Coronation Street fans can now get only one weeknight fix of the popular soap after TVNZ moved it to a single two-hour Friday slot, saying viewer numbers have continued to decline.
It is the latest in a series of timeslot re-shuffles in recent years - including a 2011 move that proved so unpopular with Coro St fans that 33,000 viewers stopped watching.
The soap, which had aired in one-hour slots on Thursday and Friday at 7.30pm, will now be shown in a single two-hour slot on Friday from 7.30pm, starting from January 3.
It will also be serialised in half-hour weekday instalments at 1pm from Tuesday to Friday.
TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said the change had received "very little feedback to date".
"The decision has been made to consolidate it on one night, instead of two nights on primetime, largely because although it's got a very loyal following, the programme is not attracting new viewers and overall audience is declining year on year."
There had been an 18 per cent drop in audience since two years ago, Ms Richards said.
As well as the daytime and Friday slots, fans could also watch the show on-demand on the TVNZ website.
"So really, actually people will have more choices than they have had in the past about how to pick it up, so we're pretty confident that nobody's going to miss out."
TVNZ previously serialised the soap in half-hour instalments in October 2011, when the show screened at 5.30pm every weekday.
The unpopular move saw viewers flock by the thousands, and even Prime Minister John Key waded into the debate.
The show was later moved to two weeknight slots and one on Saturday, before moving to a twice weekly primetime slot.
- Matthew Backhouse of APNZ
