It was only a year and a half ago that 23 million people flocked to TV news coverage of the Royal Wedding. Every news division sent teams of people to London to cover the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
This morning, news broke via press release that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a child. The Royals opted to send out a release because Middleton was admitted to the hospital for an extreme version of morning sickness, it caught most of the media off-guard.
And yet, the despite the over-the-top efforts that went into covering the wedding, the news was not covered very much on cable news today.
MSNBC was the first cable news channel to cover the story at 11:43 AM as part of a news break. CNN covered at the top of the noon hour, with the anchor saying sardonically “Some breaking baby news. Kate Middleton is pregnant. Yes, I know you’re thrilled, before throwing to Richard Quest in London. CNBC and HLN covered it at the top of the noon hour as well. Fox News and Fox Business covered it right before the start of the 1 PM hour. Update: Fox News actually mentioned the announcement at 11:11 AM.
The coverage was mostly confined to brief reports, though that could also have to do with the unexpected nature of the announcement.
Leading up to the wedding, it seemed as though every hour there were a handful of wedding stories. Will the Royal Baby be greeted with a similar reaction? We will find out next Summer.