Yahoo! says web coverage is beating the previous record viewing for the Michael Jackson funeral by 21%; Google/YouTube still working on assembling numbers.

The ratings for the British royal wedding are still being tallied but early indications are lots of people were watching on TV and online.

Yahoo! said Friday that its live video stream of the wedding set an all time record for traffic, beating the previous record viewing for the Michael Jackson funeral by 21%.

“Overall traffic is surpassing expectations and we are breaking records in terms of traffic and video consumption,” says a Yahoo spokesperson.

That is particularly impressive since Google and YouTube were the official outlets for the live video stream. A Google/YouTube spokesperson said Friday they were still working on assembling the traffic numbers for their services.


Yahoo! Says the requests per second for the wedding surpassed the previous record set by the Japan earthquake with 40,000 per second at the peak, compared to 33,000 per second for the earthquake.

By 11 a.m. est on Friday Yahoo! Had already sent 14 million clicks to its wedding coverage. The top two stories were “the dress” and “the kiss” which had by that point more than 6 million clicks combined.

Yahoo! Estimates that twice as many women were clicking on its coverage than men.

The results, notes the Yahoo! spokesperson, are “especially impressive given that this event happened during non-peak hours.”

“We anticipate total video audience figures to break all previous records,” added the spokesperson.
Source:Hollywoodreporter

TV coverage of the wedding

Even the staid Weather Channel isn't immune from royal wedding fever.


Starting Monday, the latest forecasts and weather from London will be closely tracked. Al Roker will anchor "Wake Up With Al" from London, and The Weather Channel will take viewers on a trip to the royal couple's new home, the North Wales island of Anglesey.


The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton takes place Friday at 11 a.m. British Standard Time, which is 6 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Live coverage is as follows:

•ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox and E!, 4 a.m.

•CBS and TLC, 5 a.m.

•BBC America and Wedding Central, 3 a.m.

Virtually every network and cable channel will have coverage leading up to the wedding.

Morning news shows such as "Today," "Good Morning America" and "The Early Show," and prime-time news programs, such as "Dateline," "20/20," "Nightline" and the network evening news shows on ABC, CBS and NBC will take viewers inside the royal nuptials.

Specials such as movies, biographies, music and reruns of previous royal weddings also will air.

E! will broadcast from Buckingham Palace beginning Monday. Even the Disney Channel is showing "A Modern Fairytale: The Royal Wedding Week," a short-form series for kids, tweens and families, and prince- and princess-themed movies.

Wedding Central will air a one-hour special hosted by Perez Hilton on Friday night at 7 and at www.weddingcentral.com.

In addition, Wedding Central will stream the network's royal wedding-themed shows online Friday.

Following is a sample of what to expect; these are from cable's TLC:

•"Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time," tonight at 7. Relive the most-watched wedding of the 20th century.

•"Untold Stories of a Royal Bridesmaid," tonight at 9. India Hicks was a bridesmaid when her cousin and godfather, Prince Charles, married Lady Diana. The hour follows Hicks — model, TV host and world-renowned designer — as she recalls her bridesmaid experience.

•"Royally Astounding: 30 Defining Days of the Monarchy," tonight at 10. This documentary holds up a magnifying glass to 30 days in the life of the royal family during the past 30 years.

•"Wild About Prince Harry," Monday at 10 p.m. With his brother William about to tie the knot, Prince Harry takes the top spot on the list of the world's most eligible bachelors — and the last available British prince.

•"What the Sell?! Royal Episodes," Tuesday at 10 p.m. Features items from the United Kingdom, including Princess Diana memorabilia and an unexpected bit of royal lingerie from the era of Queen Victoria.

•"Extreme Royal Collections," Wednesday at 10 p.m. Meet the most avid royal collectors in the world.

•"The Making of a Royal Wedding," Thursday at 8 p.m. Logistics and details that go into preparing for a wedding of the century.

•"Countdown to the Royal Wedding," Thursday at 9 p.m. Royal experts and TLC hosts Clinton Kelly and Randy Fenoli conduct a round table to bring viewers up to speed on everything they need to know about the big day.

•Rebroadcast of the wedding will air 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Kate Middleton is about to become one of the most widely known women of the world, and you’d think it wouldn’t be hard to find a picture of her without makeup. But when that woman is about to become an English princess it all makes a little more sense. But here are a few shots of Kate without makeup.