast on 7Two weekdays at 10:30.
===Romania===
On 2nd February 2007 it was announced that Emmerdale would be broadcast on the Romanian free-to-air channel Pro TV. The station has bought 50 episodes of the soap dating back to 2000.
===Elsewhere===
*Satellite channel Granada TV is currently showing the programme in the Middle East, Cyprus, and Malta.
*Members of the British Forces and their families can watch Emmerdale on BFBS TV1, which is also available free-to-air in the Falkland Islands.
*Emmerdale has been available to viewers in the United States of America via the BritBox streaming service since March 2017. New episodes typically appear on the service within five hours of their original broadcast in the UK.
Category:Emmerdale