THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The cream of the US media has landed as the fascination for all things royal and British captivates viewers back home.Tomorrow morning, a number of alarm clocks will be set for 4am by the octogenarian residents of Fox Run nursing home in Novi, Michigan. After being served with hors d'oeuvres, they'll gather around television sets for several hours of blanket coverage of the royal wedding live on all the Detroit stations, with the ceremony starting at 6am local time.
On-screen commentary will be courtesy of all three network anchors – Katie Couric of CBS, Diane Sawyer of ABC and Brian Williams of NBC. Each member of that triumivurate of American television royalty will be broadcasting from specially constructed studios outside Buckingham Palace. Other American media icons such as Barbara Walters, whose television special William & Catherine: A Modern Fairytale, was shown on ABC this week, will be flown in. Joan Rivers and comedienne Kathy Griffin will be there, along with Britain's own exports to the US, Tina Brown and Piers Morgan.
For the American media, the timing of the wedding hits a broadcasting sweet spot. The vows will be uttered as people are getting up, giving the opportunity for wall-to-wall coverage throughout the day.
According to Nielsen, the global media measurement company, online media coverage of the wedding is "considerably higher" in America than in Britain. In addition, blogs, Twitter and Facebook are generating a "greater volume of buzz" online in the US than on the other side of the Atlantic. "By any definition, this is a news story," says Mark Lukasiewicz, vice president of NBC News. "It is an unusual event, because events of this size don't happen that often.
"We feel that, collectively, people are eager for a bit of a break from the tough news cycle we've been living in for the past few months, and the royal wedding will be a chance to focus on something that has a little bit of fun and pageantry, in the grand British style." Continue reading and comment » | Toby Harnden | Wednesday, April 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Royal wedding Order of Service: Jerusalem and Greensleeves to be played in Westminster Abbey: Prince William and Kate Middleton today released their wedding Order of Service, and said they have been ''incredibly moved'' by the public affection shown to them. » | Thursday, April 28, 2011
