ITV can expect to earn up to £120,000 for 30-second ads during its highly anticipated broadcast of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday evening.
The UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster bought the rights to the 90-minute broadcast, billed as a “tell-all” by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for a reported £1m.
Media-buyer estimates disclosed privately to Campaign suggest ITV could bring in between £100,000 and £120,000 for 30-second spots if the show hits key audience ratings.
On Friday, ITV was offering spot prices for an initial £70,000, according to a media agency executive. However, advertisers would be expected to pay more if the show reaches a sufficient number of people aged 16 and over, and housepersons with children (a key audience for many brands).
One agency buyer said the figures could rise higher still, depending on how much national media interest there is in the interview this weekend.
The buyer said: “It’s being sold as a ‘special premium buy’ and it could become even more expensive over the weekend if the Sunday papers are all over it.
“We expect this will be significantly more than what ITV gets for 30-second spots during Coronation Street and Emmerdale, but it’s not an exact like-for-like comparison.”
On behalf of brands, media buyers will generally purchase TV advertising in the UK across different channels and programmes – as opposed to individual shows – in order to ensure the spot is seen by a target audience.
As well as generating an ad revenue bump, ITV can expect the broadcast to draw more views on catch-up TV via its streaming platform ITV Hub.
CBS will air the interview first on Sunday evening in the US and ViacomCBS has sold the international broadcast rights. ViacomCBS owns Channel 5.
ITV declined to comment.
