By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:03 PM on 1st May 2011
- 22.7 million Americans watched live coverage on 11 U.S. networks
- Viewer numbers significantly down on Princess Diana's funeral
- Global estimate of 2.24million people watching William and Kate's nuptials
Almost 23 million American TV viewers tuned in to watch live coverage of Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton on Friday, despite the wedding taking place before dawn in much of the U.S.
But the viewing interest in the nuptials was far below that for Princess Diana's funeral in 1997, according to TV audience data released by Nielsen.
Nielsen said 22.7 million Americans out of a population of about 310 million watched live coverage of the Royal Wedding on 11 U.S. networks.
Ratings boost: The Royal Wedding attracted almost 23 million American TV viewers
Less interest: But the figure was 10 million below the number who watched the funeral of Prince William's mother, Princess Diana in 1997
HOW THEY COMPARE: TELEVISION RATINGS IN U.S. FOR EVENTS
Funeral of Princess Diana, September 6 1997, 33.2 million viewers
Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, April 29, 2011, 22.7 million viewers
In comparison, 33.2 million tuned in to watch the funeral of Princess Diana in London in September 1997. Diana, the mother of Prince William, was killed in car crash at the age of 36.
The Nielsen figures did not cover the millions more who watched Friday's wedding ceremony on smaller U.S. networks, nor online, where interest in the couple has rivalled coverage of superstar movie actresses and pop singers in recent months.
E! Online alone reported a record 23.6 million page views on Friday thanks mostly to its coverage of the London nuptials and live streaming of the royal wedding ceremony.
Some of biggest names in American broadcasting made their way to London to cover the royal event.
Barbara Walters joined Diane Sawyer to anchor ABC's coverage in a special edition of Good Morning America, which had 8.7 million viewers - the programme's highest ratings in nearly 20 years.
Momentous events: The funeral of Princess Diana was also held in Westminster Abbey
Happier occasion: Singer Elton John attended both events and sang at Princess Diana's funeral
On NBC, Today Show hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira fronted the coverage from outside Buckingham Palace.
In the evening, a CBS News special hosted by Katie Couric topped the ratings with 8.6 million viewers.
Worldwide, other estimates put the global television and online audience for the wedding at 2.4 billion people - more than one in three of the global population if the figure is accurate.
During the service Facebook was updated 74 times a second - helping William and Kate's big day become the sixth biggest web event in history.
Online buzz: On micro-blogging site Twitter the event at its peak was mentioned 67 times a second
Broadcasting stars: Meredith Vieira and Katie Couric both flew to London to anchor coverage of the wedding
On Twitter - the micro-blogging site - the event at its peak was mentioned 67 times a second.
Trending topics on Twitter as well as on Facebook were dominated by the wedding.
Terms included Westminster Abbey, Prince William, Kate Middleton as well as Camilla and Jerusalem, the hymn written by William Blake and Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry.
As the first major event of the social media age was played out, users of the site poured their excitement about it straight on to the web pages.
The number of visitors to MailOnline began climbing from early morning reaching a peak when the happy couple kissed on the balcony at Buckingham Palace in the early afternoon. At that point the website recorded twice its usual amount of traffic.
Celebration: Chatshow host Piers Morgan and Emma Bunton were among the celebrities who took to Twitter to congratulate the happy couple and provide a running commentary on the nuptials
Google doodle: The search engine used its home page illustration for the big day to depict a horse drawn coach being pulled through the streets of London from Westminster Abbey to a Disney-style Princess's castle
As has become the norm with notable occasions celebrities shared their thoughts on the unfolding day by posting a series of messages online.
TV presenter Piers Morgan said: 'One overriding thought watching this magnificent occasion: The British Monarchy is back.'
While a Victoria Beckham was lucky to receive a coveted invite to the Abbey, her former Spice Girl bandmate Emma Bunton was forced to watch the occasion on TV like millions of others.
'Absolutely beautiful couple!!! They look exquisite!', she tweeted.
The wedding even captured the attention of teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber who also singled out Kate's sister Pippa for a special mention: 'Congrats to William and Kate and Kate's sister.'
By the time the newlyweds emerged for the procession to Buckingham Palace, the number of mentions by users around the country had hit 1,199,196, Facebook said.
Other royal wedding-related terms that featured prominently in Facebook status updates on Friday included 'God Save the Queen', 'Union Jack' and 'British monarchy'.
The wedding was also watched by U.S. teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber who congratulated the royal couple, but also singled out Kate's sister Pippa for a special mention
Can you not get it right? It is fewer not less.
- John, Eastbourne, 01/5/2011 18:33
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