Channel 4 Plans To Upstage Royals

PREMIUM: In a television world gone wedding mad, Channel 4 is the only major U.K. broadcaster that will give short shrift to coverage of the royal nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Instead it will feature a wedding of commoners in the middle of prime time the night before the big day at Westminster Abbey.

A one-off special, My Big Fat Royal Gypsy Wedding, produced by Firecracker Films, will spotlight the wedding of two “Irish Travelers” and in recent weeks cameras have been following the preparations for the outrageously extravagant event. The one-off special was commissioned by C4 factual entertainment editor Tina Flintoff following the runaway success of C4’s Gypsy Wedding programs and will be aired on April 28 at 9 p.m. and repeated at 10:25 p.m. on Royal Wedding Day.

The Big Fat Gypsy Wedding phenomenon began last year with a one-off film shown in C4’s Cutting Edge strand called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. It was watched by over 5 million viewers. A five-part series was then commissioned, with 8.2 million viewers tuning into the top-rated episode. That appears to be C4’s highest ever audience for a factual programme (and the figure does not include the large number who viewed on catch-up service 40D). London-based Firecracker’s Jes Wilkins is the executive producer.

The My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding franchise has been picked up for U.S. broadcast by TLC. Renamed Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, the U.K. show will start a seven-episode run on May 29. TLC is also developing an American version.

While the Gypsy celebrants go all out, C4 will underplay the Royal Wedding on the day. It will not cover the ceremony live at all and the only concession to the occasion will be in extending its flagship evening news show to a full hour on the day. The channel is also airing a documentary about Kate Middleton’s family presented by historian David Starkey.

C4’s channel brand has developed around youth-oriented and alternative programming, but the decision not to follow the crowd chasing Andrew and Kate on April 29 may actually more business-minded than iconoclastic. C4 lives on advertising and commercials will be prohibited during the wedding.

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom prohibits commercial breaks during a "formal royal ceremony." Lest there be any misunderstanding, Ofcom’s code further defines this event as an "occasion of which the Sovereign or members of the British Royal Family enjoying the prefix ‘Royal Highness’ are the centre." The ban also applies to public occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Colour.

The advertising ban is not dissuading ITV from going all out in covering the Royal Wedding on the day despite estimates that it could lose as much as £8 million in revenue from the commercial inventory that will go to waste. ITV will probably enjoy an overall a revenue boost when all its wedding-themed programming building up to the great occasion is taken into account.

ITV’s news arm ITN is partnering with American network NBC in covering the wedding. NBC will base a wedding production team of about 50 people at ITN’s headquarters in London.