The media world is stunned when more than half of the three million viewers in Sydney watching Sarah Ferguson marry Prince Andrew chooses Seven over the coverage on Nine hosted by Ray Martin, Maggie Tabberer and Dame Edna Everage.
Seven had gone the extra mile by gaining exclusive rights to the Thames/ITV coverage. Nine, Ten and the ABC shared the more staid and serious BBC coverage. The gamble had resulted in Seven’s coverage peaking at 42. Nine had 23% of the audience while Ten and the ABC tied in third place.
The Royal wedding didn’t quite top the figure achieved by Seven for the wedding of Simon and Vicki in A Country Practice in October 1983. That wedding peaked at 44.
Source: SMH.