[James2001]

There must have been a reason behind it being so late, presumably either technical (maybe there was still something in the chain that wasn't 16:9 capable that wasn't considered economical to replace until 2001), or it could have been editorial. There were plenty of shows still made in 4:3 during the early 00s even though they were from 16:9 capable studios.

Emmerdale didn't go 16:9 until the same time as Corrie, and they'd moved to new studios at the back end of 1997 and it seems suprising that a new studio for a major network production fitted out then wouldn't have been 16:9 capable (though I guess it's possible they might have saved money by using some older equipment in the fit out). The picture quality we've been seeing on the studio work on ITV3 isn't great which makes me wonder if they're older cameras that could date back to 1997, especially when the classic episodes ITV3 showed in October it looked like the cameras had been upgraded by 2005, and it's unlikely they'd be replacing cameras they'd only got in 2001.

Worth pointing out that High Road on STV was still in 4:3 until it ended in 2003. Indeed, that makes me wonder if that's part of the reason why it ended- any studio equipment that was still only 4:3 capable would have been coming to the end of its life by 2003, and presumably they didn't consider it economical to replace.