The Global numbers aren’t in yet, but domestically Oprah Winfrey’s two-night OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? certainly had people taking and watching.
Airing on OWN and 18 other Discovery-owned networks on June 9 and June 10, the pre-recorded wide-ranging conversation about the killing of George Floyd, systemic racism and the American proposition garnered 11 million viewers overall, according to Nielsen data.
With 6.7 million viewers on YouTube, Facebook and other digital Discovery platforms, the total viewership for Where Do We Go From Here? bops up to 17.6 million. A number that places the special as #1 Most social Primetime program on all of TV on June 9 – which is a very strong place to be indeed.
In what was sadly yet another conversation about racism for Winfrey over the past 35 years and coming just over two weeks after Floyd was killed by Minneapolis cops, Where Do We Go From Here? featured insights from Oscar nominee and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate and potential Vice-Presidential candidate Stacey Abrams Additionally, co-Chair of The Poor People’s Campaign Bishop William J. Barber II, Biased author Jennifer Eberhardt, journalist and Pulitzer prize-winning founder of the New York Times’ 1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones, How to be an Anti-Racist author Ibram Kendi, Selma actor David Oyelowo, Color of Change president Rashad Robinson and NYT columnist Charles M. Blow also participated.
Speaking to this potentially pivotal moment in the nation’s history, Where Do We Go From Here? marked the very first time an OWN special has been simulcast across the networks of its parent company. That fact makes comparisons to past Oprah or OWN specials a stretch at best and a non-starter for the most part – however, on overall numbers, the shows were easily some of the most watched of each night on both broadcast and cable.
In that context, the two-nights of the hour-long special averaged 1.4 million unique viewers on OWN alone.
When you bring in the other Discovery nets, the initial 9 PM ET broadcasts on Tuesday and Wednesday averaged an audience of over 7.3 million over the likes of OWN, TLC, HGTV and more. Individually, the first airing of the first night of the remotely conducted Where Do We Go From Here? drew 4.52 million viewers, while Night 2’s debut broadcast saw 3.73 million watching over Discovery’s linear networks.
Add in replays and Night 1 had an averaged audience of 6.6 million and Night 2 had 6.09 million tuning in – which are very strong numbers on any platform.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.