Live blogs, social media hashtags and rolling coverage preparations are all in the place for when the armed police officers take their place at the front doors of St Mary's Hospital – the official signal the birth of the heir to the British throne is underway.

As photographers and reporters begin camping out and sleeping inside the press pen adjacent to the hospital in London's well-to-do Paddington, Australian television networks are shaping up for a royal ratings showdown.

Channel Seven will have out-going Sunrise host Melissa Doyle on the ground in London as well as Seven News chief correspondent Mike Amor filing for Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Daily Edition, morning, afternoon and evening news segments.

Nine will attempt to counter-attack Seven's female-friendly, round-the-clock coverage with journalist Leila McKinnon at the helm as the official royal birth correspondent for A Current Affair and Today.

A Channel Seven representative told Fairfax Media, the birth of the future king or queen is on par with Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's royal wedding and is being treated as such by news chiefs and producers throughout the network.

Prince William and the then-Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding drew 6 million viewers in Australia.

But a Ten representative disagrees: “I do not think the birth is on par with the wedding, but we will be giving it due attention. It is a big deal and we'll be following the story for years to come as the child grows.”

Unlike the royal wedding which was filmed live from inside Westminster Abbey, the world will rely on social and traditional media to hear news of the baby.

The first to know will be Queen Elizabeth, who will be informed of the birth by a cryptic phone call to prevent any potential leak of the news before the official word is given.

Buckingham Palace officials will then notify the 54 heads of the Commonwealth nations and an official birth notice, a time-honoured tradition, will be hung on the gates of the palace.

A 41-gun salute will take place in Hyde Park before Prince William and the Duchess emerge from the hospital to face the media for the first family photo opportunity with their newborn, which may be less than 24-hours old.

“We'll be crossing to Leila [McKinnon] when it happens,” a Nine spokeswoman said.

As well as seasoned presenter McKinnon, Today will have reporter Lizzie Pearl at their disposal while Europe based journalist Pete Stefanovic will be covering the baby beat for all the nightly news bulletins.

Channel Ten is taking a more relaxed approach to keep in line with the youthful demographic of shows like Ten Late News and The Project.

Ten's Europe correspondent Ben Lewis, who is also busy covering the Ashes series, will “go live from St Mary's Hospital and file daily news stories when Kate has been rushed to hospital or when the baby is born,” the Ten representative said.

UK broadcaster and food blogger Lucy McDonald will be reporting for The Project, hosted by Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and comedian Dave Hughes.

Both Seven and Nine will call on UK-based royal reporters for special commentary.

Seven will rely on Evening Standard royal editor Robert Jobson and Nine will “catch up” with freelance presenter Gavin Grey.

For avid royal watchers and monarchists, Australia's national broadcaster promises to have it all.

ABC News acting head of newsgathering Don Large said all correspondents on the ground will be crossing live to various TV and radio bulletins around the country while working on associated stories and projects for news, special programs and online.

Aunty is promising unparalleled coverage with special interviews with royal commentators and constitutional experts discussing and dissecting the new succession laws.

The ABC will likely be competing against pay TV's Sky News channel, which provides 24 hours rolling news coverage, as well as other pay TV news providers.

According to Mr Large, ABC News 24 will be a one-stop shop for royal baby news, “on News 24 … the audience will get coverage right across the day.”

For now though the world's media pack will continue to watch and wait on the arrival of Her Majesty's third great-grandchild.

The Duchess is reportedly due to give birth on July 13.