About 17.1 million people watched Oprah Winfrey’s Sunday night interview with Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle on CBS, making it one of the most-watched events of the TV season but still well behind the Super Bowl.
The two-hour interview, in which Ms. Markle disclosed that she had been suicidal after joining the royal family and accused some in what she dubbed the establishment of racism, also blew up on social media and in the British press.
The 17.1 million audience, which is based on preliminary Nielsen data, will likely grow when final numbers come and delayed and online viewing is added to the mix. The interview, though easily one of the most-watched events on television this season, trailed the Super Bowl in viewership. The big game drew over 90 million on CBS last month.
The interview’s ratings show that there is still a strong fascination with the British royal family in the U.S. One of the most popular shows on Netflix Inc. is “The Crown,” a drama tracking the royal family during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Far fewer people watched Sunday’s program than previous much-anticipated interviews. Some 70 million watched Barbara Walters interview Monica Lewinsky in 1999. Television has become much more fragmented in the past twenty years, making big audiences harder to attain except for major news or sporting events.
CBS landed Sunday’s sit down after striking a deal valued at between $7 million and $9 million with Ms. Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle weren’t compensated for their interview, Ms. Winfrey said during the broadcast. A spokeswoman for the couple had also told the Journal last week that there was no compensation in return for appearing.
CBS was seeking about $325,000 for 30-second commercials during the program, according to advertising executives. That is twice the normal price for drama programs that typically run from 8-10 p.m. on Sunday.
The show’s rights remain with Harpo, a person familiar with the matter said.
Whether the interview will result in a more sympathetic light being shone on Ms. Markle and Prince Harry for their decision to bolt England for California remains to be seen. But it reaffirmed Ms. Winfrey’s status as America’s grand inquisitor.
For Ms. Winfrey, the interview and the strong ratings show that she can still draw a huge audience and is seen as the go-to person for big-event conversations.
“There is no question Oprah was the biggest star of that interview,” said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle needed her to anoint them as royalty in the U.S., Mr. Thompson added. “To be anointed in American royalty requires a visit to the queen, that’s Oprah. This was Oprah signing the adoption papers to bring them in,” he said.
Beside continuing to oversee her powerful production company, Ms. Winfrey has a deal to create content for Apple Inc.’s streaming service. She is working on a special about mental health for Apple TV+ with Prince Harry.
Write to Joe Flint at [email protected]
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