Over 14 million viewers tuned in to the BBC in the UK to watch coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. But the BBC has apologised for sound problems that affected some viewers.
BBC One’s coverage fronted by Huw Edwards with Kirsty Young, Clare Balding and Sophie Raworth was watched by a peak of 13.4 million and an average of 11.9 million.
Meanwhile, a peak of 1.7 million watched coverage on BBC Two, which carried sign language. Overall, an average 1.4 million viewers followed along on the BBC’s second channel.
The BBC hasn’t yet revealed how many were watching the event in UHD on BBC iPlayer.
Less interest than World Cup
But the BBC viewing figures were less than other major events in the past year.
The 2022 Men’s World Cup quarter final featuring England v France in Qatar scored. a ratings peak of almost 23 million viewers (21.3 million on ITV1, the rest on ITVX).
29 million watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
The BBC was joined by broadcasters including ITV1 and Sky News in showing the Coronation live. ITV1 recorded 3.3 million viewers. The final total across all channels is expected to be around 19-20 million. This excludes those watching on catch-up.
Sound trouble for HD viewers
But the BBC’s coverage was dogged by sound problems on BBC One HD, which lasted throughout the ceremony. Viewers reported frequent audio drop-outs.
The BBC blamed “an audio conversion issue from 5.1 surround sound to stereo that affected certain distribution services for the channel”.
Viewers watching the event in standard definition on Freeview or in UHD via the iPlayer were not affected. Neither were viewers watching on BBC Two or BBC News.
Marc Thornham