How TV and Radio Reacted to Prince Philip's Death
A lot of changes have been made in the schedules, so here's an update.
Hello,
There have been a lot of changes on television and radio in light of the death of Prince Philip, so here is a quick newsletter to bring you up to speed.
Firstly, here is how BBC One announced the death of Prince Philip:
Martine Croxall, who was presenting on the BBC News Channel at the time, put on a black jumper shortly before announcing the news. Huw Edwards, wearing a black tie, then fronted coverage a couple of hours afterwards.
All BBC radio stations, from BBC Radio 1 to all the local stations, simulcast an announcement of his death, followed by a special programme hosted by BBC Radio 4’s Evan Davis and Mishal Husain. Here is how radio announced the news.
The transition from Radio 1 Dance to the simulcast sounded a bit surreal. This was because the station is mostly pre-recorded and automated.
At 4pm, BBC Radio 1 / 1Xtra / 1Dance started to play their own music again at 4pm, but all of the songs were stripped of their lyrics. Here’s a snippet of how it sounded. At 5pm, Radio 2 started to play classical music.
Many commercial radio stations have also cut adverts this afternoon, playing inoffensive and melancholic songs instead.
UKTV channels (such as Dave) have cut adverts. A bar has appeared at the bottom of the screen, informing viewers to switch to BBC News. UKTV channels are owned by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC.
BBC One and BBC Two have suspended all non-news programming for the rest of the day. This means that EastEnders, Gardeners’ World, HIGNFY and the finale of MasterChef won’t be airing tonight. There have been no announcements made yet on when programmes will resume (so whether it will affect Line of Duty etc).
BBC Four has suspended programming this evening.
BBC Two will air the same as BBC One this evening, but will opt out for Newsnight.
ITV have also cut non-news programming. They aren’t showing adverts during their coverage either. There will be a special documentary airing this evening, along with a special live show hosted by Julie Etchingham and Philip Schofield.
Channel 5 have also been also airing a documentary and special bulletins. In a coincidence, they were due to air a film called Dying for the Crown, but it was scrapped when the news was announced.
Channel 4 meanwhile, after going to a news report, returned to their usual schedule. This caused quite a stir on Twitter. The finale of The Circle and an episode of Gogglebox will air as usual on the channel as usual.
That’s all for now, but do let me know if you spot anything else.
Scotty / @scottygb
Thanks for the updates.
Don't you think it is a bit odd/much that BBC 1 and 2 both have to show the same thing all day? Surely nowadays there is almost no one who can only access one of them.
I'm unsure if this would have happened pre Tim Davie / current situation with the government - though maybe I'm being naive?