CORONATION STREET - ITV CONFIRMS NEWS AT TEN RETURN

ITV has confirmed an overhaul of its ITV1 flagship schedule including the return of News at Ten.

The iconic news bulletin will return on Monday January 14th with Sir Trevor McDonald joined by Julie Etchingham - recruited from Sky News - and Mark Austin.

Sir Trevor said he was "delighted" to have returned to ITV news, with the brand's comeback allowing more hour-long dramas to be screened at 21:00 GMT.

"I'm looking forward to the new programme immensely and to the challenge of returning News at Ten to its place in the nation's affections," he added.

The Friday night schedule is to be remodelled to feature a mix of comedy and entertainment - including shows such as Al Murray's Happy Hour - while Saturday night schedules will feature new quiz show Duel, the second series of Primeval and Paul Merton returning to present improv show Thank God You're Here.

ITV director of television Simon Shaps explained: "One of the principal ideas behind these changes is to make the weekends on ITV1 feel special. We have always been the home of Saturday night entertainment and we want to broaden that out to make the whole weekend on ITV1 something to look forward to.

"This has meant a wholesale spring clean for Friday nights with new comedy, drama and feature films to get the weekend started, and a much fresher look to Sunday evenings with entertainment shaking up the historically drama-led schedule," he added.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale will move from Sunday nights - though the same number of episodes will still be broadcast each week - while Dancing on Ice moves to Sunday and hit dramas Kingdom and Wild at Heart return.

"The restructuring of the peak-time schedule and the return of News at Ten means that we've got a great opportunity to recapture some lost ground at 21:00 and we've responded to viewer feedback on Coronation Street and Emmerdale so that fans can catch up with their favourite soaps over fewer nights," Shaps added.

"The new shape allows greater freedom and flexibility to create new hits within the schedule. In all, these changes make for a more streamlined, user-friendly schedule that plays to ITV1's strengths as an entertainment powerhouse and the home of original drama."