09 March 2021

More than one million Scots watch Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah

09 March 2021

More than one million people in Scotland watched the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday evening, according to overnight figures.

STV’s audience peaked at 1.1 million during the programme and across the broadcast, which aired between 9pm and 10.50pm, an average audience of 984,000 viewers tuned in to listen to the couple share their story.

During the interview, Meghan and Harry laid bare their lives as a working royal couple, alleging that a member of the family – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – made a racist comment about their unborn son.

Winfrey was left open-mouthed when the duchess, the first mixed-race member of the modern monarchy, said a fellow royal was worried about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.

Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex (PA Media)

The interview was aired on Sunday night to US audiences, before being shown in the UK on Monday evening.

STV said that in terms of audience share, Oprah with Meghan and Harry attracted more interest in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, with 58% of TV viewers in Scotland watching it (four share points higher than the ITV network).

The broadcaster said: “STV’s audience peaked at 1.1 million during the programme, and the interview has so far reached a total of 1.3 million viewers.

“That figure is expected to rise once ratings are consolidated in seven days, capturing catch-up data including viewing from STV Player.”

Across the UK the interview peaked at 12.4 million viewers, and reached an estimated 17.1 million American viewers when it was first shown on CBS on Sunday.

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