The ABC’s broadcast of King Charles’ coronation was labelled “despicable” by monarchists, but viewers loved it and gave the national broadcaster an easy ratings win over the commercial networks.
The king’s procession averaged 1,182,000 viewers on the ABC, putting it ahead of Seven’s 1,096,000 and Nine’s 738,000, according to OzTAM which now measures viewing through broadcast TV and streaming devices.
The Australian Monarchist League said the coverage included “vitriolic attacks on the king, the monarchy, the British settlement and everything that came thereafter”.
The ABC was criticised by radio broadcasters Neil Mitchell and Ray Hadley, as well as News Corporation, for hosting a panel discussion about the impact of colonialism on Indigenous Australians and the relevance of the monarchy in 2023.
“The ABC’s coverage in the lead-up to King Charles III being crowned featured a panel dominated by pro-republican voices who spoke at length about colonisation and racism in Australia – which they blamed the monarchy for – at the same time crowds were pouring into Westminster Abbey in London,” the Australian reported.
“While other channels brought us only pageantry and pomp, the ABC was bravely debating the future of the monarchy and the dark impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians.” #MediaWatch pic.twitter.com/OZziUnOLSN
— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) May 8, 2023
The ABC took the BBC feed and did not send a team over to London, while the Seven network also took the BBC but had Sunrise co-host David Koch in London all week and he and Michael Usher broadcast live from different locations.
For the Queen’s funeral the ABC had 30 people on the ground and was criticised by Grant for being “obsequious” and ignoring Indigenous dispossession.
The ABC panel for the coronation, hosted by Jeremy Fernandez and Julia Baird, included journalist Stan Grant, lawyer and Indigenous writer Teela Reid, Liberal backbencher and monarchist Julian Leeser and co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement Craig Foster. The panel discussion lasted 45 minutes in the lead-up to the coronation and was over hours before the event itself.
Nine Radio host Mitchell said the ABC had “totally misread the mood” and focused on “bagging the living daylights out of the monarchy”.
Headlines in the Australian included “ABC’s royal rants fail to lure viewers” and “ABC’s coronation coverage labelled ‘bile’”.
Liberal MP Jason Wood said the “ABC bias and woke agenda was in full swing during the King Charles coronation”.
In a statement, an ABC spokesperson said: “The role of the national broadcaster is to facilitate conversations that reflect the diversity of views in the community.
“Hearing from Indigenous Australians and reflecting on Australia’s history is an important part of this, especially as this year Australians will vote in a referendum on whether a First Nations voice to parliament should be included in the nation’s constitution.”
According to the initial overnight metropolitan ratings, which only measure broadcast TV in the capital cities, Seven’s coronation broadcast had the biggest audience with 739,000, followed by Nine’s 558,000 and ABC’s 513,000.
OzTAM issues updated ratings which reflect the size of the audience when all platforms are taken into account.
