Broadcast
The message typically combines a chronicle of that year's major events, with specific focus on the British Empire originally and later the Commonwealth of Nations, with the sovereign's own personal milestones and feelings on Christmas. It is one of the few instances when the sovereign speaks publicly without advice from any ministers of the Crown in any of the monarch's realms. Planning for each year's address begins months earlier, when the monarch establishes a theme and appropriate archival footage is collected and assembled; the actual speech is recorded a few days prior to Christmas.
In the United Kingdom and on the Internet, broadcast of the Queen's Christmas message is embargoed until 3:00 PM GMT. In other parts of the Commonwealth, the message is first broadcast in New Zealand at 6:50 PM local time by Television New Zealand, in Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at 7:20 PM local time, and in Canada by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at 10 AM Eastern Standard Time.
Read more about this topic: Royal Christmas Message
Famous quotes containing the word broadcast:
“Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.”
—Monty Python’s Flying Circus. first broadcast Sept. 22, 1970. Michael Palin, in Monty Python’s Flying Circus (BBC TV comedy series)
“Radio news is bearable. This is due to the fact that while the news is being broadcast the disc jockey is not allowed to talk.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1951)
“Adjoining a refreshment stand ... is a small frame ice house ... with a whitewashed advertisement on its brown front stating, simply, “Ice. Glory to Jesus.” The proprietor of the establishment is a religious man who has seized the opportunity to broadcast his business and his faith at the same time.”
—For the State of New Jersey, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)