Coronation Street's

The series began on 9 December 1960 and was not initially a critical success. Granada Television commissioned only 13 episodes and some inside the company doubted the show would last its planned production run. Despite the negativity, viewers were immediately drawn to the serial, won over by Coronation Street's 'ordinary' characters. From its 1960 launch, Coronation Street was shown twice a week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 19:30. The weekly episodes were changed to Monday and Wednesday evenings at 19:30 when the programme went fully networked on Monday 6 March 1961, followed by the introduction of a third weekly episode, on Fridays, in 1989. As of 23 July 2009, Coronation Street is broadcast in five weekly instalments, at 19:30 and 20:30 on Mondays and Fridays, and at 20:30 on Thursday on the national ITV network. The Thursday episode replaces the former Wednesday show.