Sinead O’Connor: ITV, BBC, and Channel 5 are not planning to air tributes to late singer

‘The simple explanation is that she was not taken seriously,’ said a former Channel 4 commissioner

A number of the main UK broadcasters will not be airing tributes to Sinead O’Connor following her death this week.

O’Connor died after she was found “unresponsive” in a “residential address” in the Lambeth area of London. She was 56 years old.

The musician’s death was confirmed by her family in a statement released on Wednesday (26 July).

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No medical cause of death was given and an autopsy will be conducted. The police have said her death is not being treated as suspicious.

In the case of some high-profile celebrity deaths, broadcasters will scrap their schedules to assemble tributes to the star in question.

This was the case for David Bowie when the “Space Oddity” singer died in 2016. Likewise, when George Michael died from heart failure on Christmas Day in 2017, BBC Four dedicated a full night of programming to the Wham! star.

As confirmed by Variety, however, none of UK’s main broadcasters plan on airing remembrances of O’Connor anytime soon.

SINÉAD O’CONNOR-DECESO (AP)

The US publication confirmed that neither BBC, ITV, Channel 5, nor Channel 4 currently plan to air any specially packaged specials or tributes over the weekend.

The Independent has contacted representatives of BBC, ITV, Channel 5, and Channel 4 for comment.

Former Channel 4 commissioner and TV commentator Steven D Wright told Variety there is a “simple explanation” for this omission.

“The simple explanation is that she was underrated and not taken seriously,” said Wright. “Only now are people saying, ‘Hang on, she was kind of an iconoclast for having spoken out against the Catholic Church when she did.’”

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In the wake of her death, a number of stories from her past have resurfaced, including her controversial 1992 appearance on Saturday Night Live during which she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II in protest against the sexual abuse of children by the Catholic Church.

Wright continued: “There’s the one documentary [Nothing Compares] that’s coming out, but that’s coincidental. There was someone who realised this was a woman who needed proper analysis and a retrospective. Everyone else looked the other way.”

Tributes to Sinead O’Connor at the Irish Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum in the Temple Bar area of Dublin (Damien Eagers/PA) (PA Wire)

From Saturday (29 July), Nothing Compares – the critically acclaimed 2022 documentary about O’Connor – will be made available to watch on Sky and NOW. Here is how to watch the film.

The broadcast of Nothing Compares, however, had been planned for months.

Speaking further about why O’Connor is not receiving a tribute from any of the main UK broadcasters, Wright claimed that music “doesn’t get taken seriously on TV” in Britain in the way that it used to .

“Pop culture used to be really important in the ‘90s, but it’s not [valued] as much by the broadcasters anymore,” he said.

Variety highlights that BBC radio has paid tribute to O’Connor by resurfacing an old interview with the singer. Her songs also have been played on stations including Radio 2 and 6 Music.

Sinead O’Connor (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Archive)

The publication also points out that “national politics” could be at play, given that Bowie and Michael were both London-born stars.

In Ireland, the singer will be commemorated by public broadcaster RTÉ who will pay tribute with radio programs and a curated online archive of her performances and interviews, including two with The Late Late Show’s Gay Byrne, who interviewed O’Connor over the years.

On Saturday night (29 July), RTÉ One and RTÉ Player will also broadcast a video of her 2002 concert, Sinead O’Connor – Live at Vicar Street.

Wright said that broadcasters will be watching to see how other tributes perform before making their own commissioning plans.

“A lot of people [in scheduling] will be watching to see if it’s worthy of a follow-up,” he explained. “If it makes a splash on social media, then there’s more likely to be a copycat doc, because the story can still be told, and include O’Connor’s death.”