BBC gets 2,000 complaints over its "mind-numbingly tedious" Jubilee coverage
52 replies, posted
[B]BBC creative director Alan Yentob says it is "fair to criticise" some aspects of the corporation's coverage of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
[/B]His comments come after more than 2,000 viewers complained to the BBC about its programming over the Jubilee weekend.
The BBC also drew ire from the press, [B]which called coverage of Sunday's river pageant "inane" and "tedious"[/B].
"We will look at it," Mr Yentob said, "but I don't believe you can say in every aspect that this thing failed".
"Nothing gets a universal three cheers," he added. "Across the weekend, I can honestly say the BBC has never had a challenge as staggeringly big as this.
"No-one has complained about the tone of the parade or the church service."
[B]
The majority of the criticism directed at the BBC was over Sunday's coverage of the Thames river pageant, which drew 10.3m viewers.[/B]
[B]Actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, called the four-and-a-half hour broadcast "mind-numbingly tedious".[/B]
[B]"This is eggier and cheesier than a collapsed souffle,"[/B] 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.
[B]"Nobody explained what Dunkirk was and nobody explained that what these boats did was extraordinary."[/B]
Even the BBC's former Royal Correspondent Michael Cole joined the criticism, saying the presenters were under-prepared.
"[B]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,[/B]" 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 he thought 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.
[B]
"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.
[/B]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."
Despite the complaints, viewing figures were high.
[B]The most-watched event was the lavish Diamond Jubilee pop concert, which had an average of 14.7m viewers and a peak of 17m.
[/B]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 under one million tuning in on ITV.
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60714000/jpg/_60714447_60714446.jpg[/IMG]
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18337851[/URL]
The reason it was tedious was because it was the fucking Diamond Jubilee. There is no way you can jazz that up!
All I remember is everyone just saying "oh, isn't she lovely" for about 5 hours. But hey, maybe the Jubilee was inherently tedious :v:
I really don't understand why everybody was getting so excited.
The CNN coverage was worse from what I saw on the Daily Show.
I think that's more complaints than Jeremy Clarkson gets for saying something ridiculous.
did you guys see when the boat turned around
[QUOTE=TwinkieHouse;36223915]I think that's more complaints than Jeremy Clarkson gets for saying something ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
I still wonder how many of those complaints about Jeremy Clarkson actually knew the joke was taken out of context.
Canada made a big deal out of it for some reason
[QUOTE=bunnyspy1;36223944]did you guys see when the boat turned around[/QUOTE]
I have never seen a boat that size turn like that!
I did find it funny that Americans were more interested in that old bag than the Brits
"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,"
I laughed my balls off when I read this. How snobby can you get.
[QUOTE=Scrimp;36224168]"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,"
I laughed my balls off when I read this. How snobby can you get.[/QUOTE]
I had to reread that again because I didn't even see what was going on.
Everyone I know just calls her the Queen none of that fancy shit.
[QUOTE=bunnyspy1;36223944]did you guys see when the boat turned around[/QUOTE]
I remember the commentator said it "Defied gravity"
some old bitch lived for 60 years with some status and gets a huge celebration
that is why there are 2000 complaints
[b]you cannot make this 'celebration' look meaningful or good[/b]
They had the bloody London Philharmonic Orchestra there all day playing music on their boat yet they decided to have absolutely no music at all. They could have made it less boring by micing them up and having the music over the top of everything.
[QUOTE=Scrimp;36224168]"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,"
I laughed my balls off when I read this. How snobby can you get.[/QUOTE]
Whats the difference from one to another anyway?
And who the hell wants to watch something as boring as this?!
I could think of a thousand nature shows that are actually BORING to watch that would be more fun than this.
Didn't a load of people complain to the BBC because a reporter referred to the bow of the royal barge as the stern?
As somebody who watched nearly the entire thing (What? Boats are fucking awesome), I can easily see what they mean.
For somebody who wanted to watch it for the boats, [B]the majority of coverage was for the rowboats and the Queens ship[/B]. Which, impressive as it was for the first hour, isn't something that was fun for the next 4. There were supposed to be lines of other boats, [B]but we hardly got to see them. [/B]
Secondly, they had the Jubilee babies! What the hell were they thinking? "Oh, this is the fourth baby being born on the Jubilee! Lets talk to the parents! Aww, babies!" Plus the coverage on the 'hollywood' ship made me want to punch somebody.
The historical coverage about London and the Thames was good, though, and the Horrible Histories guy was pretty welcome. It wasn't all bad, but it was as if some new people were put in charge and had no idea what the hell 'balance' was.
Well its not like they could make it exiting
[QUOTE=Sir M;36224383]Well its not like they could make it exiting[/QUOTE]
Yes they could. More history, more dramatic shots of more of the boats, maybe some documentary sections about the war and her life.
If all you watch is Xfactor and Dic and Dom, then yeah it's going to be boring.
Not even Michael Bay could have made it fun to watch
There was a lot of stuff, but no volume. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't sat for the four and a half hour river pageant. I just watched the boats when I drifted through the Lounge and it looked spectacular.
I've never heard of a "diamond jubilee" before this.
[QUOTE=Thom12255;36224212]I had to reread that again because I didn't even see what was going on.
Everyone I know just calls her the Queen none of that fancy shit.[/QUOTE]
The point is someone who is being paid by the BBC to basically be a royal expert should know the correct title of the queen.
[editline]6th June 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=cyclocius;36224519]There was a lot of stuff, but no volume. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't sat for the four and a half hour river pageant. I just watched the boats when I drifted through the Lounge and it looked spectacular.[/QUOTE]
I'd say the river pageant was the most boring event of the weekend, in terms of things to put on TV. There just is no way you can spice it up, its not like the other things that happened where they can spiced up. I mean take a look at the stuff that happened on Tuesday, it was made more interesting in the way the BBC usually do by having all their presenters there covering it from every angle and not just some guy talking over the top of it narrating it.
Did anyone in the UK see the TV stations talking about the Tiananmen Square anniversary two days ago, or the 68th D-Day anniversary today? I didn't. It was just nothing but the Jubilee, like it has been for the past few days.
[QUOTE=st_nick5;36224725]Did anyone in the UK see the TV stations talking about the Tiananmen Square anniversary two days ago, or the 68th D-Day anniversary today? I didn't. It was just nothing but the Jubilee, like it has been for the past few days.[/QUOTE]
Kinda like when Steve Jobs died there was a big media shitstorm, but when Dennis Ritchie died a week later nobody seemed to care.
This comment is probably in bad taste, but I think you get my point. The public is shallow.
17 million people watched Jubilee related BBC programming and only 2000 complained. That works out at about 0.01% of people who watched complained. I'd imagine they get that amount of complaints for pretty much everything they air. Always some grumpy 'no fun allowed' bastards who like to complain and ruin it. They're probably the same sort of people who complain to the council when their neighbors have a party. I have to admit it does seem like the coverage was a bit of an amateur job, but I don't know anyone who's had any real problems with it.
[QUOTE=st_nick5;36224725]Did anyone in the UK see the TV stations talking about the Tiananmen Square anniversary two days ago, or the 68th D-Day anniversary today? I didn't. It was just nothing but the Jubilee, like it has been for the past few days.[/QUOTE]
With all due respect I don't see the significance of it being the 68th year since D-Day, (I mean, if it was the 50th i'd expect a bit more coverage) and what do you expect, remember the big hum drum about the royal wedding? At least that was watchable.
[QUOTE=Strike 86;36223776]I really don't understand why everybody was getting so excited.[/QUOTE]
Everybody is glad that she's going to die soon.
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