3RD UPDATE, July 22, PM UK: The international media mob holed up in front of London’s St. Mary’s Hospital awaiting the birth of the Royal Baby got a slight reprieve today. UK and international broadcasters including crews from ABC, NBC and Fox have been on tenterhooks for weeks ahead of the infant’s arrival, Kate Middleton’s first child with Prince William, aka the Duke of Cambridge. The group got a jolt at 7:30 AM (London time) when Kensington Palace formally emailed media that the Duchess of Cambridge was in the early stages of labor and had arrived at the hospital by car with her husband. In the U.S., where it was 2:30 AM ET, CNN was the first cable news net to report at 2:38 AM ET, per TVNewser. Fox News Channel cut in to programming with live updates from Robert Gray starting at 2:42 AM ET. FNC correspondent Amy Kellogg and anchor Martha MacCallum have been and will continue to provide updates from London. ABC broke into coverage with a brief special report at 2:37 AM after it’s been running a Royal Baby section on its website. The story also led NBC’s Today, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning. MSNBC chimed in at the top of the 5 AM hour. Sky News and CNN International stayed with their correspondents in front of the hospital and Buckingham Palace for most of the UK day, although CNN cut away more often. BBC World provided updates, but the mainstream broadcasters in the UK and France kept to their schedules.

Now, after nine hours, there’s no word on a birth. The BBC had earlier said there would likely be no more news until the official announcement. But there certainly has been endless on-air speculation and filler from the international 24-hour news channels. Largely, the correspondents have spent London’s hottest day of the year talking to midwives and royal watchers about everything from the merits of coconut water to possible names and gender. If the baby is a girl, it will make history, becoming the first female firstborn of a future monarch who would take precedence over an eventual younger brother.

British and international TV news divisions have been preparing for weeks for the Royal Baby’s arrival since it will be a viewership bonanza for them. When the baby is born, the royal family, the Middletons, and heads of the Commonwealth nations will be informed first. After that, an official notice will be sent via messenger and police escort, framed, and set on an easel for display in the forecourt of Buckingham palace. The @Clarencehouse Twitter feed will also run an announcement and there will be the customary celebratory gun salutes in Green Park and at the Tower of London, providing fodder for global TV coverage.