>>>
the
royal wedding
27
days away
now and whether online or tv, this will be watched by billions.
thomas roberts
joins us with more.
>>
it forget about
real housewives
, even
american idol
. the
royal wedding
is the real global
reality show
. it's going to be big. think will and kate plus 2.5 billion. that's the number of viewers worldwide expected to tune in to the
royal wedding
whoing on television. an estimated 800,000 people will line the streets to catch a glimpse. but millions more will see it online and join the festivities through blogs,
social media
and apps. all of it means this
wedding
could be seen by a third of the world's population. there's so much
television programming
planned that the "
wall street journal
" as bubed "
wall street journal
" could you bed dubbed it the
ultimate reality
show.
>>
i don't think anybody dare mention that to the queen.
>> reporter:
750 million people watched the
wedding
of the century
prince charles
and diane made in
1981
. americans were fascinated. many held early morning viewing parties. nbc's jane pauly covered the event.
>>
we don't have any royals of our own and we love a show, we love spectacle. the british just know how to do spectacle.
>> reporter:
the modern
wedding
of
prince william
and
kate middleton
is a dream come true for television programmers. thousands from news organizations will be in london to cover the event and cable stations are planning special
wedding
shows. the kardashians will keep up by airing
wedding
episodes. even the
disney channel
is planning to celebrate by arg princip airing principals ess movies.
>>
this is a highly produced fantasy show. it's disney. so that's how we should look at it.
>> reporter:
with all the
fairy tale
programming, television and
cable networks
are hoping to attract the royal watching public. and to capitalize on what many think will be must see tv. and if you want to seat
wedding
who see the
wedding
in person, businesses and homeowners are
selling space
outside their properties to folks who want to watch the royal procession in person.
>>
thanks very much. here with more on the build up, camilla, tharng thank ps fos for joining us. have they embraced or acknowledged the fact that this will be different because of the explosion of media outlets?
>>
bracing more modern television.
1981
, there was no internet, there were no
digital photographs
. so everything happened perhaps slightly slower pace. now of course you've got updates on twitter and facebook every second. in fact the royals themselves know that that is the way people are embracing the news. and so they've announced a lot of the issues around the
wedding
via these
social networking sites
. so you have announcements on twitter, facebook, rather than just your standard press release. so things are certainly changing and becoming more modernized.
>>
when you go to weddings, i think we recognize a lot of
young people
like to write their own script, go off script, buck tradition. any chance we'll see that here or will they with this kind of international pressure stick to a very tight script?
>>
they've got the best of the both worlds really because on one hand they're having this reception with the queen that she's hosting at
lunch time
, which is very much the reception that they have because they're royal. and then they've got their evening reception which
prince charles
is hosting, the dinner and dance. and that's more the
wedding
that you and i would know, the more intimate bash so in that way they're getting away with it. but there are protocols to follow and it isn't an average
wedding
. so everything is timed to the absolute second. the minutia is worked out in advance. and what makes it completely different is how many people are involved. we know there's going to be a huge military presence at the
wedding
, for instance. that takes huge coordination. so they're trying to get their own say, but at the same time, they are working to a script certainly.
>>
and notice william hwilliam has ackno wledged pre-
wedding
jitters, which is common. how does he handle this sort of thing knowing so much attention will be on this
wedding
?
>>
well, to be fair to william, he's got a lot better. when we saw him at the press conference to announce the engagement, he was much more relaxed in the company of the press than he had been. he doesn't really like the press. he doesn't like the scrutiny or the spotlight. he has not very good memories of how diana was pursued by the paparazzi. so it's not that natural and he is quite shy. that said, he knows his responsibilities, he knows everyone's watching, he knows the world wants to be a great occasionally and i'm sure he will stand up to the plate. but at the same time, it's understandable that he's nervous. most grooms are and yet they won't be watched by billions. and kate will no doubt be feeling the same.
>>
a lot of attention to be on one couple. camilla, thanks so much.
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