Prince Harry Interviews Draw 15 Million Transatlantic Viewers — But Fatigue Is Setting In
Prince Harry’s first TV appearance since his memoir, “Spare,” which triggered headlines worldwide thanks to its revelations about his drug-taking, sex life and rift with his family, was watched by an average of 4.2 million U.K. viewers across TV and streaming on Sunday night. Across the pond, more than 10 million U.S. viewers tuned in for his “60 Minutes” sitdown.
The audience for “Harry: The Interview” peaked at 4.6 million, making it the most-watched show on U.K. broadcaster ITV last night.
More from Variety
But the program, hosted by ITV news anchor Tom Bradby, was beaten in the ratings by the second episode of BBC drama “Happy Valley,” which snagged 5.3 million viewers according to Broadcast.
Ratings for the interview also fell short of the 11.3 million U.K. viewers who tuned into Harry’s sit-down with Oprah in March 2021, suggesting audiences may be feeling some Harry fatigue, particularly since global headlines have been dominated by his book over the last four days. Certainly the results of a new YouGov poll in the U.K. show that 64% of Brits have a “negative view” of Harry while just 26% see him in a positive light, according to local paper the Evening Standard.
Hours after his ITV interview aired in the U.K., another interview – this time with Anderson Cooper for “60 Minutes” – was broadcast on the other side of the Atlantic, in which he trod over much the same ground.
The sitdown, which aired in the U.S. from 7:34-8:34 p.m. ET on CBS, starting a few minutes late due to an NFL game overrun, drew 10.52 million viewers for the broadcast network, according to TV ratings currency company Nielsen’s preliminary Live + Same Day data. That’s up 16% from “60 Minutes'” season average viewership to-date. While impressive numbers, the episode only counts as the news program’s third-largest audience of the season, per fast-national results, when a big event like this could have been expected to give “60 Minutes” its largest audience. Final time-zone numbers will be in Tuesday, giving a more accurate assessment of overall performance.
Per CBS, “60 Minutes,” which was live streamed on Paramount+, CBS.com and CBS app, saw its live streaming rise from its season-to-date average as well, though specific data was not disclosed.
On social media, “60 Minutes” drove 923 million “potential social impressions,” according to CBS, the largest for the show since its season premiere on Sept. 18, when it garnered 1.6 billion for President Joe Biden’s interview.
Harry has another two pre-recorded television interviews lined up over the next 48 hours: first with Michael Strahan on “Good Morning America” later today and then with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night’s “The Late Show.”
“Spare” is set to be published worldwide tomorrow, although copies have already leaked after Spanish retailers broke the strict embargo and began selling the book last Thursday.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
