‘Glastonbury festival is like Wimbledon — even my dad watches it'

Times

4 hours ago

The Glastonbury festival has become as big as Wimbledon and the World Cup on TV, the head of the BBC's coverage has said.Jonathan Rothery, who is the BBC's head of popular music for television, said the festival will be getting more coverage on BBC1 than ever this year, as all generations show increased interest in watching extended coverage of the musical acts at Worthy Farm.On iPlayer viewers will be able to stream continuous coverage of the five main stages at the festival from midday until past midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
'It's a beast,' Rothery said of the festival. 'The interest in Glastonbury has extended over time, with people wanting more [coverage] leading into the festival and more after it.
'It's almost becoming a Glastonbury season now, more akin to a sporting event like Wimbledon or a World Cup.
'Linear TV is still the main go-to for our broad audience. The numbers continue to be really strong, which I think is partly to do with Glastonbury becoming our sort of Wimbledon of music.'
Rothery said he puts the increasing interest down to an evolution in the festival's appeal.
'It's gone from the 1990s, when it was a brilliant festival but had a very specific demographic, to now being a very broad church, reflective of everybody,' he said.
'It's multigenerational. Even my dad watches it and he wasn't aware of it ten years ago.'
This year BBC1 is scheduling more coverage of Glastonbury than ever before, Rothery said.
'We are also pushing longer sections of sets and even full sets on linear TV, whereas we used to be more highlights and bitesize bits of sets.'That is a big shift. There is a confidence that we can put a full set out and it will sustain a good audience.'
Rothery said in recent years they had been getting 'millions' watching the live streams of the five main stages on each day of the festival.
He said ways of reaching a younger demographic — which all broadcasters are chasing as they compete against the likes of YouTube and TikTok — have changed now that younger people consume music differently through sites such as Spotify, where the whole history of popular music sits in one place.
'In the old days, to reach a young audience we would normally want to put a young pop star on a stage to reach that demographic,' he said.
'That has totally changed. My 15-year-old daughter is a massive Billy Joel fan and loves The Clash. Audiences don't know or care how long these songs have been around, they are just great songs.
'Elton John [in 2023] gave us a massive young audience share and one of the youngest of the festival.'
Deploying a drone shot at Glastonbury to show the audience the full scale of the record crowd for Elton's closing headline slot, the final show of his touring career, was a highlight for Rothery.
Asked what makes a great Glastonbury festival TV moment, he said: 'Some of it is pre-planned, like having the surprise sets that the festival organises, to create those moments of excitement and intrigue, and sometimes it might just be great timing of an act being on.
'I have vivid memories of LCD Soundsystem playing All My Friends and seeing the sun setting, that was a special moment that only Glastonbury can do.
'Jay Z doing Wonderwall was a huge moment, or when Dave [the grime artist] got the guy out of the audience to do a rap, the audience had no expectation of that.
'Sometimes it's the audience's appreciation of the artist. When Dolly Parton did the legends slot, her reaction to seeing the audience know every word to Jolene, in cowboy hats, took her by such surprise and made it really special.
'When Brian Wilson did it, there were surfboards in the audience. It's the lengths Glastonbury people go to show their appreciation.
'It's a magic combo of things that cannot always be pre-planned.'