CORONATION STREET HIRING FOR NEW ROLE AMID 'MASS REDUNDANCIES'

Coronation Street bosses are looking for a new writer to join the team following news of potential mass redundancies on the long-running ITV show.

A brand new role, based in Manchester, is being advertised at the moment. With the job title of Senior Storyliner, the lucky applicant will be employed on a 12-month fixed contract and will receive a salary between £53,225 and £56,024 per year.

According to a job advert on the official ITV website, the role requires the employee to work alongside the Story Producer "in developing and producing creative and dynamic Coronation Street storylines." The candidate will also be liaising with Series Producers and the Story Producer "to ensure creative coherence between story and script departments."

READ MORE: Coronation Street star Paddy Bever emotional as he makes 'hard' decision to quit soap

Responsibilities of the role include contributing ideas to story conferences, creating compelling storylines, plotting and writing, assisting cast and production as well as liaising with writers, researchers and script editors as and when required. Among the skills candidates need to have, according to the job ad, are experience in storylining for a drama production or track record of writing for television, a "genuine passion for and deep knowledge" of Corrie and its characters as well as exceptional writing skills.

Recruitment for the new role comes just weeks after a source told The Mirror that 75 roles are expected to be made redundant out of the 600 people working across both Corrie and Emmerdale. They told us: "From 2026, and if the proposals are agreed, through consultation we would expect around 75 roles to be made redundant. ITV always looks to minimise the impact of a reduction in roles by not filling vacancies and through voluntary redundancy."

A spokesperson for ITV said at the time: "We can't say for sure at this stage as we will be entering into a consultation process with staff. Our aim is to achieve as many as we can through voluntary redundancy and filling vacancies."

Previously, it was announced that, from January next year, the air time of both Corrie and Emmerdale will be reduced. Fans will get a combined total of five hours a week rather than the currently scheduled six hours. The upcoming "soaps power hour" will see Emmerdale broadcast from 8pm to 8.30pm each day between Monday to Friday, with Corrie airing from 8.30pm to 9pm. Episodes will continue to be released at 7am on ITVX, before transmission that evening.

ITV's Managing Director of Media and Entertainment Kevin Lygo discussed the decision in a statement, saying: "The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. We already give more choice than ever to viewers on how they watch us through ITVX and we want to present their favourite soap to them, in the most digestible way.

"In a world where there is so much competition for viewers' time and attention, and viewing habits continue to change, we believe this is the right amount of episodes that fans can fit into their viewing schedule, to keep up to date with the shows. Research insights also show us that soap viewers are increasingly looking to the soaps for their pacey storytelling. Streaming-friendly, 30 minute episodes better provide the opportunity to meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution.

"Whilst viewing is growing on ITVX, we know a significant proportion of our soaps' audience still watch us via the schedule. This new pattern is in the DNA of the soap genre - nobody else does 30 minute drama this successfully. It creates a soap power hour that's consistent, and easy to find in the linear schedule, for the UK's biggest soaps."

Kevin concluded: "This new commissioning pattern will mean five hours of soaps a week, rather than the current six. We are conscious this will have an impact for the people who work on the soaps team. We will support our colleagues in ITV Studios as they work through these changes, and will do what we can to mitigate the impact on our people.

"These changes are motivated by doing what we believe is best for the continuing success of these important programmes in the long term. They also create headroom in the overall programme budget for investment in programming that can help ITV grow reach in a very very competitive market."

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2025-03-12T22:57:31Z