The BBC has issued a response after receiving a record number of complaints about its coverage of Prince Philip’s death.
Last week, both BBC One and BBC Two cleared their schedules in the wake of the Duke Of Edinburgh’s death to devote the airtime to reports about the news, and reflections on his life.
Since then, it was reported that more than 100,000 people had complained to the corporation’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) – a record for complaints in British television history.
The BBC has now confirmed this to be the case, stating on Thursday the overall number of complaints stood at 109,741.
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Responding to these complaints, a spokesperson said: “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.”
It has now been confirmed that the BBC plans to devote around six hours of coverage to the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral this weekend, with broadcaster Huw Edwards leading most of it.
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The number of complaints about the coverage of Prince Philip’s death beats the previous high of 63,000 sparked by the BBC’s screening of Jerry Springer: The Musical in 2005.
Three years later, Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross’ prank call to actor Andrew Sachs on the former’s Radio 2 show, drew 42,000 complaints.
