In the battle of how they saw Kate and William's big day, the main bout was between ITV and the BBC ... and the commercial broadcaster easily came out on top
It's the kind of occasion you traditionally turn to the BBC for: the corporation brings out its big presenters, they prove to be informed but not too intrusive, there is no question of changing the channel.
So it was a surprise that ITV seemed to roundly trounce the BBC today, at least in the pre-wedding warm up, all five hours of it, before Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey. The BBC might have got things back on track in the wedding aftermath, as Huw Edwards' ponderous commentary came into its own, but its commercial competitor was the unlikely victor in the first rounds.
Things kicked off this morning with Breakfast vs Daybreak, a programme I have successfully managed to avoid since its very first venture on to screen. Not a lot seems to have changed ? Christine Bleakley still seems to be mainly giggling and looking vaguely terrified, while Chiles is just grumping about being slightly bedgraggled. But it was a combination that worked oddly well on a morning that forever threatened to teeter into full-blown hysteria.
Bleakley dodged any accusations of subtlety with a regal purple frock, teased updo and expression of wild over-excitement. Chiles pretended to be clueless about dresses. It was like the One Show days. Meanwhile, on the BBC, Sian Williams (also in purple) and Bill Turnbull were sent to different royal sites, and seemed to struggle to find the right tone ? altogether not excited enough in the face of crowds in plastic Union Jack bowler hats.
Things only progressed from there. The BBC spectacularly miscast its build-up team: putting Sophie Raworth and Huw Edwards in the studio and sending out Fearne Cotton and Edith Bowman ? what were they thinking? ? on to the streets. Huw does gentle chat about as easily as the Windsors do relaxed and casual, so while ITV was excitedly cooing over hats, he was being rather stuffy and awkward about what to expect later, and making ill-advised remarks about Kate and a "delighful view" as she got into the car. Raworth, meanwhile, was overdoing it a bit with royal hairdressers and somehow, despite having Grazia's brilliant Paula Reed as a guest, underdoing the fashion.
Oh, and I'm glossing over the Fearne Cotton moments, for all our sakes.
Meanwhile, a day-glo Phillip Schofield and Julie Etchingham were on fine form, ditching the reverence for a good-old nosy at what people were wearing ? often fuchsia, unless you were a presenter, when it was coral ? and which celebs were in attendance. Which is far more in the spirit of weddings in general, let alone royal ones when the gawp factor is turned up to about a million.
Not to be outdone, Sky News took things one step further ? dropping an interview with David Cameron looking glum in front of some wisteria halfway through, in order to bring us our first glimpse of Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's (really quite lovely) blue dress and hat. Priorities, eh?
Things did swing back into the BBC's favour when it came to the actual wedding, admittedly, and ITV apparently tried to atone for earlier flippancy by trying to out-pomp Huw (with the help of James Mates), but arguably by that point it was largely over. Not quite the spirit, I know. But for a start, there's only so much commentary you need when people are doing their actual vows. And, more to the point, there was a ruddy great choir singing non-stop, which rather limited opportunities to speak. Something which by that point, in all honesty, was rather a relief. Six hours of non-stop royal goings-on will be more than enough to last me for a couple of decades or more.
So did you watch or listen? And if so, whose coverage did you find yourself defaulting to most often? Who amused you most? And why did ITV make all their guests wear those strange flesh-coloured mikes on their cheeks? Your thoughts, please, below.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/29/royal-wedding-tv-coverage-itv-bbc
Cobham Enjoy England TwiTrips Marcus Bent La Liga Stan Collymore Classical music
No comments:
Post a Comment