With 4.3 million viewers watching Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Lance Armstrong, the special “Oprah’s Next Chapter” premiere episode, according to The Nielsen Company, marked the highest rated weekday telecast in Oprah Winfrey Network’s (OWN) history.
Thursday’s first airing of the first part of the interview at 9 p.m. was the second highest network telecast to date garnering 3.2 million total viewers, with the second airing (10:30 p.m.) earning an additional 1.1 million viewers. OWN’s top telecast is “Oprah’s Next Chapter” featuring Whitney Houston’s family (March 11, 2012; 3.5 million viewers).
Nielsen said, the interview saw over 600,000 online streams with viewers live streaming from 190 countries around th
e world. Twitter saw more than 210,000 associated tweets, marking the most highly trafficked single episode of any show on the network to date.
According to Media Daily News, “Oprah’s Next Chapter” interview with Lance Armstrong attracted a broad range of advertisers – with a heavy dose of messaging for the OWN network’s shows – for the first night of a two-night interview. Pricing for national advertising in the show had been going for $12,000 for a 30-second spot previously – but, with the announcement of the Armstrong interview prices, reportedly soared to $40,000 to $50,000 for a 30-second commercial.
Major advertisers included auto marketers Cadillac (two spots), Buick Enclave (three spots) and Buick LaCrosse (one spot). A number of Procter & Gamble’s products had commercial time in the 90-minute show.Other marketers with major appearances included Kelloggs’ Eggo (two spots), Nature Valley Granola Bars (two spots), Men’s Warehouse (two spots), Schiff vitamin supplements (two spots) and (two spots). An OWN spokeswoman said many commercials came from existing sponsors of the show. Reports say the two-part, two-night interview was completely sold out.
The Sport Intern in a blog produced by Karl-Heinz Huba in Lorsch, Germany. Mr. Huba can be reached via email at ISMG@aol.com. This article is reprinted here with the permission of Mr. Huba.