Channel 4 received divided opinions for its scheduling decisions after Prince Philip passed away at the age of 99. Despite many broadcasting houses cancelling all programmes, Channel 4 continued with its screening of Gogglebox. This then bears the question, was Channel 4 right in its decision to broadcast minimal coverage of the event?
The Royal Family announced the death of the Duke of Edinburgh on the morning of Friday 9 April . Following the news of his death, British broadcasters took differing actions. ITV’s This Morning was abruptly cut short in order to cover the death, whilst BBC postponed all non-news programming for the rest of the day. However, Channel 4 took a different approach. Although Channel 4 news was extended until 8:30pm to reflect on the Duke’s death, their advertised schedule went ahead as planned between 9 pm and 11:35 pm.
The schedule included the showing of TV hits The Circle and Gogglebox. This scheduling was drastically different from the channel’s counterparts where BBC replaced Eastenders and the MasterChef final with a two-hour news special about the late Duke and ITV broadcasted three documentaries about Prince Philip.
Social Media Backlash
Many people took to social media to express their opinions, claiming the channel was “insensitive” and implied the channel was ignoring what was happening.
One Twitter user exclaimed their disgust at the channel: “Channel 4 is disgusting and insensitive, they have carried on with their usual programming ‘Find It, Fix It, Flog It’ instead of running segments on the death of Prince Philip like the other major broadcasters. It’s unbecoming of Channel 4 and a national broadcaster.”
Another added: “Hope that when the Queen dies, you won’t just continue to play Come Dine with Me repeats like you have today.”
The Overwhelming Presence of Death
I can understand why people would have had this view – had there not been any other coverage on the event elsewhere. Yet, a public service broadcaster, as well as ITV and Channel 5, were all already catering for the coverage of the death. So, it would have been completely unnecessary for another broadcaster to do the same.
“British broadcasting has to cater for the entire country not just a portion of it”
The world has been surrounded by death for over a year. This widespread coverage of death can be both traumatic and exhausting, especially to those who have lost loved ones over the past year whether it was due to Covid-19 or other circumstances, especially where people were not able to attend funerals. This has been a traumatic year and the nation’s mental health has suffered greatly, so it was incredibly important that Channel 4 were able to provide the nation with something else to watch other than death.
Channel 4 did not show a lack of respect by deciding to return to its schedule; British broadcasting has to cater for the entire country not just a portion of it.
Today on Channel 4 we broadcast a 30 minute news special shortly after the Duke of Edinburgh's death was announced; an in-depth obituary at 4pm and there'll be an extended @Channel4News at 7. C4 also has a duty to offer an alternative to other channels hence a return to schedule.
— Louisa Compton (@louisa_compton) April 9, 2021
Not only did the channel provide a healthy alternative for those suffering because of the past year, it also provided an alternative for those who have suffered far longer.
Monarchical Privileges
This also is not the first incident that Channel 4 has bent their expected showings in order to appeal to a wider audience. When Princess Diana’s funeral was shown across the UK and the world in 1997, Channel 4 chose to broadcast children’s programmes so that children still had something to watch on such a mournful day. Also, when the death of Diana was announced Channel 4 resumed normal programmes at around 11 am, whilst the BBC and ITV continued their blanket coverage for the rest of the day.
“there are so many things that we as a nation need to unpack”
The monarchy is a very difficult and complex institution to be able to fully digest, and, even now, there are so many things that we as a nation need to unpack. So, when it comes to the monarchy, we need to appreciate and be able to acknowledge that not everyone feels the same about the royals and the institution. Although we can mourn for the death of Prince Philip, and those who feel the need to should be able to view that coverage on BBC and ITV, many people will not want to mourn for the monarchy. Therefore, Channel 4 made the correct decision to provide a much-needed alternative.
Lauren Bramwell
Featured image courtesy of Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Lauren Bramwell
Journalist. University of East Anglia English Literature Graduate. Previously Concrete's Opinion Editor.