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April 10, 2021 10:56 am  #1


UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

The impact of this royal death on British broadcasting is quite over the top and the BBC is being inundated with complaints.

The BBC curtailed dozens of broadcasts on Friday, taking the nation’s most popular television and radio channels off air and reducing dozens of other broadcasts on stations across the country, to provide uninterrupted coverage of tributes to the Queen’s husband. BBC One played a series of pre-recorded shows, including Philip’s children paying tribute to him, while BBC Two scrapped its schedule and simulcast the same shows as its sister channel. Friday night staples such as EastEnders, Gardeners’ World, and the final episode of MasterChef were taken off air to make way for more tributes, an approach also taken by ITV.

The BBC has several channels, BBC1, BBC2, BBC4 (there is no BBC3 at the moment) and CBBC but BBC2 is simulcasting BBC1's Philip coverage and BBC4 and CBBC (the children's channel) have been shut down due to Philip's demise.

In the end, almost the entire range of BBC services was affected in some way by the announcement of Philip’s death, sometimes with mildly farcical results.For instance, as a mark of respect to the Queen’s husband, BBC Four’s scheduled programme was taken off-air and replaced with a notice urging viewers to switch to BBC One for a tribute.

The BBC’s national radio stations initially replaced their output with a pre-recorded tribute, with some later returning to special sombre playlists, with the likes of Radio 1 stuck playing downbeat music with the occasional news bulletin update. Specialist music programmes were taken off air, while presenters kept chat to a minimum.Some BBC radio cricket commentary were left continuing to provide coverage from grounds across England, unaware that no one was able to hear their output because it had been replaced. Even cricket fans on the BBC website coverage found their source of information cut off, with the corporation’s county championship liveblog shut down immediately after Philip’s death was announced – even as play continued across the country.One of the few broadcasters to buck the trend was Channel 4, which did air extended tributes to the late royal consort but provided an alternative for viewers by showing Gogglebox and the final of reality TV hit The Circle as planned.

 
 BBC flooded with complaints over Prince Philip death coverage

From what I can tell, BBC1, BBC 2 and BBC4, ITV and Channel 4 have resumed their normal schedules today though BBC1 and ITV are airing a few Philip documentaries and death coverage along with some normal programming. 

Also, apparently it's a *rule* that all news presenters must wear black - don't know if that's just for yesterday or if it's for the whole mourning period up to and including the day of the funeral. Reminds me a bit of Soviet broadcasting whenever a leader died having used my shortwave to tune in Radio Moscow in the 80s when Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko all snuffed it in quick succession. 
 

Last edited by Hansa (April 10, 2021 11:09 am)

 

April 10, 2021 11:37 am  #2


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

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April 10, 2021 11:40 am  #3


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

Just imagine what will happen when the Queen eventually passes on.

I’m surprised CBBC would shut down like that. I remember on 9/11 CBC did not cut off children’s morning programming for coverage, leaving CBC Newsworld to cover the event as it happened. CBC later said in a statement defending the lack of coverage on the main network that they had “learned from the Challenger explosion” and that children deserve a distraction from the real world.

Last edited by MJ Vancouver (April 10, 2021 11:42 am)

 

April 10, 2021 12:40 pm  #4


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

BBC Radio 6 is a digital channel devoted to alternative music. 

BBC 6 Music fans 'switch off' as sombre songs pay tribute to Philip 'When will it end!"
 

Last edited by Hansa (April 10, 2021 12:42 pm)

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April 10, 2021 12:42 pm  #5


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

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April 10, 2021 1:37 pm  #6


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

Blowing away both BBC One and BBC Two's schedules is probably unnecessary considering that both the BBC's 24 hour news channel, and Sky News, is available on literally every TV platform in the UK INCLUDING over-the-air. I would understand if BBC One's offerings would be changed to show some Phillip-related content, but a straight simulcast of the BBC News Channel on BBC One and Two is really redundant. 

 

April 10, 2021 7:47 pm  #7


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

When King George VI passed away all radio in Canada (at least in this area) went solemn. Regular programming was suspended and replaced with quiet classical instrumental music until after the funeral. I was about 10 and it was boring.

Last edited by Storm (April 10, 2021 7:47 pm)

 

April 10, 2021 8:51 pm  #8


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

MJ Vancouver wrote:

Just imagine what will happen when the Queen eventually passes on.

You don't have to imagine. It was covered in a recent thread here.  

 

April 20, 2021 6:12 pm  #9


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

How Prince Philip's death was announced on various UK radio stations



 

Last edited by Hansa (April 20, 2021 6:13 pm)

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April 20, 2021 8:23 pm  #10


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

Interesting as Hansa mentioned on the original post how there were quite a lot of complaints on the amount of coverage that BBC TV and radio devoted to the death of Philip.  When the Queen passes it will be even more but hard to say if the reaction will be the same.  The Queen's death will be covered like nothing we have seen, not just in the UK but much of the world. 
 
 From the video, notice how BBC radio competes directly and aggressively with private radio with their various music stations?  BBC1 is top 40 with announcers that are stars in the UK, and some of their other stations like BBC2 are quite mainstream musically.  Can you imagine CBC radio having a broadcast station known as CBC Dance, playing the latest club hits and competing head to head with private radio here?  

 

April 21, 2021 12:29 am  #11


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

paterson1 wrote:

Interesting as Hansa mentioned on the original post how there were quite a lot of complaints on the amount of coverage that BBC TV and radio devoted to the death of Philip.  When the Queen passes it will be even more but hard to say if the reaction will be the same.  The Queen's death will be covered like nothing we have seen, not just in the UK but much of the world. 
 
 From the video, notice how BBC radio competes directly and aggressively with private radio with their various music stations?  BBC1 is top 40 with announcers that are stars in the UK, and some of their other stations like BBC2 are quite mainstream musically.  Can you imagine CBC radio having a broadcast station known as CBC Dance, playing the latest club hits and competing head to head with private radio here?  

CBC Dance with Canadian content requirements.

 

April 21, 2021 12:39 am  #12


Re: UK broadcasting grinds to a halt due to royal death

I think there's an argument that aggressive competition by the BBC actually forces the private stations to be better than they'd otherwise be. Certainly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, ITV's various franchises (and Channel 4 in the 80s) were producing more and better content (though also a good share of shlock) than anything being produced by CTV, which was mostly minting money and pocketing it, or Global (after it got over its shaky start). 

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