Coronation Street reached a low of eight million in February 1973, when Pat Phoenix quit as Elsie Tanner, Violet Carson (battleaxe Ena Sharples) was written out for most of the year due to illness, and Doris Speed (haughty landlady Annie Walker) took two months' leave due to bereavement. The audience of ITV's other flagship soap opera "Crossroads" increased markedly at this time, as its established cast, such as Meg Richardson (Noele Gordon), grew in popularity. These sudden departures forced the writing team to quickly develop characters who had previously stood in the background. The roles of Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Deirdre Hunt
Coronation Street channel, "Coronation Street" could not be broadcast. An omnibus is also shown on weekends. The show was first aired in 1978, beginning with episodes from 1976. Ireland eventually caught up with the current UK episodes in 1983. Until 1992 it was broadcast on RTÉ2 and from 1992 to 2001 it was broadcast on RTÉ One. In 2001 Granada TV bought 45 percent of TV3, which resulted in TV3 broadcasting series from 2001 to 2014. In 2006 ITV sold its share of the channel but TV3. TV3 continued to buy the soap until the end of 2014 when it moved to