22:08 PDT 20/12/2021
by
Abid Rahman
The British broadcaster’s decision to plan ahead with the planned programming in favor of wall-to-wall coverage in the wake of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh has led to a record number of complaints.
The BBC’s decision to shorten its television and radio schedule and dedicate coverage of Prince Philip’s death to the wall last Friday has led to more than 110,000 complaints from the public.
The guardian the newspaper reports that a record number of people in the UK complained directly to the BBC about the coverage of the public broadcaster in the 24 hours following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99.
Buckingham Palace released official news on Friday afternoon, local time, of the death of the prince, in which the BBC cleared its schedules to cover the news with BBC One, BBC Two and BBC News all carrying the same feed and BBC Four completely of the -air. Popular applications, such as the long-lasting soap Eastenders and the final season of Master Chef was pushed in favor of news programs, as well as documentaries and tribute programs that celebrated the prince’s life.
The vast majority of complaints suggested that the BBC’s coverage was excessive and drowned out other news topics such as the pandemic, in addition to complaints about canceled programming, The guardian reports.
The number of complaints dwarfed the previous record holder, the BBC show Jerry Springer: The Musical which in 2005 led to 63,000 complaints.