BBC stands by Houston funeral coverage

By Mark Fordham

The BBC has defended its coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral on its News Channel after receiving a number of complaints from viewers about its duration.

Saturday's (February 18th) four-hour service in New Jersey received 118 complaints about the coverage, while a further 34 objections were filed by people upset that the normal schedule of the channel had been interrupted.

The service began at 17.00 GMT and continued through until just before 20.30 GMT and the BBC continued to report on the story afterwards.

"News Channel's coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral reflected the significant interest in her sudden death as well as acknowledging the impact she had as a global recording artist," the corporation said in a statement.

Although it did acknowledge that some people felt there was too much coverage given to the funeral, the broadcaster's viewers had still been given "the best access to the day's other news stories."

Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and R Kelly performed at the service, while there was also a heartfelt eulogy delivered by Kevin Costner who starred alongside Houston in The Bodyguard.

The singer was found in a bath in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on February 11th, though the cause of her death remains unclear.