The Queen’s funeral next Monday is predicted to bring in over 4.1 billion eyeballs, set to make it the most watched broadcast in the history of television!
Here in Australia, Nine and the ABC (both TV and radio) have announced plans set to broadcast the funeral live next Monday (11am UK time/8pm AEST), while Seven has yet to announce coverage plans and 10 plans to keep with its usual programming.
Metro reported that Carolina Beltramo, TV analyst at WatchTVAbroad.com, said: “No fewer than 4.1 billion people are expected to tune in on Monday to witness this historic moment as half the people on planet Earth pause to pay their respects.”
If the predictions are correct, the Queen’s funeral will smash the record of most watched televised events by billions.
With the planet’s population presently just shy of eight billion, Her Maj’s final dance will be watched by over half the world’s population!
10 biggest TV audiences in human history:
- Queen Elizabeth II funeral, 2022. Estimated TV audience – 4.1 billion
- Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, 2008. TV audience – two billion
- Rescue of Chilean miners, 2010. TV audience – one billion
- FIFA World Cup Final between Italy & France, 2006. TV audience – 715 million
- First Moon landing, 1969. TV audience – 530 million
- Michael Jackson’s funeral, 2009. TV audience – 500 million
- Aloha from Hawaii, 1976. TV audience – 400-500 million
- World Cup Cricket Final, Pakistan VS India, 2011. TV audience – 400 million
- Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, 2011. TV audience – 350-400 million
- Chinese Spring festival Gala, 2014. TV audience – 300 million (but mostly Chinese viewers)
Currently, the most watched televised event is the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremony which brought in two billion viewers globally
Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry’s televised wedding brought in 1.9 billion viewers, and Kate and William’s wedding brought in 350 million viewers. Charles and Diana’s wedding bought 1 billion viewers.
If you want to compare the Queen’s funeral to other televised funerals, Michael Jackson’s funeral drew in 500 million viewers, and John F Kennedy’s funeral drew in 180 million viewers.
If the Queen’s funeral gets the viewers it is predicted to reach, it will mean that the world will practically halt to pay its final respects.
