Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, two popular U.S. game shows, will not be returning to the CBC primetime lineup in the fall of 2012.

But “Corrie” fans rest reassured: the U.K.’s beloved kitchen sink drama, Coronation Street — almost 52 years old and still going strong — is staying put.

Christine Wilson, the CBC’s director of content planning, confirmed the embattled network — facing cuts in federal funding that will rise to 10 per cent by 2014 — has decided to drop the shows from its schedule.

“Neither Jeopardy! nor Wheel of Fortune are going to be returning to our schedule. The licence fees on those programs were . . . relatively expensive,” Wilson told the Star.

Both shows began airing on CBC in the fall of 2008, reportedly costing as much as $20 million annually in broadcast licence fees, a figure a CBC spokesperson would not confirm.

CBC originally aired Wheel of Fortune at 5:30 p.m. during the 2008-2009 season with Jeopardy! airing at 7:30 p.m. For two seasons, both shows occupied the 7 to 8 p.m. time slot,before Wheel moved to 4:30 p.m. in the 2011-2012 season, replaced by Coronation Street at 7 p.m., while Jeopardy! remained in the 7:30 p.m. time slot.

“When we purchased Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, it was specifically so that we would have a time every night when we would have 1 million viewers tune in,” Wilson said.

Wilson said Jeopardy! alone in recent years has bolstered the CBC’s 8 p.m. audience, tuning in to such shows as Dragon’s Den, Marketplace and Mr. D, by 20 per cent.

Wilson said CBC now has a stable of 10 programs that draw 1 million or more viewers, including Arctic Air and Republic of Doyle, and that they “don’t (need) Jeopardy! anymore to drive audiences to Canadian shows. Canadian shows can drive audiences to Canadian shows. It’s great news.”

Wilson hastened to add that the network is not turning its back on programs just because they’re produced outside of Canada.

“Unofficially I can tell you Coronation Street is coming back. If it didn’t come back, something would happen on Parliament Hill,” Wilson said.

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