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LONDON – The BBC has received a slew of complaints about its royal baby coverage, with many critics saying it was “excessive.”
The U.K. public broadcaster reported more than 250 complaints as of Tuesday afternoon. Its flagship network BBC One offered selective coverage, while news network BBC News provided near wall-to-wall coverage Monday and Tuesday.
As of Wednesday morning, the BBC coverage of the birth of Kate Middleton and Prince William‘s first child had drawn nearly 380 viewer complaints, according to Broadcast magazine. The majority of people complained that there was too much of the baby news.
A BBC spokeswoman said the BBC News website attracted its largest ever daily audience Monday with 19.4 million unique visitors from around the world. This included its second-biggest day of U.K. traffic with 10.8 million visitors.
BBC News online usage via mobile devices, including tablet computers, also reached record highs Monday, the broadcaster said.
The television coverage of the royal baby on BBC One and BBC News may have been deemed excessive by some viewers, but it didn’t bring the BBC a ratings victory Tuesday night.
As reported, ITV News drew the day’s biggest TV audience with its live coverage of Kate Middleton and Prince William as they left the hospital with their newborn baby boy, handily outperforming the BBC in the ratings.
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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