An estimated two billion people around the world this morning are watching one of the most highly anticipated weddings of all time. The marriage of Britain's Prince William with longtime sweetheart Kate Middleton is capturing the attention of millions of Americans as well. Our Brad Vivacqua is in our newsroom this morning and has more on this.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- It's likely that even viewers who are watching us this morning will at least spend a few minutes watching at least a portion of the royal wedding coverage. But the question is are Americans really that interested?
Of course, there are many who are. But, we spoke to Syracuse University TV and Popular Culture professor Bob Thompson to get his take. He told us many polls show us that the majority of Americans really don't have an interest in it.
Still, many English breakfasts and British themed parties are planned here in the U.S. thanks to all the pre-marriage media coverage.
Thompson says outlets were able to build it up because it's a pre-planned event.
"News organizations knew when it was going to be, and where and what time. So, they could send their reporters. They could get their satellite uplinks ready to go, and then they milked it for all it was worth and not just news operations, there are entire cable channels that have been almost exclusively wedding and royal oriented," he said.
Thompson also says there is a large interest in this because this is a rare opportunity for people to view a celebrity wedding. But he says in many cases people will watch something they're not always interested in.
For example, about 110 million people watched the Super Bowl in February but Thompson says the majority weren't big football fans at all.