BBC bosses have broken their silence on a TV scheduling shake up that means EastEnders will clash with either ITV's Emmerdale or Coronation Street.
The ITV soaps are moving their times to allow for an extra half an hour of the news, with Emmerdale now airing each day at 7.30pm, rather than its original 7pm, while Corrie will now be three one hour episodes at 8pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
But the changes mean that the soaps will come head to head as episodes will constantly clash with EastEnders, which airs several times a week.
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On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it would mean that if EastEnders aired between 7.30pm and 9pm, it would clash with either of the soaps.
Upon hearing the news, fans of the soap took to Twitter.
Amy said: "ITV having #CoronationStreet and #Emmerdale clash with #EastEnders is a ridiculous move, especially for those who like watching all of the soaps @itvstudios @ITV @itvcorrie @emmerdale @bbceastenders."
Rose said: "Bit of a bummer for #EastEnders this. It'll clash with either #Corrie or #Emmerdale constantly. I don't watch any of them live anyway but there's bound to be some people who like to watch all of them live and will now have to choose."
Another user said: ".@bbcpress following today's announcement that #Emmerdale will move to 7.30pm and #Corrie to 8pm for a hour-long episode, will there be schedule changes to #EastEnders to avoid a permanent clash?"
Recently BBC chief Tim Davie addressed the House of Commons Accounts Select Committee, and said: "We’re not immune from competitive pressure, let’s be honest about it.
"And you may have a marginal impact or an impact during that hour, but we’re confident that the overall case for the EastEnders development remains strong."
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