The Royal wedding on TV - The verdict

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

IT IS unsurprising to think that The Royal Wedding will go down as one of the biggest watched television events in history.  In Britain, the three major networks, BBC, ITV and Sky, all covered the prestigious day in their own unique way. But which of them emerged out on top?

Sky – Making the best of a bad situation

TEETHING: Technical problems hindered Sky's big day

It was Sky News in unprecedented territory.  Although it has covered major royal events down the years, it has never been something on a grand scale like this.  Eamonn Holmes, host of the ‘Sunrise’ breakfast programme was duly promoted to all-day anchor for the coverage, being assisted by several key figures within the team like Dermot Murnaghan, Adam Boulton and Kay Burley.  Sky produced accurate and well detailed reports on the day’s developments and Holmes did a rather reasonable job with the big task in hand.  However, its technical department wasn’t quite up to scratch, cutting out of interviews inappropriately, one being with prime minister David Cameron, cameras sometimes in the wrong position and even worse, its picture was blacked out just as the main service began.  Nevertheless, it was solid effort and they didn’t give up no matter the difficulties of the situation.

BBC – Strong line-up falls short

PREDICTABLE: Huw Edwards was seen by many as bland and boring

It was perhaps the BBC’s crucial hour.  As the official broadcaster to the wedding, they would be distributing the majority of the pictures, not just to the other main UK broadcasters, but to everyone else around the world.

     The decision on having its lead newscaster Huw Edwards as presenter, instead of special broadcasting veteran David Dimbelby in the end turned out to be a seething mistake.  Whereas he was very descriptive and did talked sense in the unfolding events, he seemed very dreary all day and when commentating on the ceremony; his voice sounded more like commentary of a funeral.  The only members of BBC’s team that were very captivating during the day were fellow newscasters Fiona Bruce and Sophie Raworth.  BBC Breakfast correspondent Chris Hollins blended in well with the crowds at The Mall and BBC F1 host Jake Humphrey proved to be very brave climbing aboard on one of the RAF planes used for the flyover at the end of the day.

     Back to the bad trend and Fearne Cotton seemingly struggled with her role as reporter outside Buckingham Palace.  Being rated as one of the highest acclaimed hosts in TV and radio today, this was bit of an embarrassment by her standards.  Another Radio 1 DJ that came under fire was Edith Bowman, who also had a disaster in her role as reporter at St. Andrews University, where Prince William and Kate Middleton, or Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they are formally known now, first met.

     Although there were promises of a day to remember, the Beeb will kind of think that they well and truly shot themselves in the foot.

ITV – A surprising triumph

TRIUMPH: Etchingham and Schofield's chemistry was spot-on

Towards the build-up of the wedding, ITV had their fair share of critics who believed they would make very many comparisons to Charles and Diana’s wedding thirty years ago.  In truth, although of course mentioned much from time to time, it wasn’t that bad nor completely biased to the 1981 spectacular.

     In fact, it struck the right notes throughout much of the event.  The risk to employ Phillip Schofield as presenter instead of obvious candidate Alistair Stewart or even the possibility of coaxing legendary Sir Trevor McDonald out of retirement again turned out to be a success. Partnered by News at Ten presenter Julie Etchingham, they formed great chemistry and really introduced and injected a lot of humour into the day.

     With Stewart based outside the Goring Hotel, the Middleton’s base for the day, Mary Nightingale at Westminster Abbey and Nina Hossain with the crowds in Hyde Park, this was a simply basic approach by ITV in using their news team to cover the events.  Only two members of the crew were from outside their news operation.  Kate Garraway, who was live in the bride’s village of Bucklebury, and Matt Smith from ITV Sport who covered events in St. Andrews.  It was main newsreader Mark Austin however who stole the show as try as he might; he was often caught up in the thick of the crowds at The Mall.  The expert approach taken by Austin even saw him trending the most than anyone else on Twitter during the coverage.

     ITV themselves also achieved an unthinkable feat; they didn’t interrupt a single minute of the coverage for an advertisement break!  As soon as the main coverage started at 8:30am, that was it, they ran on continuously for the seven or so hours they were on the air for.

     This simple layout by ITV for once earned them great and deserved reconigition.  A clear winner as they knew what they were doing and importantly, had the right team for the job.

The viewer’s choice

No matter what the experts say, it comes down to who won the most viewers.  When the overnights were published, it was no surprises that the BBC came out on top.

     BBC earned an average of 13.4 million and a peak for the ceremony of 19.3 million.  Despite the glowing coverage, it sadly wasn’t enough to prevent ITV from getting the thrashing that many had initially predicted before the event.  Its coverage could only muster 4.4 million, rising to 5.5 million for the ceremony.

     If there is any consolation, ITV actually rated in more viewers in the afternoon’s section of coverage than BBC, considering they brought actual reaction and celebrations across the country whereas BBC just kept repeating the same footage again and again.  Meanwhile, Sky’s coverage took in 700,000 as their average figures and 1.2 million chose them for the ceremony despite the blackout.

     Although, as predicted, the BBC won the rating battle, it was ITV that won the broadcast war.  I hope it gets recognised at next year’s television BAFTA’s and Royal Television Society awards.