Soap fans will be able to enjoy Emmerdale and Coronation Street with their Christmas cornflakes as ITV moves toward on demand TV.
Instead of being forced to wait until afer Christmas dinner as usual, soap fans will be able to see the drama first thing in the morning,
In a break with tradition they will be shown online on the ITV hub the morning ahead of their broadcast.
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Both Emmerdale and Coronation Street hour long festive episodes will be available from 7am on the day they are due to be broadcast.
The announcement marks a shift towards on-demand streaming during the festive period for the broadcaster reports the Liverpool Echo..
As well asCoronation Street and Emmerdale episodes, ITV has announced a special version of The Masked Singer titled The Masked Singalong on Christmas Day.
There will also be a festive episode of The Larking and a special for Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs.
Viewers will be able to watch Sir Billy Connolly’s comedy one-off, My Absolute Pleasure, ahead of it airing on Boxing Day at 9.30pm.
ITV’s festive schedule also includes Gino’s Italian Family Adventure: A Festive Feast On Christmas Eve at 6.30pm and The Masked Singalong on Christmas Day at 6pm.
All Star Musicals at Christmas will fill the 8pm slot on Boxing Day.
Meanwhile, Christmas Eve highlights include festive specials for The Chase, Tipping Point, Bradley and Barney: Breaking Dad, Gino’s Italian Family Adventure and Spitting Image.
Elsewhere, former Britain’s Got Talent winner Lost Voice Guy hosts a night of comedy and Michael Bublé provides musical entertainment in Christmas in the City.
Other shows of note to air in the run-up to Christmas include Coronation Street taking on Emmerdale in The Big Soap Quiz, a new documentary about Prince Philip, and specials for Alan Carr’s Epic Game Show and The Cube.
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