YouTube reveals royal wedding streaming numbers

The live-stream of last weekend’s UK royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was viewed 11.2 million times on YouTube while live, according to the streaming platform.

At peak viewership, during the couple’s exchange of vows, some 1.29 million people watched the even simultaneously, making the wedding the fifth most popular event ever streamed on YouTube.

Total views from May 19 to date reached 32 million, including views around the globe of the ceremony, procession and other video highlights.

Viewership was highest in the UK and US, with Germany, Russia and Australia making up the remainder of the list of top five countries for viewing the event online.

YouTube’s summary of royal wedding statistics follows the BBC revealing that some 1.9 million people made live requests for the event on BBC iPlayer, making it the second most-popular event to date to be streamed live on the platform, after the Euro 2016 football match between England and Wales, which attracted 2.05 million requests.

By comparison, the BBC recorded an average TV audience size of 8.7 million and a peak audience of 13.1 million. In the US, audience ratings agency Nielsen reported an estimated 29.2 million TV viewers for the event.