Coronation Street May Leave ITV

The ITV network may lose top soap Coronation Street unless it agrees to up the price paid to Granada for each episode.

At present the network’s highest rated programme is only given £76,000 per episode, half of that paid out to The Bill. If an agreement is not reached Granada says it will consider offers from BSkyB and any other alternative bidders.

The soap generates £400m per year for ITV, and Granada chief executive Charles Allen believes that this should be taken into consideration when a price is being named.