The BBC’s Glastonbury Coverage is Not Excessive or a Luxury
The programming from Worthy Farm helps make the arts more accessible.
The hangover is (probably) starting to recede for the thousands that made it to Glastonbury 2023. Worthy Farm is starting to recover for another year. What is often taken for granted is how much those of us who can’t face multiple nights in a tent can take in from the festival, thanks to the BBC. I spent a large part of the weekend watching and could enjoy the luxury of a hot shower too!
The broadcaster has full live coverage from across multiple stages on TV, radio, the iPlayer and BBC Sounds. It shows highlights in its programming too. This year the digital coverage had hit 50.3 million streams across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds by this morning. That is an increase of 47% from last year, according to the organisation. Sir Elton John’s closing set on the Pyramid Stage alone was streamed 4.3 million times. On BBC One, that set averaged 7.3 million viewers, a 48.9% audience share, and peaked at 7.6 million viewers.
The Glastonbury Channel stays on the iPlayer until 30th June with over 90 sets are still available on demand for the next few weeks.
Commenting, Lorna Clarke, Director of Music said:
From headliner sets to live shows and specially curated content, our new Glasto-Cam and the BSL stream, we had something for everyone, brilliantly brought to audiences by our skilful teams.
Often, we only debate the BBC in terms of its contribution to news, drama and entertainment. There are frequently moans about its lack of live sports coverage too. Yet the conversation often overlooks how valuable BBC arts coverage is, whether it is Glastonbury or the Proms. This stuff doesn’t happen by magic. At the risk of being a total suck-up, there are not many, if any, other broadcasters around the world that could cover one of the biggest music festivals in the world the way the BBC covers Glastonbury.
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