Around two billion people are estimated to have tuned in to Friday's coverage of the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Viewers from every time zone tuned in to the nuptials, which were screened on 14 channels in the USA alone. And overnight estimates suggest that in Britain coverage on the terrestrial channels attracted a combined audience of 24.5m - with 18.7m of those watching the BBC's coverage of the event. Figures for those watching the coverage on Sky News were not available. The build-up to the ceremony on a special edition of BBC Breakfast was watched by 9.4m, while figures during the coverage of the ceremony itself peaked at 8.9m as the Duchess of Cambridge entered Westminster Abbey and the public got to see her wedding dress for the first time. The figures put the programme among the top ten of programmes ever watched, although the 1966 World Cup final and Princess Diana's funeral had bigger audiences. Meanwhile only 0.6 per cent of the viewing public were tuned in to the other terrestrial channels during the wedding. Official viewing figures from the US will be released later on Saturday.
