Oprah's interview was the first given by the couple since they stepped back from the British royal family a year ago.
Some 17.1 million Americans watched Oprah Winfrey's bombshell television interview with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, broadcaster CBS said.
CBS said Sunday's two-hour interview, in which Harry and Meghan accused the royal family of racism and of failing to protect them from negative media coverage, drew the biggest audience for any entertainment special since the Oscars telecast in February 2020, which was watched by 23.6 million viewers.
But it also came at a cost! No, not the Duchess's fallout from the shocking revelations made during the interview, we're talking about the money the network paid for the rights to air the special.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "CBS is paying a license fee of between $7 million and $9 million for the rights to air Ms. Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, according to people familiar with the pact."
Oprah Winfrey's production house, Harpo Productions, reportedly is set to benefit while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not make any money from the broadcast.
As part of the agreement with Winfrey's production company, the network (CBS) "has rights to license the special in international markets."
The Duke and the Duchess confirmed at the beginning of the interview that there was no "agreement" made between Oprah and them and that they weren't being paid for the interview.
So, when Oprah said, "Before we get into it, I just want to make it clear to everybody that even though we're neighbours… that there has not been an agreement. 'You don't know what I'm going to ask, there is no subject that's off-limits and you are not getting paid for this interview.' The Duchess responded, "All of that is correct."
Oprah's interview was the first given by the couple since they stepped back from the British royal family a year ago. Meghan spoke of feeling suicidal while Harry said his father, Prince Charles, had let him down. The couple's interview covered not just their tensions with the royal family but also Harry's disgust at the conduct of the British press, particularly the tabloids.
Much of the coverage centered on the dramatic moment when Meghan said her son Archie, who will be two in May, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family "about how dark his skin might be when he's born".
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