Are those wedding bells we hear already? Bell Media has released its all-encompassing, cross-platform coverage strategy for the days and weeks leading up to the April 29, 6 a.m. wedding ceremony between Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The only benchmark that can be used to compare the upcoming nuptials is the wedding of Prince William’s mother, Princess Diana, which boasted an estimated one billion television viewers worldwide, Jana Juginovic, executive producer, specials, Bell Media tells MiC.
“That wedding was totally different, it was 1981, you didn’t have 24-hour news coverage or online components you have now,” she says. “It was really different. The amount of things you can do now that you couldn’t do then is amazing. But it all comes down to a young couple getting married.”
The lead up to this couple getting married includes coverage from a team of Bell Media reporters from across its networks, plus British comedian Tracey Ullman. The Comedy Network will show The Queen’s Toast: A Royal Wedding Special, with Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall fame reviving his impression of the Queen and presenting a parody of the Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech.
Wedding-related specials and coverage will also be shown across the rest of Bell Media’s properties, says Juginovic, including E!, Discovery Channel, Bravo! and Fashion Television Channel, as well as on CTV programs such as Canada AM, eTalk, the CTV National News and The Marilyn Denis Show.
And it doesn’t stop there. Bell Media has also created TheRoyals.ca, which includes video from across the Bell Media properties, a wedding countdown and content on everything from fashion to wedding souvenirs.
Juginovic says Bell Media is also interacting with viewers through social media tools like Twitter and Facebook and will be running a live stream of comments throughout the broadcast (which begins at 3 a.m.) on the day of the Royal Wedding.
Bell Media’s coverage of the Royal Wedding is being cross-promoted through all of its brands, says Juginovic. Further details on external advertising will be made available in the coming days, says a Bell Media spokesperson.
