New BBC One controller Peter Fincham has hinted that EastEnders could be shifted to a new timeslot.
The soap, which airs four times a week on BBC One, has suffered from flagging ratings over the past two years; a problem which has been made worse by the now frequent head-to-head battles with Emmerdale.
"EastEnders is an absolutely crucial part of the BBC1 schedule and will continue to be so," said Fincham, who takes the helm of the channel this summer. But he added: "Of course we've got to find the right place in the schedule for it. We live in a moving world where all schedules move."
Responding to ITV programming director Nigel Pickard's comments that the BBC should "stop whinging" about the Emmerdale scheduling, Fincham said: "I'm not whinging about anything. If that's the fight we are going to engage in, I'll bring lots of energy to it."
