The BBC has received more than 100,000 complaints about its blanket coverage of the death of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.
The Duke sadly passed away last Friday, 9th April 2021. We naturally offer our condolences to the Royal Family, who will no doubt be feeling the anguish of bereavement as much as any other family.
As soon as Buckingham Palace made the announcement last Friday morning the BBC suspended its normal schedules and simulcast coverage of the breaking story on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament.
We tweeted at the time: "WTF is going on with the bone idle scheduling of the BBC?"
Whilst it is understood and accepted that the reporting of such a significant news event merits interruption to the normal BBC schedules, it does not merit exactly the same sound and images being simultaneously broadcast on multiple BBC channels for hours on end.
In 2021 everyone in the UK who chooses to indulge in television can access the full range of BBC channels available. If they want to watch wall-to-wall Duke of Edinburgh tributes they can tune into the BBC News Channel, which is the appropriate outlet for such programmes. We're not in the 1950s any more, with families huddled around a TV set tuned only to a single BBC channel.
It is not beyond the wit of man that the technical wizards at the BBC could have placed a strap at the bottom of BBC One and BBC Two programmes saying something like "For the latest breaking news on the sad death of the Duke of Edinburgh tune into the BBC News Channel".
That message could have been displayed for 30 seconds every 10 minutes without disturbing people's normal viewing habits and pointing them in the right direction if they did want to view more.
Former BBC newsreader and legend Simon McCoy agreed with our observations, tweeting: "BBC One and BBC Two showing the same thing. And presumably the News Channel too. Why?
"I know this is a huge event. But surely the public deserve a choice of programming?"
The BBC is not due to publish the official number of complaints until Thursday.
It defended its coverage, saying: "We are proud of our coverage and the role we play during moments of national significance."
3 comments:
the news of the duke of edinburgh passing away was very sad and was an important event for the country. i listen to the radio, radio four extra which was placed in the hands of radio four/the world service for the entire weekend. we are all quite capable of tuning in for our selves. please allow some choice of listening.
Could one result of their coverage have been a Friday half day for thousands of BBC staff?
As I don't watch BBC programmes this blanket 'simulcast' idiocy didn't affect me.
However - how on earth is this death a momentous event? The man was merely the consort of a queen, not important in his own right. Also, he's had a long life and it was obviously time for him to die, if his complexion and general mien over the last months (years?) was anything to go by. Humans must all eventually die (that's why we're called 'mortals'...).
Actually this particular consort has been more of a hindrance than a help. Right from the beginning he was openly unfaithful to the Queen (his meal ticket) and he went on a long and discreditable jaunt abroad shortly after the wedding, from which he had to be grabbed back eventually by the Government of the day. He has also made no attempt, throughout his life as a 'senior member of the Royal Family', to curb his foot-in-mouth remarks or rein in his temper.
Still, it saved the BBC some broadcasting gaps - I see in the listings we're now back to reruns of black-and-white films and Judy Garland is tripping her young stuff again (Judy Garland, whose daughter Liza Minnelli is now seventy-five...).
This is not a broadcasting company with an enviable worldwide reputation - it's a joke.
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