Back in 1953, most people living in Britain didn’t even own a TV set, but made the effort to buy one so that they could watch the live coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and now it appears as if broadcasters are hoping the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William, and Kate Middleton, will encourage viewers across the world to upgrade to the next level of technology; 3D.
The wedding of Prince William (grandson of Queen Elizabeth II) to the commoner Kate Middleton is undeniably massive news; as the news of their announced engagement spread around the world within minutes, and had a huge number of English viewers watching their engagement interview later that evening; and as it’s guaranteed to bring in a massive audience, broadcaster BSKYB wishes to film, and broadcast, the nuptials in 3D, as a means of convincing the viewing public to upgrade their current systems/receivers.
Ever since Avatar once again blew open the lid on 3D, and presented it as a viable future for both films and TV, there’s been talk of it being the next big thing, yet despite what Avatar’s director James Cameron predicts for the future of the format, viewers have generally been slow to adopt 3DTV’s; and it’s been predicted that only 4.7 million 3DTV’s will have been installed in the entire United States, by the end of next year; which means the BBC aren’t quite as convinced as BSKYB about broadcasting the wedding in 3D.
Whilst the BBC Vision boss Jane Bennett “can see an archive argument” for filming the proceedings in 3D, she currently seems less than enthusiastic about its current merits, due to the lack of 3D adoption, and relatively small impact it will have, unlike high-definition; which is a format in which the wedding is already guaranteed to be shown; with many experts believing that William and Kate’s wedding could be the tipping point which convinces the majority of the public who haven’t already upgraded to HDTV sets/channels, to do so.
28.4 million people tuned in to watch William’s father; Prince Charles; marry his mother; Princess Diana; in 1981, but broadcasters are hoping that the marriage of William and Kate will be even bigger, and become the most watched event in history; something which is entirely possible, due to the popularity of the much adored young couple, the fact that William is heir to the throne of the most famous monarchy in the world, and the fact that everyone in Britain has been given the day off work to watch, celebrate, and enjoy; meaning there’s a huge, built-in, market for SKY and the BBC; both of whom have already had meetings with Palace officials to discuss the broadcasting arrangements for the ceremony.
The official lead broadcaster won’t be announced until next year, although that honour will likely fall to the BBC; who would then provide the pool footage to be used by every other broadcaster around the world; and while that represents a potentially huge source of revenue it’s still undecided if U.S. broadcasters (or those in any other nation) will be charged for the use of the footage; although if the example of the engagement interview were to be followed, the rights would be sold internationally, and all revenue would go to a charity chosen by the happy couple.
Yet whether the broadcasting rights fall to the BBC, or SKY (who who plan on feeding its 3D footage to its news affiliates across the globe), there’s no denying that the royal wedding (which is scheduled for April 29th, 2011) will be a momentous event, watched by millions of adoring onlookers, and critical cynics alike, although the question we’re wondering now, is whether it needs to be filmed in 3D, and if gaining an extra dimension would actually convince many people to buy a 3DTV?
