Coronation Street

Coronation Street is a British television soap opera first broadcast on Granada Television on 9 December 1960. It was soon syndicated on other ITV franchises and has ran continuously for 52 years. The programme concerns the lives of the residents of Coronation Street in Weatherfield, a fictional area of Greater Manchester. The programme primarily centres around the terraced Coronation Street which encompasses a cafe, convenience store, newsagents, textile factory and most notably the Rovers Return Inn pub.

The programme was devised in 1960 by local scriptwriter, Tony Warren at the recently-formed Granada Television in Manchester. Warren's initial kitchen sink drama proposal was rejected by the station's founder Sidney Bernstein but was persuaded to produce the programme for thirteen pilot episodes. It was first broadcast in December 1960 and within six months had become the most-watched programme on British television. It has been one of the most financially lucrative programmes on British commercial television, underpinning the success of the Granada Television franchise and the broadcaster ITV.

Coronation Street is produced by ITV Granada Television under ITV Studios and has been filmed in Castlefield, Manchester at the Granada Studios since its inception. It is shown in all ITV regions as well as internationally in countries such Australia, Canada and New Zealand. On 17 September 2010, it became the world's longest-running TV soap opera in production, after the American soap opera As the World Turns ended. Coronation Street is noted for its depiction of a down-to-earth working class community combined with light-hearted humour and strong characters.