"Blanket Coverage Of Prince Philip’s Death Proves To Be A Big Turn-Off For British TV Viewers"

"Blanket Coverage Of Prince Philip’s Death Proves To Be A Big Turn-Off For British TV Viewers"

Postby dutchman » Sat Apr 10, 2021 3:16 pm

The UK’s major broadcasters trashed their schedules on Friday to bring audiences wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Philip’s death, but the output proved to be a turn-off for Brits in key evening viewing hours

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Ratings data crunched by Deadline shows that the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 all suffered audience declines between the hours of 7PM and 11PM, when the broadcasters lined up special coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s demise.

BBC One, the UK’s most-watched television channel, lost 6% of its audience last night compared with Friday, April 2 (full figures below). Sister channel BBC Two, which simulcast the BBC News channel for a good chunk of the evening, was down 65%, according to Barb figures supplied by overnights.tv.

The UK’s major broadcasters trashed their schedules on Friday to bring audiences wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Philip’s death, but the output proved to be a turn-off for Brits in key evening viewing hours.

Ratings data crunched by Deadline shows that the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 all suffered audience declines between the hours of 7PM and 11PM, when the broadcasters lined up special coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s demise.

BBC One, the UK’s most-watched television channel, lost 6% of its audience last night compared with Friday, April 2 (full figures below). Sister channel BBC Two, which simulcast the BBC News channel for a good chunk of the evening, was down 65%, according to Barb figures supplied by overnights.tv.

Such was the displeasure with the scale of the BBC’s coverage that it was deluged with complaints. The BBC even set up an official complaint form on its website, making it easier for viewers to raise their concerns about “too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”

It was a similar story elsewhere. ITV, the BBC’s main commercial rival, suffered a 60% dent to its ratings on Friday night, while Channel 4 — which broadcast a feature-length news special at 7PM — was down 8.5%.

Channel 4 did, however, largely stick to its planned schedule in the evening and was rewarded with the highest-rated show of the day on a single channel in the shape of Studio Lambert’s Gogglebox, which was watched by nearly 4.2M viewers.

The only public service broadcaster to post an improved audience on a week ago was Channel 5, which nudged up 2%. Like Channel 4, the ViacomCBS-owned network largely stuck to its original evening schedule.

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Re: "Blanket Coverage Of Prince Philip’s Death Proves To Be A Big Turn-Off For British TV Viewers"

Postby rebbonk » Sat Apr 10, 2021 9:26 pm

Too much Prince Philip coverage? BBC says complaints have been received

The British Broadcasting Corporation said on Saturday it had received complaints about the amount of coverage it dedicated to the death of Prince Philip after some viewers were upset that normal programming was cancelled.

The BBC interrupted normal programming on radio and television a few minutes after Buckingham Palace announced at midday on Friday that Philip had died, and many scheduled programmes were scrapped for the rest of the day to make way for coverage of his death.

“We’re receiving complaints about too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the BBC’s complaints web page said.

Some Twitter users criticised the BBC for acting as a Soviet-style state broadcaster pumping out propaganda while others said it was being unfairly attacked for covering a major news story.

Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, died aged 99 after more than seven decades at her side at the heart of the British monarchy.

A spokesman for the BBC declined to comment.

Viewing figures show the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all lost audience on Friday after clearing programmes to run obituaries and reviews of Philip’s life, Deadline reported.


Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-royals-philip-bbc/too-much-prince-philip-coverage-bbc-says-complaints-have-been-received-idUSKBN2BX0DF
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