Scheduling of Emmerdale and Central Television chose to move the programme to 19:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in February 1989, This was the first time Anglia had screened "Emmerdale Farm" in the 19:00 slot, Central were simply returning to the slots they used until December 1987, for a period Anglia and Central saw episodes one week later than other regions. From January 1990 all other regions followed the Central and Anglia schedule in the familiar Tuesday and Thursday 19:00 slot. Most companies continued to broadcast the series at 7 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, repeats was shown in the daytime slot of the
Emmerdale since then, it has been broadcast year-round. Episodes air on ITV weekday evenings at 19:00, with a second Thursday episode at 20:00. The programme began broadcasting in high definition on 10 October 2011. "Emmerdale" is the United Kingdom's second-longest-running television soap opera (after ITV's "Coronation Street"), and attracts an average of five to seven million viewers per episode. October 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the show. During that month, the show made a live episode to mark the anniversary. "Emmerdale Farm" came about after creator Kevin Laffan was asked to write a lunchtime farming serial for ITV, as the