Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey finally dropped today, and to call it a huge moment in TV history would be an understatement.
The couple, whose infamous exit from the British Royal Family dominated the news cycle for months, sat down with the Queen of All Media to unveil revelation after revelation. From the BRF’S refusal to aid Meghan amid her struggle with her mental health, to conversations between members of the royal family regarding “concerns” about her future baby’s skin tone, no stone was left unturned. The latter of which even left Oprah, and millions of viewers worldwide, outraged and dumbfounded.
Of course, a much-anticipated TV special this big didn’t come without a hefty cost. A testament to its scale? Hours after the interview ended, the keyword “Meghan” is still on the top of Twitter trends worldwide with over one million mentions and counting. Talk about mileage!
Now, let’s talk more numbers. As it turns out, the interview’s distributor, CBS, reportedly spent around $7 million to $9 million in order to gain airing rights for the episode. Considering the network clearly expected a large turnout of live viewers, they apparently also charged ad buyers $325,000 for 30 second slots in between the program’s run, as pointed out in an article by Forbes. That’s twice what advertisers would usually pay for airtime on the network, mind you! Keep in mind though that Meghan and Prince Harry themselves weren’t paid for the sit-down, as per the pair’s spokeswoman.
The Wall Street Journal, who first revealed this information, added that CBS outbid rival American networks such as ABC and NBC for distribution rights. As a result of their agreement with Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions, they now also hold the rights to license the TV special abroad, which includes the United Kingdom.
On a lighter note, amid the couple’s bombshell confessions was the gender of their second baby. In case you missed it, it’s a girl! When asked about his reaction to the news, Prince Harry responded, “Just grateful. To have any child, any one or two, would be amazing. But to have a boy and then a girl, what more could you ask for? Now we’ve got our family, the four of us and our two dogs. It’s great.”
Get a quick glimpse at the impactful two-hour interview below.
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