BBC hits back after viewers’ complaints over heavy coverage of Queen

Queen’s funeral procession goes past The Cenotaph

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Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, September 8, the BBC and a number of other broadcasters such as ITV and Channel 4 scrapped initially billed programming to make way for coverage dedicated to Her Majesty. However, the Beeb has now confirmed it received a number of complaints about the volume of coverage it aired following the death of the Queen.

On its website, the BBC confirmed: “We’ve received complaints about the level of coverage and changes to the schedule following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

The exact number of complaints hasn’t been disclosed, although according to Metro it’s reported to be around 670.

But the broadcaster defended its decision, writing in response to the complaints: “The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is an event of national and international significance which is being reflected in our output. 

“This has meant changes to our schedules. Programme alternatives have been available – including on iPlayer and Sounds.”

The changes to the BBC schedule have led to a number of its biggest shows having to be postponed and rescheduled.

Strictly Come Dancing had its launch date pushed back to the later date of Friday, September 23.

This means that the first live show will take place just 24 hours after on September 24, rather than a week after the launch episode.

Celebrity MasterChef fans also had to reschedule their calendars to keep up to date with when Gregg Wallace and John Torode would be putting the famous faces through to the next stage of the competition.

The BBC’s schedule across its main channels was also adjusted in order for blanket coverage of the Queen’s funeral on Monday. 

All daytime shows made way for coverage from Westminster and beyond for viewers to see the event unfold. 

The same was said for ITV which also decided to air coverage of the funeral and subsequent procession uninterrupted throughout the day.

Channel 4 aired documentaries in honour of the Queen while Channel 5 divided fans as it decided to air children’s movies throughout the day of the funeral.

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Channel 5 aired The Emoji Movie while the Queen’s funeral was taking place and followed it up with Stuart Little and Ice Age 3 while the subsequent procession took place.

The BBC’s coverage on the day of the Queen’s funeral will alter at 5pm when local and national news broadcasts air.

This will then be followed at 6:15pm by a special The One Show episode dedicated to the royal. 

Paddington 2 airs at 6:50pm on BBC One, paying tribute to the Queen’s cameo with the iconic character.

Then a concise rundown of the days events will play out at 8:30pm until 10pm for those who missed it during the day.

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