BBC ‘grateful for feedback’ after Prince Philip coverage reaches 110,000 complaints – record figure for British TV

The BBC has addressed complaints after a record number of people contacted the broadcaster, disgruntled by the amount of coverage given to Prince Philip’s death.

The Duke of Edinburgh died aged 99 on April 9, with the BBC immediately pulling all non news-related programming from its schedule for the rest of the day.

Subsequently, the MasterChef final, The Graham Norton Show, Have I Got News For You and The One Show were all either cancelled or postponed.

Almost 110,000 people complained about the coverage, with the BBC being forced to open a complaints form on its site specifically concerning ‘too much Prince Philip ‘ coverage.

Responding to the backlash, the BBC said in a statement: #We received complaints about our coverage of the passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

‘The passing of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was a significant event which generated a lot of interest both nationally and internationally.

‘We acknowledge some viewers were unhappy with the level of coverage given, and impact this had on the billed TV and Radio schedules.

‘We do not make such changes without careful consideration and the decisions made reflect the role the BBC plays as the national broadcaster, during moments of national significance.

‘We are grateful for all feedback, and we always listen to the response from our audiences.’

Prince Philip’s funeral is set to take place on Saturday April 17 at 3pm with 30 guests and will air on BBC One. Coverage will begin before the ceremony.

ITV will also show the funeral from 1.15pm, with schedules returning to normal from 4.30pm. 

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