HISTORY’s Moment in Media: The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

God save the QueenTechnically Elizabeth had been queen since her fatheramp8217s death 15 months earlier But this was the coronation And for the first time ever regular people could observe the ancient rituals because after much debate and with the approval of the new monarch Elizabethamp8217s investiture was carried live on British television transmitted live via the Eurovision network to several countries on the continent and eventually after films were flown across the Atlantic broadcast to an eager public in the United States and Canada tooItamp8217s the event credited with transforming the nascent television industry in the United Kingdom and in a time before satellite links or global fiberoptic networks it was arguably the first global media event in historyThe BBC Television Service launched in 1936 as an accompaniment to Britainamp8217s beloved national radio broadcaster At the 1937 coronation of Elizabethamp8217s parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth most of the country didnamp8217t own televisions or even live in a place that received the television signal For that earlier coronation the BBC deployed its sole mobile broadcast unit with its full complement of three cameras and set up station at Hyde Park Corner a prime place to watch the procession pass by That was itElizabethamp8217s celebration was a production of an entirely different magnitude By 1953 the BBC had grown proficient at covering large live events including the future queenamp8217s 1947 wedding to Prince Philip and the 1948 London Olympics New transmitters installed around the country in those midcentury years made the BBC Television Service a truly national broadcaster and surplus military transmitters were positioned for the coronation to cover remote stillunserved areas More than 20 cameras were used for the occasion and stationed in multiple locations including inside the Abbey BBC stalwart Richard Dimbleby led the coverage and was joined by seven other commentatorsMore than 20 million people watched the coronation live in the United Kingdom The BBC estimated that about 8 million watched in their own homes more than 10 million in other peopleamp8217s homes and about 15 million in pubs and other public places By some estimates thatamp8217s about twice as many as listened to it on BBC RadioFor American audiences both CBS and NBC the two dominant networks at the time flew newsreels in from London to their respective broadcast facilities in Boston because the New England city was an hour closer to London than New York City On CBS a correspondent reported from Logan Airportamp8217s control tower as staff tracked the filmsamp8217 arrival The CBS plane touched down at 412PM beating NBCamp8217s by about 45 minutes But NBC was prepared for its loss together with thenupstart ABC they picked up Canadian coverage and broadcast it for the US audience Canada being a Commonwealth country and a major one at that meant that the films for the CBC were rushed across the Atlantic on military planesThe televised coronation ushered in an era in which the British royals became a regular presence on the global media stage By the 1981 wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles whoamp8217d witnessed his motheramp8217s coronation as a fouryearold in Westminster Abbey satellite broadcasts were possible and an estimated 750 million viewers watched live around the worldAccording to Nielsen only 10 million Americans watched last yearamp8217s coronation of King Charles Thatamp8217s in addition to 204 million viewers in Britain at its peak moment amp160about the same number of Britons that watched his motheramp8217s ceremony 70 years earlier Polling amongst the younger Brits seemed to suggest the monarchyamp8217s appeal is waning when compared to previous generationsCredit BBC PhotoClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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HISTORY’s Moment in Media: The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

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HISTORY’s Moment in Media: The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

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