Palace blocks UK news sites streaming service – but not foreign ones
BUCKINGHAM PALACE prevented British newspaper websites from live-streaming the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, but gave access to international sites available to watch in the UK.
Despite requests from sites including Mail Online, Metro, The Sun and Mirror Online for permission to show yesterday’s event, the Palace refused, insisting it would be available on mainstream television channels and Google-owned YouTube.
Although they said the rule would apply to all digital news providers, the American gossip website TMZ was given the green light to stream it live. Meanwhile, in addition to mainstream US news channels including CBS and CNN showing the funeral, more niche TV streaming services including Fubo and Hulu – to which British subscribers can subscribe – were able to show the event.
The ruling came despite the newspaper websites pointing out that younger generations increasingly get their news online rather than through terrestrial TV channels.
In its response, the Palace said: ‘Your comment on a younger audience and their preference for digital consumption of information is why we are making the feed available on digital channels but not allowing it to be used far and wide by media outlets where an intensely personal service is at risk of becoming clickbait.’
It added: ‘I am sorry to inform you that the streaming of the service will only be available via the host broadcasters of BBC, ITV and Sky or the Royal YouTube channel. As this is a solemn service of commemoration and a very personal service for the Royal Family, we have taken the decision not to allow it to be streamed across multiple channels. This is not a decision that we have taken lightly but we hope you can understand it.’
Geoblocking –- technology that restricts access to internet content based upon the user’s geographical location – was used to enforce the Palace’s decision. This meant that in the UK, footage could only be watched on the BBC, ITV, Sky News, some foreign streaming services and the new Royal Family YouTube Channel. The royal channel, which ran 112 minutes of footage, has 779,000 subscribers. Mail Online has 252 million global unique browsers.
Sky News, the BBC and ITV all showed the event online as well as on TV. Other foreign media organisations allowed to live-stream the funeral included the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, the New York Times, the Kansas-based news service KCTV5 and the Philippinesbased News5Everywhere.
UK magazine Hello! also streamed footage by embedding the YouTube feed into its website.