The CutlineCNN’s wall-to-wall royal wedding plans
The oft-beleauguered cable news network CNN is on a roll right now. For the past several months, CNN has enjoyed consistent ratings bumps, thanks to its dominant coverage of hard-hitting international stories like the Middle East uprisings and the deadly earthquake in Japan. But don't expect the network to be any less thorough in its treatment of softer fare--as when two young rich people tie the knot in England amid a frenzy of monarchy-obsessed media coverage next month.
CNN plans to assign approximately 400 50 reporters, cameramen and crew to the April 29 nuptials of Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton. (UPDATE: A CNN spokeswoman said the number originally reported by The Wall Street Journal was inaccurate.) That's 350 more than about the same number the network currently has on the ground in Japan. "Ten cameras will be stationed around Buckingham Palace to capture the day's money shot—the royal family assembling on the balcony as Prince William and his bride share a kiss," according to The Journal.
The consummate smooch, part of a live seven-hour broadcast the day of the ceremony, will cap off a solid month's worth of royal wedding coverage from CNN and CNN International, including a series of four weekly specials from London-based correspondent Richard Quest; three installments of "Piers Morgan Tonight"; and two of "Anderson Cooper 360," both live from London, on the eve of the event. Nor will the network's coverage of the historic union end with the ceremony proper: Soledad O'Brien will host a followup special.
"As the tension and excitement builds in the days before the Royal Wedding, CNN intends to be a visual real-time diary of the many and varied ways that people around the world choose to mark and experience the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton," Katherine Green, senior vice president and general manager for CNN International, told New Zealand's Throng. "The wedding day itself will capture the imagination of millions of viewers and CNN guarantees its global audience a front row seat for every minute of the pomp and ceremony of the big day."
(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
