The awards ceremony, hosted by Mick Fleetwood and Samantha Fox, was televised live by the BBC.[1] The hosting was criticised for being poorly coordinated, with missed cues and incorrect introductions;[2] the teleprompter did not work properly,[3] and in 2010, Fox claimed that there had been multiple errors in the information given to the hosts on the night.[4] The event organisers did not play a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson, and the audience booed the government minister Kenneth Baker.[2]
After the 1989 event, the awarding committee decided to have the Brit Awards recorded and broadcast on television the following night, to be able to edit out errors and unwanted happenings on the stage. The awards ceremony was not broadcast live again until the 2007 Brit Awards.[5]