MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry's Oprah interview "will be bigger than Super Bowl" – but US viewers are set to be divided over who to support, it was reported today.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's tell-all chat will be aired in the US tomorrow before it is broadcast on ITV for the UK on Monday night.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest news...
Previews of the interview have already hinted that nothing will be "off limits" – with Meghan, 39, accusing the Firm of being "liars".
In the latest trailer, the Duchess of Sussex accuses Buckingham Palace of “perpetuating falsehoods”.
And Americans are even hosting viewing parties to watch the interview together.
Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, now live in Santa Barbara and are neighbours of Oprah Winfrey, their interviewer.
Laure-Anne Bosselaar, the city’s poet laureate, today told The Times: "Everybody’s going to watch. I hope there is more people watching than the Super Bowl.”
The Super Bowl saw more than 96.4million TV and online viewers glued to their screens. Meanwhile, the Oscars had 23.6million viewers last year.
And she said there was a great deal of sympathy for the couple in America, saying: "At last they are not stuck with the royals in England, and there is freedom of speech."
But Myka Meier, a keen royal watcher based in New York and founder of Beaumont Etiquette, added: "Everybody loves the Queen, right? I feel like people have compassion and sympathy for her, wanting the Queen to live out her golden years in a peaceful way."
It comes after it was reported CBS is paying Oprah Winfrey up to $9million to air her tell-all interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Sunday.
PAYDAY
ITV will broadcast the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry interview on Monday night – and are expected to rake in advertising dollars.
The broadcaster reportedly paid £1m for the rights.
And it has now been reported that ITV could get £120,000 per advert as Brits sit down to watch Meghan and Harry tell their side of the story.
Analysts have even suggested the interview could attract more than 10million viewers – more than The Masked Singer finale that last month drew the biggest live TV audience of the year outside news and sport.
Omar Oakes, media and technology editor at Campaign, the advertising industry magazine, said: “We understand ad spots have been offered at around £70,000 for 30 seconds but buyers expect prices could reach £100,000 to £120,000 if ITV hits key audience ratings. It’s a special buy.”
This means ITV would triple its investment for the interview.
The Sussexes were not paid for the sitdown chat.
The network has dished out between $7million and $9million in license fees for rights to air the bombshell chat, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Under the agreement between CBS and Winfrey’s company Harpo Productions, the network can also license the interview internationally.
Harry and Meghan, who is subject to a Buckingham Palace probe on allegations she bullied staff, are not being paid for the special, a spokeswoman has said.
CBS is asking for $325,000 for 30 seconds of commercial time during the special, which is around double the cost of a normal ad aired during the Sunday night slot, according to ad buyers.
The two-hour special is set to air on CBS at 8pm ET on Sunday and 9pm on ITV in the UK on Monday.
The Royal Family is braced for more bombshell claims in Monday's broadcast amid an escalating war of words.
And aides said the Queen has not been given an advance copy of Harry and Meghan's chat with Oprah Winfrey – instead "everyone will watch at the same time".
The Duchess of Sussex has already accused The Firm of spreading lies about her, plunging the the family into its worst crisis in decades.
Buckingham Palace has since launched an investigation into the claims that the Sussex's staff were bullied – with a 30-second clip of Meghan and Prince Harry’s interview with Winfrey was released just hours later.
In the preview, Winfrey asked Meghan how she felt about “the Palace hearing you speak your truth".
The duchess replied: "If that comes with risk of losing things, I mean… there is a lot that has been lost already."
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