If you were a TV network that bet on the Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle, you would have made bank on a gamble that might have looked a bit steep, but the
payoffs were tremendous in the end.
The two hour special was viewed by an average of 11.3 million viewers in the United Kingdom
when it aired over ITV on Monday night.
It even peaked at 12.3 million at one stage, and Deadline, which reported on the viewership
says the show ended up becoming the biggest TV event of the year for Britain.
ITV also said an additional 2.2 million viewers tuned in via its online streaming service.
If you thought that was a head-turning viewership number, you should compare that with the number
of folks that were drawn to watch the Royal Couple spill their tea across the pond.
According to Reuters, 17.1 million Americans tuned in for the televised March 7th special
in which Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down with Oprah Winfrey to set the record
straight on why the couple left the United Kingdom and gave up their royal duties.
CBS paid somewhere between $7 to $9 million for the TV special's lucrative rights from
Winfrey's Harpo Productions and also licensed the interview in international markets, according
to Forbes.
Meanwhile, ITV hints it could have paid $1.4 million for the interview — far less than
CBS did, but still an eyebrow-raising amount of money.
CEO Carolyn McCall says the bidding war was "frenzied" — but worth it.
The purchase didn't come without demands from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Daily Mail reports that Prince Harry and his wife had four non-negotiable rules for
their interview, including that host broadcasters must run the interview in full and without
any editing, which included the synopsis provided for program guides.
Networks were also banned from editing a selection of provided ads, and broadcasters could only
use approved still images for promotions.
Winfrey appeared on CBS This Morning on March 8th to add her commentary to the bombshell
interview and revealed the reason she believed the couple agreed to the interview.
She said,
"I think they agreed to do it, wanted to do it, were ready to do it, because when you
have been lied about for a series of years ... if in your office, or your own family,
somebody is saying things about you that are not true, and how hurtful that is.
[...] Imagine that over a period of months and even years and you know it isn't true."
The Daily Mail called Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's interview "the most extraordinary
royal interview since his mother spoke to the BBC's Martin Bashir in 1995," and with
good reason.
The couple dropped numerous bombshells, including that his father Prince Charles stopped taking
Harry's phone calls and cut him off financially.
Meghan also revealed that someone in the royal family, whom the couple refused to name, expressed
concern over what their son Archie's skin color would be when he was born, and set the
record straight on her supposed feud with Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.
According to ABC News, Markle discussed a tabloid headline that claimed she had made
Kate cry during wedding preparations, however, Meghan said it was Kate who made her cry.
The Duchess of Sussex made sure to note that Kate apologized over seven months later with
gifts.
Incidents such as that also led Meghan to have suicidal ideation.
Meghan shared,
"I share this because there's so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help.
And I know personally how hard it is to not just voice it, but when you voice it to be
told no."
While the interview was widely viewed on British television, it didn't appear to move the needle
too much as far as the public was concerned.
The BBC said a government poll conducted to gauge sentiment showed that the public was
split 32 percent to 32 percent, when asked whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were
treated fairly by the Royal Family or not; the remaining 36 percent said they didn't
know.
According to The Telegraph, when the question of supporting the Queen and members of the
Royal Family came up, 38 percent said they would, 18 percent said they would support
Harry and Meghan, and 30 percent said neither.
But vote was also split along age lines — younger people were more apt to sympathize with Harry
and Meghan than those over age 65.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).