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
What's on TV 4 listings. Two other magazines appeared on the market at the same time – "TV Quick" and the short-lived "TV Plus". Early covers of "What's on TV" usually featured TV stars and programmes, but now they almost exclusively promote soap stories. In January 2007, Time UK (then still IPC) launched a soaps and TV website branded as "What's On TV", which focuses on plot spoilers and catch-ups for "EastEnders", "Coronation Street", "Emmerdale", "Hollyoaks", "Doctors", "Neighbours" and "Home and Away", as well as reality TV and drama. A weekly video gives soap storylines. "What's on TV" belongs to TI Media's group