CBS criticised for cutting away from Queen's funeral to show 'The Price is Right'

Hundreds of millions tuned in to watch coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, but not everyone stuck around for the whole ceremony…

One channel broadcasting the event has come in for criticism after cutting away from the funeral to show episodes of The Price Is Right and Let’s Make a Deal.

CBS began its coverage of the late monarch’s funeral at 5.30am in the US with co-hosts Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell, but rather than continuing throughout the day the broadcast ended at 10am.

Instead of showing the procession to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle like BBC and Sky News did in the UK, the station cut to the pre-recorded shows.

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“This is appalling. I’m speechless,” said one CBS insider [via the New York Post]. “This is history. This is a huge event. If you have a legitimate news division and you want to grow and show yourself as being legit, you have to cover history.”

“This is the decline of CBS. The network is waving the white flag. Even NewsNation covered it!”

The station was criticised for cutting to the pre-recorded showsCBS

It comes after the oldest and longest reigning British monarch passed away in Balmoral on September 8 after 70 years on the throne.

Due to this significant moment in history, Carolina Beltramo, TV analyst at WatchTVAbroad.com predicted that a "no fewer than 4.1 billion" would tune in to watch the funeral, a record-breaking number of viewers "as half the people on planet Earth pause to pay their respects.

"Such is the love and admiration for Queen Elizabeth II around the world that her funeral is destined to be the biggest live TV event in history," Beltramo told Metro.

"Generations of people across the globe won’t have been alive the last time pomp and pageantry were seen on this scale."