Millions View Diamond Jubilee
The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations drew millions of TV viewers amid some criticism of the BBC’s coverage.
The most watched event was the Diamond Jubilee concert, with an average of 14.7m viewers and a peak of 17m.
That was higher than the Party At The Palace during 2002’s Golden Jubilee, seen by an average of 12.5m viewers.
Sunday’s Thames River pageant was seen by 10.3m but some critics, including actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, called it “mind-numbingly tedious”.
“This is eggier and cheesier than a collapsed souffle,” he wrote on Twitter. “Expected better of the Beeb.”
Gillian Reynolds, the Daily Telegraph’s radio critic, told Radio 4’s Today programme she felt “deeply let down” by the lack of information given during the coverage.
“I couldn’t reconcile the meticulous framing of the shots and beautiful photography with the words coming out,” she said.
“Nobody explained what Dunkirk was and nobody explained that what these boats did was extraordinary.”
Even the BBC’s former Royal Correspondent Michael Cole joined the criticism, saying the presenters were under-prepared.
“I think it’s outrageous when you hear a person who’s been paid to be a commentator refer to Her Majesty The Queen as Her Royal Highness,” he said.
“No preparation, no homework. There was no gravitas. I don’t remember one memorable phrase or evocative expression.”
Former BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said the BBC had “tried too hard”.
“All that went wrong was a conscious attempt to make the whole event informal and inclusive and warm,” he said.
“The BBC is worried and nervous about being seen as too formal and stiff. It wasn’t all a failure – there were many good things about the coverage,” he added.
The corporation defended Sunday’s coverage saying: “We’re very proud of the quality and breadth of the BBC’s coverage of this extraordinary event.”
By the final day of the bank holiday weekend, viewing figures had declined slightly.
The Queen’s five-minute message was watched by an average 5.6m on BBC One and 3.5m on ITV.
Tuesday’s state service and procession attracted 4.5m and 6.2m respectively on BBC One, with a further 1.7m watching on ITV.
That compares to figures of 6.51m for the state service and 5.74m for the procession in 2002, with just fewer than one million tuning in on ITV.
