SOAP STRESS ‘It won’t survive!’ panic Coronation Street fans as say they’ve ‘never been so worried’ about soap amid ratings slump

Coronation Street fans came up with a number of factors that could be putting the soap at risk

CORONATION Street fans fear the show won’t survive and admit they’ve ‘never been so worried’ about the ITV soap.

Soaps across the board are facing difficult times regarding ratings, and while Coronation Street is still the most watched one, it’s viewing figures are nowhere near where it once was.

An Ofcom report which was released in August last year revealed Coronation Street and fellow ITV soap Emmerdale had suffered record low TV ratings.

Meanwhile earlier this month, The Guardian ran a report on Coronation Street being ‘in crisis’ over viewer backlash to constant issue-led storylines and how it has lost sight of its roots.

Following on from this, The Sunday Mirror also ran claims of a crisis on the soap over slashed budgets and stream-lined production leaving cast reportedly fearing for their futures.

Now Corrie fans have shared their own fears, with one writing on a soap fan forum: “It’s pretty scary when you look how much they [the ratings] have all dropped since 2019.

“If you look at March average compared to 2019 – Corrie and Emmerdale lost around 38% of it’s audience, EastEnders around 36%.

“2019 doesn’t feel that long ago and Corrie was getting over 7 million viewers. What will the picture look like in 2029?”

Another added: “ITV need to give more control back to the producer. Otherwise, Corrie will not survive.

“I’ve never been so worried about the show as I am right now.”

A third commented in regards to Coronation Street having around 90 regular characters in its cast: “I genuinely think that the cast size is the biggest problem.

“It’s been allowed to grow out of all proportion over the years. Sometimes people cite the number of episodes as the reason why they need so many characters.

“But,they only have one additional half hour now compared to what they had 20 years ago when the cast was significantly smaller and it felt like nearly everyone served some purpose.

“You would hope that with the rumoured budget cuts that they might finally consider cutting back on the character count.”

However some offered a bit of hope by using BBC rival EastEnders as an example of how a soap can turn its fortunes around.

They wrote: “This is a lesson that EastEnders took a long time to learn. Well two things really, stop chasing younger viewers who will never care, and with that embrace your older fans who are the ones watching and loyal.

“That has been the big change at EastEnders, when those at the top took the pressure off and have allowed the show to breath again.

“I don’t think it’s perfect by any means, gosh even Enders is different overall from the glory days of Carol Jackson etc. But they did manage to get itself out of a very massive hole it found itself in. Actually it was in a far worse place than Corrie.

“Corrie still has all the chess pieces on the board but its how they use them is the issue.”

Another defended the ratings Corrie was pulling in at the start of the month, which were between 4.5million and 4.7million.

They wrote: “This is a 60 plus year old show still pulling it’s weight. If you worked at ITV you would think it’s doing something right to achieve that.

“I’m not suggesting the show is great at all but I can from their perceptive they would want more of the same.”

A fellow viewer wrote regarding EastEnders’ viewing figures: “Level year-on-year most weeks with even some increases.

“Yes, the gains have been very small but let’s not forget that they are gains, when all other soaps have been losing viewers. A lot of long-term damage was done to EE before it got its act together in 2022 so its battle to regain viewers has been a particular challenge.

“It sharpened its focus and looked back at the show’s core values, giving them new life in the present. Now, it’s in a brilliant position going into its 40th anniversary and I can’t wait to see what’s been planned.

“Corrie needs to do exactly the same but ITV are strangling the life from it.”