The BBC has been inundated with complaints from disgruntled viewers over the extent of its reporting on Prince Philip’s death.
The broadcaster cleared its scheduled programming yesterday to run specials about the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away aged 99 yesterday.
In the complaints section of its website, the BBC now states: “We’re receiving complaints about too much TV coverage of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”
BBC & ITV viewing figures have plummeted amid wall-to-wall royal coverage. The earliest available overnight ratings, provided by Barb, saw ITV’s Friday night (9 April) audience decline by 60 percent in comparison to one week previously. BBC One suffered a similar loss
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) April 10, 2021
It has been forced to create an online complaints box after receiving an influx of messages.
Twitter users have also been notably disgruntled about the coverage.
One wrote: “Dear BBC: You owe me two days’ licence fee”, while others likened the “saturation” of content to “what might be expected in North Korea.”
“Dear BBC” was also trending on the social media platform. Here’s a pick of the other comment:
Dear BBC you’ve said a great deal more about the death of one, than you have about the death of 150,000+. I appreciate the personal loss for The Queen and her family, but you’ve not appreciated the feelings of those who’ve been left without a loved one.Barely mentioned some days!
— Matthew Payne (@Matthew82069336) April 10, 2021
Dear BBC. Yes, we had heard that Prince Philip has died.
— Nicholas Till (@nicholas_till) April 10, 2021
Dear @bbc Every death is a personal tragedy. But this is what a national tragedy looks like. pic.twitter.com/cmnKAkwwgA
— Stephen Holland #FBPE #Rejoin (@Phesnet) April 10, 2021
Dear BBC, I know you are the state broadcaster and all that, but does your entire schedule really have to be wiped because of HRH’s death?
— (((Frances ‘Not A Monster’ Coppola))) ??? (@Frances_Coppola) April 9, 2021
Dear @bbc I don’t remember you giving as much airtime when Henry VIII died.
— Steve Haythorne (@SteveHaythorne) April 10, 2021
Related: Daily Mail shocks with 144 PAGE tribute to Prince Philip