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It’s not often these days that a primetime interview captures widespread national attention, but ViacomCBS hit the jackpot with Oprah Winfrey’s bombshell Sunday night interview with Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
The two-hour special drew 17.1 million viewers to CBS, and people are still buzzing about it a day later. But audiences hoping to stream the telecast today on Paramount+ are coming up empty: The program is MIA from ViacomCBS’ less-than-a-week-old streaming service, which rebranded last week from its predecessor, CBS All Access.
Nowhere to be found
Paramount+ subscribers were able to livestream CBS’ broadcast of the special Sunday night. But once the special aired, the interview—in which Markle offered a number of stunning revelations like Markle’s suicidal thoughts and comments about her biracial son’s skin color—was nowhere to be found on Paramount+. Instead, replays of the program are only available on CBS’ website and on the new, standalone CBS app.
On Paramount+, there was no promotion at all for the interview, which was programmed by CBS’ entertainment division (Winfrey’s Harpo Productions licensed the special to CBS for a reported $7-9 million). A search for the name “Meghan Markle” on the service pulls up a special featuring the Duchess of Sussex from an episode of Smithsonian Channel’s series Million Dollar American Princesses. An “Oprah” search, meanwhile, comes up with the following response: “Uh-oh, we couldn’t find that!”
The season’s most livestreamed event
ViacomCBS hopes Paramount+ will give it a leg up in the streaming wars with on-demand programming along with live news and sports—or as its marketing mantra goes: Live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment. But Harpo Porductions did not make SVOD rights to the special available, outside of the 30-day window for CBS.com and on the CBS apps, according to a person familiar with the agreement, so the company could not include it on Paramount+.
Even without Paramount+, the streaming demand for the special has been massive. CBS said the program was its most livestreamed event this season, outside of Super Bowl Sunday and the NFL games. And the CBS App, which is the only place to access the special today other than CBS.com, currently tops the charts at Apple’s App Store.
Missed opportunity
Onlookers were keen to point out that the special’s absence was a royal stumble for Paramount+, on the heels of its heavily-hyped launch just four days earlier, with executives noting that the streamer’s news and entertainment programming would differentiate it from competitors.
“This should be across your homepage, not UNFINDABLE,” tweeted Variety editor-at-large Kate Arthur. And The Hollywood Reporter’s chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg noted that “the juxtaposition of the Paramount+ launch and this seemingly huge … interview feels like a big missed opportunity.”
Despite the muted streaming presence today, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have big plans for the space. Prince Harry is working with Winfrey on a mental health series for streamer Apple TV+, and the royal duo signed a deal with Netflix last September to develop programming for the service.
