CNN will have 400 reporters, cameramen and crew covering the Royal Wedding of Prince what's his name and the mousy little girl he's chosen to expose to the tender mercies of the British tabloid press.
For a little contrast, CNN has about 50 employees covering Japan, plus others scattered in Bahrain, Tunisia, and Egypt.
The Wall Street Journal says the royal knot tying will be the biggest TV event in history:
BBC America General Manager Perry Simon was in a taxicab in London when he first heard about the engagement. He immediately made a call to his programming department. The network declared itself "Home of the Royal Wedding."
The strategy includes 184 hours of related documentaries and the new two-part show "Royally Mad," which follows five Angophile Americans on a whirlwind tour of London complete with royal trivia and visits to sites such as the Mahiki lounge, where Prince William and Ms. Middleton (or Wills & Kate, as the tabloids call them) are known to frequent. "Our goal is to make it feel like you're sitting in a British living room," Mr. Simon says.The event also means built-in branding for dozens of existing wedding reality series like "Bridezillas" and "My Fair Wedding With David Tutera." TLC will peg its new season of "Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss," featuring plus-size brides, to the big day. The premiere of spinoff "Randy Knows Best," which follows Randy Fenoli, the colorful fashion director at New York's Kleinfeld Bridal salon, will also be pegged to the wedding. NBC Universal's Oxygen will give the April 6 premiere of Tori Spelling's new wedding reality series "Tori & Dean: sTORIbook Weddings" a boost by offering Ms. Spelling up as an expert in royal wedding commentary.
It's the "Fairy Tale Syndrome," of course. Every little girl is supposed to dream about growing up to be a princess even though most pre teen girls I know dream about growing up to be a lawyer, a doctor, or president - or a pro athlete.
Actually, as the programming at all the female oriented networks prove, this is a daydream of adult women, not children. And the news networks are going to ride this horse for all that it's worth.
Mark April 29th on your calendar as a day you want to stay away from the TV. Unless you want to be sachharined and sweetified to death with images of the fake happy couple whose every breath, every raised eyebrow, will be scrutinized by a merciless, gossipy press from here on out.
Hat Tip: Ethel Carol
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