Oprah Winfrey interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Harpo Productions | Joe Pugliese | Getty Images
About 17.1 million people tuned in to Sunday night’s Oprah Winfrey interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on CBS, according to the network, citing Nielsen data.
The two-hour settlement, called “Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special,” scored 2.6 out of 18- to 49-year-olds. These numbers are likely to increase as adjusted home display data and delayed display for the next day or so appear. Nielsen traditionally publishes the official numbers of events on Sundays at the end of the following Tuesday.
It is the largest audience of any entertainment show during the current 2020-2021 television season and the second live CBS event outside of the National Football League and Super Bowl Sunday.
These preliminary figures are a solid return for CBS, which reportedly paid Oprah Harpo Productions a license fee of $ 7 million to $ 9 million to air the special. Meghan and Harry received no payment for participating in the interview.
For comparison, more people watched the interview than those who saw the September Emmy Awards and last month’s O Globes combined. The interview is proof that, even in broadcast time, there are still events that can lead to a sizable viewer on traditional network television.
The interview with Oprah delved into the reasons why the couple decided to leave England and move away from their royal duties.
Meghan and Harry addressed the lack of support Meghan received when she went to the palace for mental health issues, the denial of safety protection for the couple’s son Archie and the royal family’s concerns about what the tone would be. of Archie’s skin once she was born.
The parallels between Meghan and Harry’s mother, Diana, were clear even before the couple made their own comparisons during the interview. Harry noted that the royal family cut them off financially in early 2020 and that he and Meghan were only able to leave because of the inheritance their mother left them.
He added that the deals he and Meghan made with Netflix and Spotify were made, in part, to meet their security needs.
The couple also revealed that they were married before the official royal wedding in a small intimate ceremony and announced that their second child was a girl.